ViolinSmart Full Size 4/4 Violin

I purchased this item for one of my students to try out and when I received it, I was utterly shocked at the quality of the instrument. First of all, the instrument had tiny pieces of wood painted onto the instrument as if the instrument wasn't properly cleaned before it was painted. The paint was not varnish and the fingerboard, chinrest and pegs were not made out of ebony nor pearwood (as both are hardwood). The holes in the pegs were so small that you need to drill a slightly larger hole to get certain sets of strings into them. Also, the top plate is not made out of spruce, it was maple; the purfling is painted on, the bridge had no grooves, is too soft, and is improperly shaped, and most importantly the nut on the fingerboard was way too high making it very very difficult to play.Apart from the instrument, the bow did not have an ebony frog and it was poorly haired and made (there seems to be a huge chunk of hair hear the tip of the bow. The hair on the bow was very stiff causing excessive noise when the instrument is played; it was improperly arched making the bow look a bit warped, also the bow length was a bit shorter than the average bow allowing it to fit slightly easier into the case.The case was the only slightly decent thing about this product, however, you may find that the bow does not fit well or does not even fit into the case at all. I can place the bow onto the bottom bow holder, but I cannot do it for the top no matter what orientation I put it in.If you are considering to play seriously this is definitely not a recommended product; it is like a toy. The repairs on this instrument will outweigh the cost. The bridge, chinrest, fingerboard and pegs will need to be replaced; the bridge needs to be replaced with harder wood, and most importantly the nut needs to either be replaced or lowered. The total repair expenses will come out to be over $50-$100.

Straight up this is NOT a legit instrument. Don't buy this expecting to practice or learn anything because it's so poorly made that it's essentially useless as an instrument. Having said that, it's actually really cool in some other contexts:What it is good for:1. Decoration on a wall2. As a movie or costume prop3. Letting a toddler play with it as they watch orchestra videos on YouTube4. Self-defense weapon5. Dissuading someone from actually learning because it's impossible to play properly6. That's itI bought it for reason #3 & my kid LOVES this cheap violin-looking piece of plywood. For the $25 I spent it has well-served it's purpose & continues to entertain my toddler for months now. I would NOT buy this for anyone who is genuinely curious about playing violin unless you want to shatter their dreams by making it simply impossible to learn.

We bought this for our daughter for Christmas. She has really expressed interest so we thought we would try out a less expensive one first. It was delivered after the expected delivery date so that had me a little scared we wouldn't get it in time for Christmas but we did. After opening it and trying to set it up it seemed the bridge was a little miss shapen but we made it work. We had to replace one of the strings because the end was a little frayed but the local music store helped out with that. When tuning it, make sure to push in a little so it will grab the wood other wise it just slips back. We couldn't figure out why it wasn't making sound as first but after a little help from Google we figured out that the bow needs ALOT of raisin to break it in.Over all I would recommend this for a child or beginner.

The violin itself does not seem to be that bad, but I have just a few gripes. Firstly, the bow. It came to me so loose that even when I tightened it all the way, the hair was too loose andt just flowed everywhere. This may be an issue of humidity, as I am in Hawaii where it is immensely humid, but then the hair just came out of the frog. It just *came out*. When I took it to a luthier, he said the bow was just a s*** beginner's bow (as I already knew), and he suggested I buy a new one. His cheapest new bow was $125, but he sold me a very nice used blackwood bow for $50--the same price they charge to rehair a bow. $50 I did not hope to spend, but at least I now have a good bow out of the deal.Another issue was the bridge. Now, it was not installed when it arrived, which I expected. Bridges are not really "installed" because there is no mechanism to hold it in place aside from the tension of the strings. That is a fairly simple thing to put in, and helps reduce strain and extend life of the violin while shipping. My problem is--another thing this luthier informed me--that the bridge was not even *shaped*! It was not cut down to the proper size and there were no notches for the strings! He did not ask me if I wanted him to do it, as no doubt he could tell I did not even want to spend $50 on a bow. I would have asked him, but I knew it would be costly. This may or may not have been a mistake, but i went ahead and did it myself. It is a beginner violin anyway. Well, as it so happens, I may not have done such a bad job after all, because now that I have a good bow, and have installed the bridge and tuned the violin, the sound quality is actually alright. It is not even on the radar of a Stradivarius, but then again, neither am I. It'll do, but the bows need to be quality checked, and if the included bridge is going to be blank, the money to pay a luthier to do it should also be included.

this is an ok violin i am just having trouble with the bow the hairs keep braking maybe i am going to have to buy a new bow also the pegs are very hard i dont know if i have to do something else to it but when i tune it they are very stiff. i am not in love with the fine tuners it seems like they can brake any moment the rosin is no good . i bought this for my 10 yr old daughter and since i have my own violin we have been using my rosin but advice buy a new better rosin the case is good on the outside but the inner lining seems a bit cheap i mean its just for looks but i think that once i see if violin is the instrument that my daughter will be willing to keep playing we will purchase a better quality one .. hope this helps anyone who is looking to buy a violin