Hi, All-
78 year old retired Navy Chief here- from beautiful Winterport, Maine.
I played fingerstyle acoustic guitar for 30+ years- until a disagreement with a tablesaw left me with nerve damage to my left hand pinky- making it difficult to continue playing with that fretting hand. Tried ukulele, but wasn't complex enough to keep my interest up. Started playing Clawhammer Banjo a year ago, and am enjoying that. It's kind of gotten me interested in old-time music, and- as a result- fiddle... that horrible slur of the violin name! lol
However, that being said, I AM interested mostly in traditional fiddle music, not classical. Not sure how much that will impact my instrument choice.
Hoping to learn how to choose a first instrument. I don't believe in buying cheap anything.... it never pays off.
Looking at Fiddlerman's selections, looking at an instrument that comes in at just over $1K...
Looking at Temu, but the logical answer is setup and after-sales service of buying at least within the US.
Just watched a video recommending the "Top 5" entry level violins- suggesting one needen't spend a large amount to begin....
This got me looking at the Kennedy Burnell 2- the Cremora SV-175, & the Eastman VL-100- and others surrounding those models.
Hoping to learn more about that here in this forum, as while I have a lot of experience with other instruments- and have built some- I am not knowledgeable about violins/fiddles.
Wes
Edited by - MarTay6 on 11/01/2026 11:45:27
Welcome to the forum. The fiddle can keep you learning for life!
If you’re looking for something decent at the entry level, $1000 is fairly reasonable. For an instrument at this level, the setup is crucial to its functionality and to its chance of sounding as good as it can. Most commercial violins you’ll find from large retailers won’t be set up very well because setup is where they cut costs to keep the price tag low. Good setup is tome consuming, and large businesses prefer instead to pay seasonal workers to bang out mediocre setups as fast as possible. I knew people who worked at one of the country’s biggest companies, and they were paid for piece work with a quota necessary each day. If they could work quicker, they could meet their quota and maybe knock out a few extras as a bonus, then head home early. This approach did not foster a thoughtful approach to setup, and it didn’t do much for sound. At the first shop where I worked, whenever we took out a new violin from its shipping box, we would immediately throw away the soundpost and bridge to replace them with proper ones so the violins could be rented out. Just getting a good soundpost, bridge, and string set can make a world of difference.
Fiddlerman has become one of the largest online retailers. They have a wide assortment of instruments and many are of good quality. You would still benefit from at least having the setup checked by a good luthier after a purchase, but they ought to have some decent options.
There are at least a couple excellent luthiers in Maine. They may be more geared toward the higher end, but they might give some recommendations for competent work in your area.
Thanks, Rich! I know there's a couple here in Maine, but not sure how much interest they have in lower-end instruments.
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