Knilling vs Cremona violin - Any deals?

[daisyd]

We're getting DS a violin and his teacher recommended Knilling or Cremona violins. Anyone have experiience with these? Please let me know any pros and cons. We'll be talking to the teacher as well but I thought I'd ask here too.

Any chance there will be deals for Black friday? THanks!

[bisous]

How old is DD? Is this a full sized violin or a smaller one? I have a lot of violin playing relatives and DS2 takes lessons. EVERYONE told us to rent vs buy for smaller violins. As far as purchasing a full sized instrument it is such an individualized process. DS2 will be inheriting one of his grandfather's violins and he has to determine which one fits him best, if that makes sense! So I guess I've always heard, if in doubt, rent. I'm curious if this advice is consistent with what other's have heard on the board.

For reference, DS2's teacher is a suzuki trained teacher, has a grammy, and plays regularly on "The Voice", lol.

[doberbrat]

Those are some pretty different violins IME. Love the knilling violin sounds. Cremona may have some better violins at a higher price point than what I've seen but the ones I've seen are the ~$100 variety that are pretty awful. I'll try to check the girls' .... pretty sure one of theirs is a cremona and its a piece of junk. Doesn't stay in tune for an hour sounds scratchy etc.

Unless you know for sure a child is going to stick to playing an instrument AND you have someone to hand it down to, renting is prob the better bet. Esp b/c when you rent you get ins on the instrument. If you buy its yours. You'd be shocked how many kids lose or damage their instruments.

[basil]

Is this his first violin?
Our music school actually recommended buying off amazon for DS’s first 1/8 size violin that I bought when he was 5. It lasted him 1.5 years and cost $70. Renting was like $30 a month so it came out way cheaper. I’m sure the sound was not great but neither was he. Mendini was the brand. He didn’t damage it and it held tune reasonably well, though hard to tell because he was always so out of tune with his fingers! ;)

This fall he sized up to a 1/4. They again recommended buying an inexpensive one. I paid a little more, about $130? Cause he’s slightly better now. Only problem was I dropped the bow and broke it. Bought a new one the teacher recommended which was $40 and then I could tell it was much higher quality.

If it’s his first instrument I don’t think there a lot of downside to the $70 amazon special...

[bisous]

Is this his first violin?
Our music school actually recommended buying off amazon for DS’s first 1/8 size violin that I bought when he was 5. It lasted him 1.5 years and cost $70. Renting was like $30 a month so it came out way cheaper. I’m sure the sound was not great but neither was he. Mendini was the brand. He didn’t damage it and it held tune reasonably well, though hard to tell because he was always so out of tune with his fingers! ;)

This fall he sized up to a 1/4. They again recommended buying an inexpensive one. I paid a little more, about $130? Cause he’s slightly better now. Only problem was I dropped the bow and broke it. Bought a new one the teacher recommended which was $40 and then I could tell it was much higher quality.

If it’s his first instrument I don’t think there a lot of downside to the $70 amazon special...

Interesting. My Dad really recommended against buying a cheap instrument. He thought that it really did impact the enjoyment and sound of the instrument which leads to less interest in lessons, etc. But as I said I'm interested in comparing what others hear versus what I hear in my little corner of the world.

[daisyd]

Thanks all for weighing in. We rented for a year and we realize now that DS1 will likely stick to the violin. He needs the next size up soon which is 3/4. The teacher said it would last him about 2 years. It would be cheaper to buy than rent for the next 2 years. The violins we are looking at are in $250 range. It would be his big Xmas gift.