DVD-quality lessons (including tabs/sheet music) available for immediate viewing on any device.
Take your playing to the next level with the help of a local or online fiddle teacher.
Monthly newsletter includes free lessons, favorite member content, fiddle news and more.
Premier Sponsors
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!
216 reviews in the archive.
Where Purchased: musicians friend
I have an LR Baggs pickup on my fiddle, and for about a year I used the LR Baggs Venue DI (approx $300). We use a Bose L1 Model 2 sound system, which is as good as it gets for acoustic music. However, my fiddle never sounded real good on any of the settings on the LR Baggs Venue. I recently bought a Fishman Aura Spectrum and set it on Bluegrass. I used it for the first time at a gig two days ago, and I was absolutely shocked at how good the Fishman Aura Spectrum made my fiddle sound. I have been searching for the good woody, acoustic fiddle sound for more than 15 years. I have two LR Baggs Venue DI's which I am now replacing with two new Fishman Aura Spectrums.
If you are looking for a good acoustic fiddle sound from your pickup or fiddle mike for live music, Fishman is the way to go. Nothing else I have tried is even close. The Fishman is about $50 more expensive than the LR Baggs, but it is very well worth it. I can't quit thinking about how good my fiddle sounds over PA now.
Overall Rating: 10
Where Purchased: Dudley
Year Purchased: 2009
Price Paid: 5000 ($US)
Perfect rich, full, strong sound. Very well balanced. Tremendous flexibility on volume. BY FAR the best sounding acoustic fiddle I have ever owned or heard.
Sound Rating: 10
The action was perfect. I cannot think of a change that I could recommend.
Setup Rating: 10
Spruce top, buginba back. Bubinga is a special, very hard wood that produces a wonderful full tone. No custom inlays. No flaws. This is not your Chinese-looking highly varnished slick fiddle. It is a real wood fiddle.
Appearance Rating: 10
Hardware is first class.
Reliability Rating: 10
I have never had to get any warranty work or help.
Customer Service: 10
I like the peg tuners. They look like regular wood pegs, but they have gears inside.
Components Rating: 10
I have always wanted a rich, woody-tone fiddle that had good volume.
Dudley fits the bill. I like it so much that I bought a second one from
Dudley just in case my other one got damaged or lost. At present,
I string the second fiddle in Cajun tuning.
My fiddle is a left-handed model.
Overall Rating: 10
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent (EU/GDPR Only)
Copyright 2026 Fiddle Hangout. All Rights Reserved.