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Original poster

4/4 Violin hunting

540 replies

Kutik73 · 12/02/2018 17:41

We've started hunting for a 4/4 violin for DS. We have visited two luthiers so far and each let us take one home. We can keep one for a week and another for two weeks.

DS likes one in particular and it costs £5500 for the violin alone. I know the price is not always mirrored to the quality of the sounds. It only makes difficult to judge as I don't play any instrument. So I did a bit of research and accidentally found the same violin being sold back in October for £1200-1800. It's auctioned so the exact selling price was not displayed. Looking at the photo, it has the same marks and scars so it's definitely the same violin we have here.

I can see the bridge, chin rest, and tuners has been replaced. But the selling notes stated the condition as excellent so I assume major work wasn't required by the luthier. But I don't know.

Surely luthiers have to make money so I understand it's common practice for them to buy something cheaper and add some work and sell at a higher price. But more than doubling the bought price sound quite a lot, especially it seemed to be in great conditions already.

Should I be careful or can I trust the luthier? I hope he is not pricing unnecessarily high... Any input/advice/sharing experiences would be greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
NeverEverAnythingEver · 13/05/2018 16:23

I have ordered a case. Grey. Though DS was briefly tempted by the hot pink one...

Original poster
Kutik73 · 13/05/2018 16:00

We bought a case in Feb and bought a violin in Apr!

OP posts:
GrannyHaddock · 13/05/2018 14:07

Look on EBay SE22. I'm looking at a Zest 3/4 violin case as I write, two colours available at present. £25.99.I am sure there are others on Amazon .

Original poster
Kutik73 · 13/05/2018 13:04

I've seen many colourful hard cases with BAM and Gewa and other cheaper names for 4/4. Never seen for smaller sizes though. I don't think thinking of a case in advance is premature. You need one ready when you finally get a violin. If you buy a case together with a violin it's fine but if you like to buy something other than the particular luthier can offer you need to shop around and get it BEFORE you buy a violin for safe journey home!

OP posts:
se22mother · 13/05/2018 12:48

Does anyone know if you can get the hard, coloured cases for small size violins , or only full size? Dd would love one but I can't find any. Saying that we still haven't chosen a violin, so maybe a little premature.

GrannyHaddock · 13/05/2018 11:47

Any bow and case included as part of a package are likely to be very humble ones. I would avoid any case with turn buttons that hold the bow in place; they are a menace, especially the cheap ones. It's easy to catch and break the hair taking the bow out, and putting it back you need to push the hair out of the way before turning the button, risking adding sweat/grease to the bow, which will simply stop it working properly. I pay £60-odd pounds for a rehair now. You can buy a serviceable bow from China for about the same price or less, post free! If you have a case like that, use the back of a finger for that job, it'll be cleaner.
Zippers nowadays are very reliable and long-lasting and as I said before present little danger of damage.

Mendingfences · 13/05/2018 11:03

Our luthier offered a 'package reduction' on the violin plus bow plus case but we still had to choose and buy the case iyswim

Original poster
Kutik73 · 13/05/2018 10:01

We had to buy a case separately for all the violins we bought (1/2, 3/4 and 4/4). We bought whatever available from the same luthier we bought violin from for 1/2 and 3/4 (both were secondhand). I got this fussy only for 4/4 (but ended up buying the case from the same luthier by accident - we bought a case a way before we decide violin).

Some luthiers offered a free case though. So you may be lucky, depending on where you get the violin from I guess.

I don't see any problem with zipper closing. So if you think click mechanism cases would be a problem, you can look for zippers? DS secures the violin with the magic tape inside the case, then click and lock, so it's less likely to have the violin falling out incident.

OP posts:
NeverEverAnythingEver · 13/05/2018 09:43

Also - I do need to buy one, don't I? If we get the violin from a maker they seem unlikely to sell cases too?

NeverEverAnythingEver · 13/05/2018 09:42

We are having trouble choosing a case. Mainly because I think that if it's not a zipper closing the violin will fall out at some point because DS2 would not check the click mechanism things properly. I'm not worrying unnecessarily, am I!?

Original poster
Kutik73 · 13/05/2018 09:15

it looks a lot smaller on him than on her
I'll copy this tactic this summer!!!

We've never really had a real problem so far, but as I am an incredible worrier I always try to prepare for the worst. Grin I know airlines can be flexible but it depends on the day and the person who deals with it so I cannot feel safe unless it officially states that violin is allowed.

OP posts:
Mendingfences · 13/05/2018 08:44

We have travelled fairly regularly on an airline which officially does not allow violin cases in the cabin as they are too long. That said they are usually ok with all sorts of odd shaped things. We always make sure dh carries the violin on his back rather than dd1 - it looks a lot smaller on him than on her 😁. We also make sure as a family we don't have much carry on, then there are usually passengers pushing it much more than we are

Original poster
Kutik73 · 13/05/2018 07:57

Sorry to keep going on with this case/flight issue, but just to clarify my worries as I am a worrier. So you think 115cm would be enough for oblong too? DS's case is 78cm long, and adding another side and depth, it comes up just about 114-115cm. So I thought oblong or any other normal violin cases (80+ long) would be out for this particular airline.

But thank to Granny coming back on this, I checked a few articles and regulations and it seems these days most of airlines allow violins to be carried into the plane. So this particular airline may give us more generous allowance in near future.

We had to change our flight at the last minute in the past as the airline we originally booked (I think BA) didn't allow violin. But I actually found an article about BA changed their policy late last year. That's brilliant. As you said, Musicians Union seem to have been working hard on this.

OP posts:
GrannyHaddock · 12/05/2018 21:09

A violin case will be about 83 long.

Original poster
Kutik73 · 12/05/2018 20:49

Ok I just quickly double checked the details. The airline allows to carry on small musical instruments that measure less than 45 linear inches (115 cm). It's quite tight. DS's compact case may just make it (or may not actually..) but no way oblong. But this is this particular airline's policy and I'm sure others would be more generous?

OP posts:
GrannyHaddock · 12/05/2018 19:39

I'll give it a rest now!

Original poster
Kutik73 · 12/05/2018 19:33

Granny, it's not that oblong cases are banned. Just the allowed total length of this particular airliner is not great, I thought any case larger than DS's case would be out.

OP posts:
GrannyHaddock · 12/05/2018 19:06

The variation in permitted cabin bag size among the different airlines is bewildering. All the same I have never heard that you can't take an oblong violin case on to a plane. I have travelled with our orchestra many times but don't know if special arrangements were made for us. I think it would be common knowledge though, if oblong cases were banned.

Original poster
Kutik73 · 12/05/2018 18:33

Or I may have misunderstood! Shock

OP posts:
Original poster
Kutik73 · 12/05/2018 18:31

Granny, I am sure oblong should be allowed by some airlines. But this particular airline specifies it has to be within their set total of L + W + D of the case (sorry don't have the precise details right now!) and thank to the shaped body, our case was just within their specified total length. So I figured oblong couldn't have made it. Volume is not the consideration.

OP posts:
GrannyHaddock · 12/05/2018 18:05

Ok, well! Perhaps you couldn't risk taking your best bows, then, in case the airline lost your suitcase. You can't take ivory or tortoiseshell items into the US now anyway, which would rule out many of the finest bows and any historic piano, but let's not get into that.

I am quite puzzled about the shaped versus oblong case question and I apologise to anyone previously following this thread who has fallen asleep. Firstly, how do you measure the dimensions of a shaped case? Across the thick end, the depth and the length? Or somewhere in the middle to get an average?
A standard cabin bag is 56×45×25. That's about the biggest I can find; there are so many various versions. The sides added together come to 126cm. The volume (sides multiplied together) is 63 litres.
I looked up an oblong violin case at random, a cheap one, Muzip. The sides are 81,15,30, which added together total 126, the same as the cabin bag. But multiplied those figures give 36.45 litres, much less than the cabin bag. So by my calculations an oblong case should be allowed. I know you have already chosen a case, and I'm not here to rock the boat but this info might be useful to others.

Original poster
Kutik73 · 12/05/2018 17:25

Granny, yes apparently you pack your bows in a bow case and it goes to the suitcase!

OP posts:
Original poster
Kutik73 · 12/05/2018 17:24

NeverEver, we tested out before purchasing. DS's shoulder rest is not foldable but not one of those massive ones neither. It fits just, and it doesn't move around as the case comes with magic tapes to keep a shoulder rest to stay in place. We put cloth on top to avoid any rubbing/scratching. DS also carries a pencil, mute, ear plugs, rosin and spare strings in the case.

OP posts:
GrannyHaddock · 12/05/2018 16:12

I'd heard about a violin case with no room for bows! Sounds barmy to me. Do they put bows into their hold luggage?
Never, that's one of those "it all depends" questions. You could only find out by trying before buying. My experience is that it can work, but might involve the rest being crammed under, over, or beside the neck in which case (!) careful packing with a duster to protect the violin is essential.

NeverEverAnythingEver · 12/05/2018 16:03

Is there space for a shoulder rest in a shaped case?