ALIYES Artistic Violin Set With Hard Case (4/4)

I am writing this review because I think some of the other reviews in this space are unfair — not intentionally, but they seem to be written by people who don’t have much fiddle experience. Of course there are better fiddles than anything you can get for this price. I even own one. I’m an intermediate level student who began playing in my 50s and I used to work part-time in a violin store that sold some very fine instruments. I usually play on a nameless fiddle that my repair guy tells me is over 100 years old. It’s in the repair shop right now with a broken bridge. I bought this to have something to practice on until it comes home. It was cheaper than renting one every time my sensitive antique needs repair — which is usually at least once a year. Frankly, I chose this one because it caught my eye —- it’s pretty.

This fiddle has the traditional wooden pressure pegs that most classical player prefer. They aren’t like geared guitar tuners. There’s a bit of an art to learning to use them. Also, this is a new instrument and it is always the case that a new instrument, or even an instrument with new strings, will require more frequent tuning as the parts adjust to the pressures of bringing the strings up to pitch. This is a classically crafted instrument without the steel rods or heavy materials some guitar players are used to. Violins are more delicate and have a longer “breaking in period”. Sometimes, in the beginning they won’t come up to tune or even stay in tune for a few minutes. This is normal.

My new violin was correctly shipped with the strings somewhat loosened to avoid damage from bumps or extremes of temperature during transit. I’ve had mine for about 10 days now and have been tuning it and playing on it a little most days. It’s following the curve I would expect for “settling in” and is starting to become quite lovely. It’s already staying in tune well and expect it to continue to develop an even more beautiful tone as weeks and months pass.

One very happy surprise was the bow. It’s not as elegant looking as some other bows I have, but I decided to try it any way and it’s quickly become my favorite. I like it better than the composite wood and fiber bow that I paid $300 for. Again, it will take a bit of applying rosin and “playing it in” before you can see what your new bow is really going to be. Any teacher can help you with this issues and guide you through the process.

For the price, this violin is fantastic! The sound is pure and clean, and the craftsmanship is nice! Set-up for this violin was pretty easy. I did have my violinist friend come over to help me set it up correctly. The strings and the bridge were already on. All we had to do was tighten the strings with the wooden pegs… very slowly and carefully… as careful as he was to bring the E string to pitch, the E string broke… no matter, though. It comes with a set of replacement strings. It could be that the original E string was weak, for some reason. The replacement worked fine. One thing to remember: as the pitch comes close to the G, D, A and E of the strings, it is necessary to use the Fine Tuning Keys to bring it to full pitch. Using the wooden pegs is good for bigger adjustments, like from an E to near G. When it gets to A or a little above A, switch to the fine tuning key to bring the string up to its natural pitch of G. There are little notches on the bridge for each of the strings, and the bridge is slightly curved, as it should be. The action is good on the fingerboard, because the notches at the neck are well-etched in for the strings. This violin holds its tuning pretty well. I used it for a few days and it was still in tune. Just today, I noticed that the E string had slipped down a semi-tone, to D#. The fine tuning key worked well to bring it back to E.
The bow that came with it is pretty good, but I felt that it was a bit heavy, so I invested in a better bow with an ebony frog, which weights it down at the gripping end, and that helped. Remember to always loosen the horse hairs every time you finish playing or you could damage the bow.
The rosin that came with it is a cheaper type, and I opted to buy a better quality rosin. I also bought a good shoulder rest. This violin does not come with a shoulder rest.
I bought a clip-on tuner that can stay on the violin even as I play it. This shows exactly what note I am playing and helps me to locate the note on the string, and memorize the positions on the fingerboard.
The mute (the black rubber bridge) that came with it, looks like it would work OK, but I haven’t tried it.
The case is really nice: it fits the violin very well, and there is room for two bows. You can see the bow that came with the violin on the top, and the one that I purchased separately is on the bottom. All the other essentials fit into the little box under the tuning pegs. There’s even a little pocket in the front of the bag where you can place a small music book. The case itself is really sturdy, made with wood and fabric. I cover the violin strings with a soft cloth before I put it into the case.
My violinist friend said that overall, he was really impressed and rather surprised at the quality of this beginner violin, especially considering the price. I am thrilled with it, and every day, I am learning a little bit more about how to hold it, how to bow the strings individually, where all the notes are, etc.
if you are looking for an excellent beginner violin, this one is perfect!

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