Cremona SV-600 Premier Artist Violin Outfit

In all honest truth, I was expecting this violin to be a grave disappointment, such as the Carpini G2 I purchased from Kennedy violins with a crack emerging from the spruce top and a chip on the scroll. Instead, I received a violin nearly flawless in construction. I say, nearly, because the pegs were poorly fitted. I alleviated this problem with Lava soap to keep them from slipping. In addition I used a #2 pencil to graphite each groove on the nut and corresponding bridge. This minimized the problem.

The violin is absolutely as beautiful in reality as the pictures suggest. It has real ebony tail piece with pearl eye on pegs and tail peg, as well. The orange is not so orange as the ad suggests. It’s a very tolerable honey brown hue. The spruce top was flawless and the flame continuous throughout the motif. The flaming on the back would put some violins in the thousands of dollars to shame. The tone was superior to a Kennedy Carpini G2, which I returned due to a split emerging on the upper bout. Kennedy Violins didn’t bother to answer my e-mails, despite their 45 day, life time guarantee. The tone of this violin was far superior to the Carpini G2 without any breaking in.

It does, indeed, come with a French Aubrert bridge. The bridge is fitted perfectly, yet the on staff Luther didn’t know to wind each string one and a half step in the opposite direction until working their way to the scroll (uncanny). This was perhaps the only thing Kennedy Violins did better. The case of this violin is exactly comparable to what I received with the Carpini G2. In fact the lavish space is somewhat larger and more accommodating. The case did not have Kennedy’s additional suspension system, but then again, this violin arrived in perfect condition whereas, Kennedy’s violin came corrupted upon opening.

At this point, I’m sure you’re asking, “why only 4 stars.” The reason is that the bow that came with the SV-600 tows to the left (even before tightening). It is completely worthless for play. Kennedy’s bow towed to the right, but somewhat less. Nevertheless, whatever maker you should choose, the bow will need to be replaced. I decided on the Fiddlerman carbon fiber bow. It works well for the money. If you exclude the terrible bow and the poor quality Anton Benton rosin that comes with the SV-600, this is the deal of the decade among violins. It even came with one fine tuner and Dominant strings, as suggested by the Ad. I can honestly say that the pictures of this violin, which are posted already, do not exaggerate what you can expect when you open the case. The violin is so good that you’ll probably say to yourself, “who cares about the bow?”

This review is for both models, 500 and 600 as they both are remarkable.
The 600 is more expensive and has a bit more sophisticated finish but they both are fabulous and both are of super high value, way more expensive in reality then posted here.

When I saw this piece on Amazon I though this was kind of “meh” instrument. One of the many out there that is so hard to tell apart from the pictures.

This instrument STANDS OUT high and above tons of other instruments.

I have quite an experience in buying violins by now, as a parent who had to go through the process few times as the kids were growing and we needed new instruments. I know very well what the MANY music stores in my area carry and I know all there is to know about the price range.

This violin at my local store would cost $2500. Because of the sound quality, because of the precision and the process and because of the wood. This is SOLID wood violin, it is beautifully crafted top bottom and inside out. If you know how complicated and tedious the violin making process is, you know how many things has to go right to end up with a beautiful instrument. If you don’t… I highly recommend you to watch wonderful movie “Red Violin” that will make you cry but also will make you appreciate violins even more then you ever did. This wonderful movie shows the process of making one and then the many owners it changed through the ages.

This violin feels very expensive, looks very expensive and sounds very expensive. There clearly was a lot of care put in the process of making it. It is not one of those run down the mill instruments but there is at least some of the process clearly involving hand making and the instrument has individual character unique look and feel because of the choice of the wood pieces that unlike the dry and soulless machine made violins that are made of some cheap engineered wood that feel and look like cheap plastic with some wood veneer.. this violin sets them far far far far back..

This is a violin that is good enough for a professional musician.

The violin comes with a beautiful case lined with high quality velour fabric that looks like traditional fabric of the past so it perfectly fits the character of the expensive instrument.

The sound is divine! I don’t play violin but my kids are pro, not only they attest to the quality of instrument and the great sound you can achieve but also their teachers were mesmerized and shocked at the price sticker that was so low comparing to the quality of this instrument.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT, TRY IT AND GET IT EVALUATED LOCALLY, YOU WILL SEE THAT THIS INSTRUMENT IS PRICED WELL BELOW THE ACTUAL VALUE.