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The fiddle reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!
215 reviews in the archive.
Hey folks,
Wanted to share a really great fiddle purchasing experience. I came across Royce Burt from his YouTube channel (see link below). Royce is a wizard who restores and revoices new/old fiddles and has a huge revolving selection. I noticed that he lives about 3.5 hours from me so I emailed him and we scheduled a day for me to visit.
I spent about 5 hours at his house and played dozens of fiddles and twice as many old bows. I left with an absolute gem of a fiddle and bow combination and am ecstatic. He also adjusted the action on one of my other fiddles (which I am unlikely to play anytime soon with the new purchase).
Roy's prices are super reasonable and I cannot express what a nice human being Roy is. My experience had none of that intimidating "used car salesman" flavor that I have often had when trying fiddles at a brick and mortar store. Roy and I played each fiddle and bow together and he gave me his honest opinion (both positive and negative) about each one until I found my perfect combination.
I almost never rate anything online but felt the need to share this really incredible experience with others.
Happy Fiddlin',
Michael Gordon
Links to Roy's webpage and YouTube sites:
https://www.royceburtviolins.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/burtvillefarms
Overall Rating: 10
I recently bought another codabow from them. Fedex trashed it. I called and Chris immediately put another on the way, all I did was email pics. Awesome customer service, they always send a hand-written note with the item. Great prices.
Even though they specialize in electric, they have several items for acoustic also, especially bows. If you do go amplified or to 5/6/7-strings, they are the ones to turn to. Located in Durham, NC, they even have a storefront (though by appt now due to virus)
Overall Rating: 10
Great place to do business. Highly recommended.
Overall Rating: 10
I bought a Chinese viola on Ebay from Yita Music, and it's great. Sounds great, and is extremely well made. My friend Royce McLarry of the Oklahoma Symphony bought one, and couldn't believe the quality for the price. He now plays his Yita Music viola as his primary instrument. He has all his students buy from them. Having had such good luck from a Chinese Ebayer, I recently bought a viola from Feng Violin Shops, and boy was I disappointed. The neck was a good five degres off center. I told ShiFen Feng how disappointed I was, and he promised to make me a new one. Fool that I am, I kept the first one to compare to the one he said he'd make for me, but he never did. It's now too late to send it back, and it's too late to give him negative feedback. It looked perfect in the picture. Photo shopped, perhaps? I'm stuck with it. Anyway, when it comes to Feng Violin Shops, buyer beware. What you see may not be what you get.
Overall Rating: 2
J.S. Fisher Violins, is my shop. So, I suppose this isn't technically a review. Feel free to pull this post if I'm out of line writing this. But, I've read some pretty bad reviews of some of the other shops listed, and I just wanted to say . . .
I guarantee you won't have a similar experience with us. We're a small, family shop. We serve the local schools with rentals, but most of our business is online, so we've worked hard putting together a nice website. If you need help, just call or email. I guarantee you'll hear back from us within a day. And, I'll be happy to help you, personally. If something isn't right, we'll fix it. If any of our regular customers are here, I hope you'll post a review and back me up. If you've never been to our site, stop on in or give a call. You will not be disappointed with the service.
Jim Fisher
Overall Rating: 10
I bought a lovely breton violin from corilon violins in Germany without trying it but what helped was the sound file on their website , and I wasn't disappointed. The instrument was sent immediately in excellent packaging despite the fact is was Sunday . The instrument was exactly as described and at a price which was a lot cheaper than I would have paid at home . Service and violin setup excellent. I would certainly shop there again should I need anything else. Highly recommended.
Overall Rating: 10
I just read a review of Amazoniastrings on this site and I would like to tell our community that I had a VERY GOOD experience with them. I ordered a BAM case, highteck contoured for my 1690 Stradivari violin and they were very professional. I talked to the costumer service and talked to a person by the name of Nick who was able to help me. I received the case 2 days later and am very HAPPY.
Overall Rating: 10
DO NOT TRUST THIS STORE.
I don't know what this company's reputation used to be, but this is NOT a store to be trusted. Do not purchase from this store!!! It is impossible to get in contact with these people. They take your money and do not deliver the product. If you have emailed with them to make changes on your order, they may respond and keep apologizing for delays, but ultimately, they won't follow through and will completely ignore you.
And the Customer Service address on their website is NOT their address. It is someone's home, a residential address. I really hope these guys don't scam any one else!
Overall Rating: 1
Kennedy Violins is everything you could hope for in an online store. Their staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and very eager to meet your needs. We were looking for a violin that had certain tonal qualities and were concerned about the looks as well. Travis understood what we were looking for and tried out several violins in order to find the one that most closely matched what we wanted. He also took pictures of the various violins and emailed them to us so that we could see what they looked like before they shipped. The results were a beautiful violin with a great sound. The case is also of very high quality, as are some additional accessories we ordered.
Both Travis and Rachel epitomize great customer service and, based on our experience, you can order your instrument with confidence from Kennedy Violins. They stand behind their merchandise and take extra pains to make sure you are satisfied with your purchase.
The Gand violin itself is beautiful - both visually and audibly. The tone is smooth and consistent, resonance is very good, all seams and joints are tight, and the grain and finish are gorgeous. All components appear to be of very good quality. I don't see how you could go wrong with this violin at the beginner or intermediate levels. And of course, I recommend you buy it from Kennedy Violins. But don't take my word for it - go to their web site, review their policies and watch their videos! If you can't go to a music store in person, I think this is a really safe choice for you.
Overall Rating: 10
Kennedy Violins is the place to go. They not only cheerfully answer all of your questions, they seems to really enjoy talking about their violins. They also have a video for almost every subject you need help.
My G2 is an awesome fiddle and came to me perfectly setup and ready to play. Don't buy or rent till you check them out.
Overall Rating: 10
I just recently purchased a Genial Guarneri fiddle from S G Fiddles and I have to say it is one of the sweetest sounding fiddles I have ever heard. It has lots of power and drive as well as it is very loud. The Genial Guarneri fiddle is excellent and it plays and sounds good enough to play in a band or on stage.The staff at S G Fiddles suggested this fiddle to me and I am so glad they did! They did the set up on it ,and it plays so easy and so smooth, with very little effort. I also like the J. Laselle bow they suggested. It has a nice balances and draws the sound out well. It came with a Protech case that is super nice. The staff at S G Fiddles are very nice and helpful. They listened to me and suggested exactly what I needed to get the sound and playability I was looking for. They did not pressure me at all. They just wanted to help me get what I was looking for. I got my fiddle in only a few days after I ordered it and it was packaged well. S G Fiddles met and exceeded all my expectations.
Overall Rating: 10
I am a beginner, purchasing a starter Fiddle/Violin. I shopped hard online, and found this retailer through Fiddle Hangout links. I received very personal service, step by step advice and a lot of help by e-mail and phone from the owner. This is a small shop, which I like to support anyway, but the service far surpassed my expectations. I was not pressured to over buy and given very detailed but accurate information. The owner is a musician and the set up and recommendations were excellent. When I learn and am ready for an upgrade, I will not shop again...I will contact this seller first. Very high recommendation. While this is my first fiddle, I play mandolin and guitar, and understand how important the specific set up and specifications are to musical success and learning.
Overall Rating: 10
