Well ... our first batch of Jinyins has arrived. We can`t call them Primos since they didn`t come through the US. I have restrung three of them and i have to say I am very impressed indeed with the tone.

So .. the bows are dire (except on the most expensive one we got and even that was not wonderful), the bridges are not the best I`ve seen to say the least, though they are low. The cases are not wonderful. The single adjuster will mean, in view of the thick tailpieces, that most will want to change to a Wittner tailpiece, BUT ... put Corelli Crystals on and you have a very nice sounding violin. Another plus is that even the very cheapest ones don`t have that thick sprayed on shiny nitro varnish. I don`t know what the varnish is but it gives the appearance of an older European violin, at least, that`s as close as I can get to describing it. We did get mainly antiqued finish but that seems to refer only to the colour, there is no shading as such, unless i am being hopelessly unobservant!

In short, we will indeed be re-ordering.

Liz

are these from www.violinslover.com ?

No. violinslover sells Gligas which are, of course, also most excellent.

Liz

oh cool. Still dont like the idea of buying off the internet..... I have heard the ebay stories and stuff tho sometimes you realy luck out and get a great violin off ebay. Whats the difference between what you are talking about and the violinslover ones?

O they`re quite different, it is likely to come down to a matter of taste.

Jinyin (Primo) is Chinese and gliga is Romanian.

Chinese violins are invariably louder and brighter than Romanian ones. We have toned our Jinyins down by putting Corelli Crystal strings on. Put Corelli Crystal on a Gliga and it will probably almost sort of clam up, Gligas go nicely with Dominants, put Dominants on most Chinese violins I have seen and you will not see much improvement in the tone, they just go better with a softer darker sounding string. Different strings suit difernt violins.

The Gligas are beautifully made. You may well find the bridge too high and thick. We have got ours right now after asking Gliga to send them the way we want them but violinslover probably has them the way we used to get them. Our Jinyins had very low bridges, too low really for me but that need not put you off because I am known for preferring higher bridges. The bridge itself did not seem to be of the same quality as we get on equivalent Gligas but then again we have noticed a distinct difference in our Gligas since we told them how we like them, and it may very well be that the Primo brand is set up better than the generic Jinyin, it may well be that the US importers, who own the Primo brand, have exactly what they want from Jinyin in the same way we have exactly what we want from Gliga.

I honestly don`t think you`ll go far wrong with either. At this stage, being much more familiar with Gliga, I am still going to recommend Gliga above anything else, but I can certainly understand why there is such hype about the Primos, even if a lot of it is just hype.

Liz

Liz,

what do you mean by high bridge/low bridge? I have just started playing. I bought a chinese student violin called Hannover (ever heard of it)? Its factory made , single back wood. The bridge looks high, but i dont know how that affects the sound quality? my violin is a bit "quiet". Does the high bridge cause this? Also, I dont know what brand strings are on it? for a beginner, would you recommend changing strings, or do i just continue playing and change the violin later?

High bridge means the strings are further away from the fingerboard (a high nut will have the same effect) but it does also allow for more dynamic range and a better tone. A low bridge plus low nut means the strings are closer to the fingerboard, which makes playing easier but this has to be weighed against loss of dynamic range and, on some instruments,some loss of tone. To cpmplicate matters further, the tension of the strings is a major factor: high tension strings such as metal strings need to be played with a lower bridge than lower tension strings such as gut.

I haven`t heard of Hanover, i imagine it`s a brand name for a Chinese instrument. I find Corelli Crystal and D`addario Pro-Arte both go very nicely on many Chinese violins and have the added advantage of being cheaper than Dominants.

Liz

Ann, I`m surprised our violin is quiet, most Chinese violins are loud if nothing else! Are you sure you have enough rosin on the bow?

Liz

Hi Liz,

My violin has metal strings on a high bridge. It cost US$170. According to my teacher, for a violin in that price range, the resonance is good. However, when played, the strings produce a "soft" sound. Its a pleasant sound...but soft. I suppose thats ok for a beginner, but i sometimes feel that i have to put in lots of effort to make the violin louder, and i am not sure if this is correct. When other students play, its effortless and the movement is smooth. Some actually use a cheaper Korean brand called Semic, which cost US$100. The resonance for that is not so good, but it is louder.

Have you heard your teacher play it?

Liz

liz,

i have asked around here about gligas since you highly recommend them.there are not so popular here. chinese and korean instruments are in abundance though. are there any suppliers here? i live in malaysia.

I don`t know of any Gliga suppliers in Malaysia. You can get one easily enough over the internet though.

Liz

sorry to report liz but I just heard some terrible reports on thoes violins...

Which violins, Primos or Gligas?

I don`t take too much notice of reports. I know the market and I know what can be obtained at any particular price point. The question, usually, is not how good a violin is, but how well it compares with whatever else is available for the price. The route through which is it purchased has a very significant impact on the price and a violin can only be judged fairly by comparing the wholesale price (in my most humble opinion!)

Liz

Violins at about few hundreds of dollars are usually sold by dosens, and are scraps from manufacturors after better quality violins had been selected.
So, some of them may have soft sounds, some may have louder sound but hard voices, others have physically defects. You should have selected one by yourself rather than ordering one randomly from the batches. Who orders the last deserves the worst violin in the remained violins in stock.