How do you choose the best cheap violin, especially for a young player who is still growing and may require a smaller instrument? As with school clothes, you want to get a good instrument but not too expensive if he will outgrow it physically in a couple of years. There are many choices, and trying to pick the best one can be daunting.
Fortunately, we’ve put together our list of 5 best cheap violins that you should consider. We’ll tell you what we think is good or bad about each instrument, and then pick our favorites to help you make a buying decision.
Our best cheap Violin picks
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Cecilio CVN-300 Ebony Fitted Violin
Here is one of the most popular student violins from Cecilio. The CVN-300 is made with a solid spruce top, with maple on the back, neck, and sides. There is also inlaid purfling with an antique varnish.
The fingerboard is made from ebony, along with the pegs and chin rest, and there is a tailpiece with four detachable, nickel-plated fine tuners.
Overall, this is a good violin for the beginner or student, and it even comes quality D’Addario Prelude strings, which are already installed (note, there is no extra set of strings included).
This is a bundle package that includes the CVN-300 violin, a Cecilio chromatic tuner, a lightweight hard case, two Brazil wood bows with unbleached, genuine Mongolian horsehair, a rosin cake, an adjustable shoulder rest, an additional bridge, and a lesson book
Enjoy awesome sound clarity and terrific responsiveness. The tone is bright and warm, so it is exciting yet smooth at the same time
This is a durable instrument that is particularly good for younger students who often have a tendency to be rough on things
Pros
- this violin comes with a one-year warranty that protect you against any manufacturer defects. If there are any issues, you can contact customer service for repairs or replacement
- This is a violin that was made with the student in mind, and has been crafted to meet and exceed the needs of beginners and early students
- The antique varnish finish makes this a very attractive violin, and the quality wood tones provide excellent sound quality This is considered an “orchestra” violin, making it perfect for kids who are interested in joining the school band
Pros
- The bow is low quality, and often cannot be tightened enough to be used properly. You may want to consider using a different bow
- There can be a problem with this violin staying in tune, because the tuning pegs have a tendency to slip. You will need to use peg drops or liquid rosin to correct the problem
- The strings that come with this violin aren’t of the greatest quality. We recommend purchasing a better set of strings and replacing the ones that are already on it
Cecilio CVN-200 Solid Wood Student Violin
The Cecilio CVN-200 violin is a perfect violin for beginners or students. It includes a hand-carved maple back, hand-carved solid spruce top, and sides completed with attractive varnish.
This violin is tailored with a chin rest, maple fingerboard, and alloy tailpiece comprising of four detachable fine tuners.
Accessories included with the violin are a two Brazilwood bows with unbleached genuine Mongolian horsehair, modifiable shoulder rest with soft foam stuffing and soft rubber feet.
Also included is a light hard-shell case with straps and pockets (making it ideal to carry if you’re in an orchestra or to school), violin bridge, rosin cake, and additional strings.
Pros
- A superior instrument in terms of construction and finish
- Playable and produces a nice tone
- The bow is of good quality and solid
Pros
- Issues with strings snapping
- There’s a need for small adjustment of the bridge
- Fittings are made of low-quality ebony
Mendini MV300 Solid Wood Satin Antique Violin
Mendini is an entry-level brand by Cecilio, a well-respected maker of all types of musical instruments for students, with headquarters in California. Their Mendini MV300 violin offers great value. It’s available in all sizes, from 1/32 to 4/4.
The maple and spruce body has a beautiful red “satin antique” finish that gives this instrument a very warm sound. And it also looks beautiful. The fingerboard and tuning pegs are also maple.
The MV300 uses Cecilio branded strings, and an extra set is provided. The set also includes an extra bridge. The brazilwood bow features “genuine unbleached horsehair”, and if you order the 1/16 or 1/32 size, you’ll get an extra bow. Other accessories include rosin and a padded shoulder rest.
Pros
- Beautiful finish.
- Extra bridge.
- Available in all sizes.
- Very affordable.
Pros
- The strings are mediocre.
Aliyes Solid Wood Violin (4/4 Full-size)
The Aliyes violin is the least expensive violin in this review, but it’s still a very playable instrument. The solid spruce top and maple neck are hand-carved, and the top is purfled. It arrives already strung, so you don’t have to put strings on yourself.
The included bow is made of brazilwood with “high-quality horsetail.” The plush soft zippered case includes backpack straps. Also provided is a block of rosin, a practice mute, and an extra set of strings.
This instrument comes with a 1-year warranty. It’s available in full 4/4 size only.
Pros
- Very inexpensive.
- Hand-carved.
Pros
- Non-brand name strings.
Ricard Bunnel G2
Kennedy Violins has been putting out violins out on the market for over 15 years now. Their main goal being solid, 100% satisfied customers. If you will shop with Kennedy Violins, they will make sure that you are one happy, satisfied customer. Joel Kennedy, the founder, started the company when he found that most of the student violins his students were playing were simply unacceptable. Mr. Kennedy decided to take matters into his own hands and started Kennedy Violins.
Each luthier at Kennedy Violins is handpicked and each violin is handcrafted. There are no factory-made instruments here. The hand of a luthier carefully carves and assembles the whole violin before it arrived at your doorstep. Many string-instrument enthusiasts love Kennedy Violins since that is the sole thing that the company focuses on: stringed instruments. Every day they take customer feedback into consideration, using it to make their instruments better.
The Ricard Bunnel has a fantastic, rich, mellow warm tone that is hard to find anywhere else, especially in student violin outfits. Its high-notes don’t screech and melt in very nicely with the rest of the strings when played together. If you like playing a violin that has smooth harmonies, then the Ricard Bunnel is a great choice.
Pros
- Comes with a case
- High-quality Mongolian horse-hair bow
- Solid shoulder-rest
- Oil-based finish (no thick layers of lacquer)
Pros
- May seem heavy for some
Best Cheap Violin Buying Guide
What To Look For When Buying a Student Violin
Buying a student acoustic violin can be an exciting and scary experience. It’s hard to know what to look for and what to avoid when you don’t have any experts to ask. Luckily, we managed to round up all the vital information you will need to know when buying a violin and included it in this short, comprehensive article. Hopefully, by the end, you will be able to make a balanced decision as to which violin will suit you best!
Budget
Buying an expensive violin for a student is not unheard of. A student acoustic violin can range in price from 50$ to $500 or more. Setting up your budget before you start shopping is vital. This will help you narrow down all the exciting options to a small pool of choices. This, in turn, will allow you to make a decision based on your budget in particular. It can be easy to get carried away when buying a violin.
You want the best sound you can get, and even if your set your budget to 200$, you can still end up getting convinced by the fantastic reviews. This can be deceiving, and we recommend to set a specific price range that you are willing to spend. This will help ensures that even if you don’t feel like violin playing is for you, you won’t have spent all of your savings and have the instrument gather dust in the corner.
Sound
Each of the beginner violins listed in our review section has its own and unique sound, that’s why we took our time to discuss the perks of each violin. It’s important to decide which kind of sound suits you and the genres you will be playing in general. Some violin outfits have lively, optimistic tones, while others have deeper, richer tones.
Some beginner violins are better for playing faster, more upbeat melodies while others work exceptionally well when playing sonatas and the alike.
We recommend for you to narrow down the spectrum of what genres you will want to play. There are plenty of demons online of what the violins sound like, and this can help greatly. Visiting your local music shop can also help, since you can ask the employees to play the instrument for you. Then you can decide, which violin sounds better with classical music, pop covers etc.
Conclusion-choose your best cheap violin
Choosing from different violins to buy can be very exciting! After watching countless videos on YouTube of professional and intermediate players and going to dozens of concerts, you are probably eager to get started. After reading all of the information, the buying guide and the reviews, you may be a bit confused.
There are so many options, and so many quality student violins to choose from that it can get overwhelming.
We recommend going to your local violin shop, where you can also ask the opinion of the employees. Usually, you can ask them to play something for you, too. This ensures that you will hear what the violin really sounds like from experienced intermediate players. Going on YouTube is also a good idea since there are hundreds of demos where you can watch people playing the particular violin you want. This is wonderful since you can get an idea of what kind of genre of music works best with each violin.
Regardless, we hope you find your ideal student violin that you will be able to spend countless hours practicing on!
