4/4 Violin hunting

We usually leave it on the piano, covered with a little cloth to avoid any dust goes in through the f holes. Is it a no-no?? Should it be in a case always, even at home??

Guys, do you keep your violin in a case at home??

disorganised, we are very happy with the case. We also like the locking system. No one can open other us! It gives us peace of mind as it will be left on a rack in a corridor at school where anyone can access. I think Prada bought Gewa Bio for her DD. You may ask her for her review on the case? As long as I can remember, her DD was super happy with it.

Oblong cases were out of choice for travelling reason (flight).

I didn't think of cleaning neither, BUT I did think of sticking stickers and that's another reason why it HAD TO be a hard case.

NeverEver, black is cool. Black would be totally fine if I wasn't obsessed with sunlight issues. If I had let DS choose it would have been gold or silver... He loves bling bling. He shouldn't be a musician if he wants to own lots of bling bling...

We saw a really nice oblong case under £100. I saw it at Old Violin Shop and also at Matthew Coltman. I have the rain cover from the same maker so I'll check the name later. So yes, don't need to spend £££ for daily use. We travel a lot. For instance we are outside of uk for the whole summer usually. We really needed something more than daily school use.

I thought about getting hygrometer just because it seemed to be recommended. But in the end I concluded no point. I've got one at home though. I just keep it next to where we keep the violin. Sometimes it shows too dry but never too wet. I may put a glass of water if I'm concerned but I don't think we live in an extreme weather condition anyway!

I always thought I would get a hard case for a full size for some reason. But you are right, most of modern cases should be fine. I see more soft cases at nco and more hard cases at jd. So it really is personal choice. One negative thing of our hard case for me is it doesn't have outer pockets which are quite useful for slipping little things or even music.

I was considering BAM or Gewa. But I read quite a few negative reviews for BAM, not soft cases but hard cases. They are of course good cases but some people seem to think it doesn't live up to the high price. Gewa is slightly cheaper, I think.

Another thing I cared about was the colour. I didn't want to have anything dark. In fact I only wanted white due to the reflective power of the sunlight. I'm quite nerdy when it comes to choosing items... But I really think it will make a difference on a sunny day. Obviously you won't leave the case in direct sunlight. But DS would walk to a bus stop or school carrying it on his bag... You can even buy a outer coat for winter.

Which maker are you looking at?

I was prepared to invest in a good case - I thought quality violin would deserve well protection! I didn't want to buy a soft case, for instance. But many quality hard cases were £500+... It's as if buying him a designer bag!! So I felt no way... In the end I picked Gewa Air. It was £300+ so still expensive but acceptable for my sense. We get lots of compliments and even the teacher really liked it (she uses BAM). We are happy with our choice. It's light, compact and strong.

However, my dream case would be Musafia. Their standard cases are too heavy but they do make lighter and more compact models which would suite our needs. Maybe one day!

Good luck, not God luck...

Yesterday DS took the violin to school because he had to play something. Normally children leave their violins in the room where the violin teacher uses for lessons, so no one will touch it and safe. However, yesterday was organised by school, not by the violin teacher, and he was not in so no safe lesson room was available! DS asked if he could leave it in the office which was accepted. Came back home with arms and legs (well not literally!). Phew!!

NeverEver, we kept violins in the living room because that's where DS normally practises. Every time we had DS's friends came around I had to move all of them to our bedroom. At some points we had more than 4 and DH was joking that we became a dealer.

se22, thanks for the update. Hope the teacher approves your choice. God luck!

Martin Swan

I contacted him after a kind poster recommended. I rang him and the meeting was set pretty quickly even though he lived far away from London. He seems to have recently moved to Somerset but when we met he was still up North, I think. He has lots business in London so he comes quite frequently.

As you can see from his website, he has new and old violins. At the time, I'd just started looking for more reasonable options, so I was only interested in his new violins (he's got lots of old violins which are a lot more expensive). There are several models for the new ranges. After brief explanation about our situation on the phone, he brought me one of his Artist Violins. However he was adamant DS may not be satisfied by that. His new violins are great for learners, even for very serious ones. Because he pays great deal of attention to producing the balanced and responsive sound which is very important yet surprisingly quite hard to find. The reason why he thought it may not be for DS was because he felt DS may have already developed his own taste for colours and characters, and his new violins may appear to lack strong individuality/characters, which are actually good selling points of those violins though.

Martin came across very honest and open. No frills nor ribbons, just talks things pin-point, which I liked. He gave me lots of advice from his experience.

DS did liked the clear, pure and somehow sweet sound. He also found it easy to play. It projected very well too. But he felt it lacking richness for his taste. It's really only his view and I am sure many people find Martin's violins perfect.

Shockingly, I still have his violin.... I contacted him several times and he knows we decided not to take it so need to return. But somehow the arrangement hasn't been made yet... In fact, writing the review reminded me I've got to contact him again. It's scary to keep the several thousands pound in our home...

luch? luck!!!

Thanks for the update, MidLife. Your journey with auction items are truly fascinating. I don't know anyone around me who took in such a challenge!! Your DH should start a thread one day. I am serious though. It would be very much educational. Good luch with the hunting and please let us know when you finally find 'it'.