New Violin _ grade 6 and beyond

[SunonmyFace]

so DD (14) has a 1900 Austrian violin, gentle sound which has got her to grade 5 and could take her beyond, but she has started talking about a better violin. Where would we look? We are in Newcastle, but can travel if needed.
what is a reasonable budget? £1k?

the violin she has cost £350 set up, and seemed sensible for a 10 year old who had to take it to school.
thanks

Talk to the teacher
Ask what she wants different

There is a violin shop in Hexham. I am from the North East too but we went to Cardiff violins for daughter’s ‘forever’ violin. They have a room full of violins, you tell them your budget and they will show you what they have. We were there all day and daughter played over 30 violins until we found ‘the one.’ Totally recommend them, they were brilliant.

Definitely talk to her teacher. Dd's most recent owned violin is worth around 1k and it got her to Grade 8, so I'd say that's a decent enough budget. It's worth making sure you have enough in the pot for a reasonable bow.

Dd started to 'out play' that violin. No matter what she did - her technique is excellent - the sound was lacking. I suspect your dd is probably feeling the same.

Her current instrument is a loan instrument. Our budget cannot keep up with her!

Thank you for the comments. Cardiff sounds amazing, but too far. We have some time in central Scotland planned so hope to get to shops in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Ok, so got to the bottom of the issue with the current violin and it doesn’t project well?

is it at all worth keeping the current violin or will it remain unplaced if not traded in?

Dave Mann violins in Hexham, definitely. Can highly recommend for a budget of £1000 or higher for a forever instrument. Next nearest for similar quality would be Manchester or a Edinburgh.

My tip for choosing is to try them in threes, and make a note of the favourite in each three. Then whittle down until you get your final three. Have a short selection of pieces ready that use the full range of pitch, volume, articulation and play the same things on each instrument. Don’t buy a bow on the same day. You’ll often be allowed to try the violin for a couple of days before committing to buy it.

and ask your teacher! Good luck!

There is The Violin Shop in Glasgow, might be worth asking what they have in that price range. I agree about keeping some of your budget for the bow too. Happy hunting!

Thank you!
we not long bought a car on fibre bow at about the £90 price point - will this need an upgrade too?

Carbon fibre …

I have heard 25 percent of instrument value for bow but mine is definitely not that much ( very amateur bass player)

If you can find a luthier they may be able to adjust the current violin so that it does project better. Cardiff did this for my viola (not bought from them) but any luthier should do it. I can also recommend Alan Milner in Richmond North Yorkshire.

Quick update. Took on board the advice and tried some violins and DD wanted to go with the “tune up” option - not a cheap option, but way cheaper than the upgrade price we’d have been looking at to get the sound she wanted.
She has the violin back “ like hers but louder 😂” and is very happy
thank you for pointing us on the right path