Grade 6 violin and beyond - how much did you pay for your child's instrument?

My viola cost a grand from a proper dealer

My violin was £15 at a car boot. Worth £700 now and I did the restoration myself didn't know any better at 13 so it is possible, if you know what you're looking for, to get lucky

I sat my grade 8 on an old violin - worth about £200. I don't think it is essential. An old, yet basic, violin can produce a beautiful tone.

I wouldn't get too smug, kippersyllabub: the recorder I did my diploma exam on cost £1500 (and that was 15 years ago...)

My DD was at a very similar stage recently - age 13 had passed grade 6 on a borrowed violin. She will want to go to grade 8 plus, maybe not to diploma level though.
After a couple of failed attempts at buying something cheap (turned out to be bad violins, surprise surprise) I spotted a possible violin on Ebay. It didn't sell, so I then contacted the seller and arranged to go and try it out. Cost slightly over £200. Daughter loves it, prefers it to the borrowed violin, which is a lot more valuable. Should take her to grade 8, and if she then needs something better she can keep it as her spare. Didn't include a bow. It's an antique German instrument, I think.
I'd also spoken to a specialist violin shop, and they thought that you could buy something that would go to grade 8 for £600 plus.
So my advice would be to look on Ebay, but make sure that you try before you buy.

My DD1 started on a 3/4 aged 10, then had a full sized aged 12, and after grade 4 we bought her a German ~1890 restored violin for £1000 which has a beautiful sound, nothing like the ones she played before, plus a carbon fiber bow.
It is a thing of beauty.
We had an open mind and waited a bit for the right instrument, nothing she tested and played before had appealed to her.
Compared to the piano it was a bargain
Good insurance is needed, including cover for the violin left alone in car etc, as some insurers have a get out clause I think. Ours is insured with Allianz.

Smug vibes here: recorder suitable for grade 6 and 7 set us back £70 new...

My DD (working towards grade 7) borrows my violin but didn't want me to spend too much on one for her which she would be taking about and leaving in school. Hers cost £250 for the entire outfit and now her technique is more solid she can make it sound great. A good instrument can cover up bad playing a bit but a good player can make a decent student model sound good. Don't compromise on good strings though.

On the VAT scheme bear in mind VAT only applies to new instruments and you will probably get a better instrument second hand. Highly recommend finding a good dealer and trying things out (make sure the bow is well rosined when trying out) as different instruments suit different people.

Gives me hope hearing stories of returned stuff from well meaning drivers.

Makes me shudder thinking of the £2.5M stradivarius last week left on a train...but ended well like the french horn

Don't worry,we haven't actually paid for the tuba, it belongs to the local youth orchestra but I found out how much it cost when I had to insure it.

I'll see you your french horn left on the bus and raise you a euphonium left on the bus (4.5k). When we insured it we made sure that they knew it was in sole possession of a (then) 11 year old and that it went to school on the bus once a week. We were lucky that it was a dedicated school bus so when the driver got back to the garage he knew which school it belonged to and as there was only one child in school with a sizeable instrument I was quickly tracked down.

After that I fastened on a luggage label with my phone number on it but he never did it again. He didn't forget it - he was swept up in the exiting horde and the doors shut before he could get back on. Well that's all right then.

Lancelotte beat me too it. 2.5k for a respectable French horn here ! Which he then left on the bus.

I did suggest if he ever did it again an ear ring with a chair to clip to the horn so he couldn't forget it !

For parents with children in state schools can I flag up the Assisted Instrument Purchase Scheme. If it's a portable instrument that they play in a school or local authority ensemble or they have lessons at school from a LEA teacher then you can get the instrument VAT free.

at the Tuba! Can anyone recommend stringers as a reputable source? I need to be thinking about biting the bullet... Agony - can you ebay your DP instead?

Disorganised - I've joined the musician thread so see you there!

Thanks for the info Agony. Is it the norm to upgrade and then upgrade again for the top grades and then college?

Set a budget then go to somewhere like Hamilton Caswell for a day of playing everything that you can afford

Prada and disorganised

Come and chat on the music thread, there's lots of us on there and so many helpful friendly advice too.

My dd has been gifted an old bavarian violin with a full history of it's origins.
We have recently insured it for 15k and she doesn't play anymore.
I couldn't sell it, but it sits here in an old case waiting for her to play she really doesn't have the time though.

wow Lancelottie. That's an awesome cost investment!

Bloody hell,I was expecting to pay about £500 for a decent violin. Am I being unrealistic? Would we need to upgrade and then upgrade again? Pradaqueen,my ds like your dd wants to go all the way so happy to invest and very well done to her for passing grade 3. It's interesting that she's skipped to grade 5. Ds doesn't t want to do the exams at the mo as he has Aspergers and gets very stressed but is working through the books with his teacher along with other stuff to expand his repertoire Sorry to hijack your thread Agony. .

Just be glad they don't play tuba.
A grade 8 standard one of those can set you back £8000.

Also watching with interest...DD (9) is very tiny for her age and is using a 1/2 Stentor Conservatoire which she got this time last year. She has just passed the Gd3 really well in December and is now doing her Gd 5 this term but her new Russian Violinist teacher (who we only started with in July) is in a different league of teaching/Knowledge etc and is pushing for us to invest in a better instrument (fair enough). She has tried DD with an 18thC 3/4 violin that one of her other students has outgrown and is a 'slim' one but it was slightly too big and the sound not that much better so I think we will be off to her teachers recommended places of Stringers in London and Woodbridge Violins and likely to end up in the £1500-1800 camp.... :-( she does want to go to the RCM or Guildhall so I am happy to invest to help her get there. Happy to hear of any reviews of these places or any other places to go and visit if anyone has any opinions?

aargh! sorry

That's a decent budget Agony, and you should pick up a really nice one for that when you're ready to change.

Great point on theft - If I had the money and thought ahead, I would have kept one at school in the music locker as right now due to tube commute and lots of bags, the violin stays at school during the week (safely) and therefore never gets practiced on unless she makes it in for 7.30am (I know, wishful thinking). All because of after school club swimming where she'll get the violin lifted from the swim baths for sure...

That's a decent budget Agony, and you should pick up a really nice one for that when you're ready to change.

Great point on theft - If I had the money and thought ahead, I would have kept one at school in the music locker as right now due to tube commute and lots of bags, the violin stays at school during the week (safely) and therefore never gets practiced on unless she makes it in for 7.30am (I know, wishful thinking). All because of after school club swimming where she'll get the violin lifted from the swim baths for sure...