Overall Comments

I am really happy with the fiddle I bought from Don Leister. It sounds very rich, is nice and loud and looks beautiful. I originally sought out Don Leister because of an article I read about him in Fiddler magazine. While visiting Washington, DC I went to several violin shops and then took the 3 hour train ride to Richmond. I am so glad I did! The fiddle I bought from Don is just wonderful. It has a beautiful warm and open sound and it sounds great whether I'm playing a fast dance tune or a sweet and slow song. On my old fiddle my teacher was always telling me that I wasn't playing loud enough, but when I tried to get more sound it got all squeaky. On Don’s fiddle I can play very loud without it sounding harsh at all. My teacher, who plays on a 250 year old German violin said he really likes mine!

I tried out fiddles between 2-5k at the DC violin shops and the one I bought from Don sounds and looks better than anything I tried in DC--even violins that were twice the price. There are a lot of people who say they would prefer an older instrument, but I really like it that I can e-mail the person that made my fiddle! He was able to tell me where in Switzerland the spruce for the top came from. For sentimental reasons, I really liked the idea of a fiddle made with American maple for the back and Don is the only person I had heard of that does that. I am a beginner and had intended to just buy a upgrade, but I don’t want anything else but this instrument. This fiddle will last me long, long time.

Overall Rating

10