Stentor 4-String Violin (1550 4/4)

I’m a life long musician (piano) picking up the violin also. I didn’t want to put more than $400 into my first violin and after much searching settled on the Stentor 1550. The final convincing point is a factory tour video that Stentor has on YouTube which you can find with a search. In it they show clearly how the violins are made – yes they are mass produced in China, but all is done by hand to high standards as you will see in the video. Further, by combining this with what they have on their site, it turns out that the 1550 (Conservatoire) and above are considered ‘high grade’ violins that get special treatment. One is they are made with an ‘inner mould’ instead of an ‘outer mould’ (see the video) with individual clamping, this is the more traditional method of violin making and should result in a more accurate and better instrument. They also have upgraded components (stock strings are Red Label from Florida) including spruce front, maple back/side and ebony pegs/fingerboard. The high end instruments are also made in a special part of the factory which is run like a traditional luthier shop (I don’t know for sure that the 1550 is made there, but given how well it was executed and other factors I believe it is, with the 1400/1500/1510 made in the mass production area, which are still excellent starter violins).
At any rate on receiving the violin a full inspection revealed it to be nearly flawless. The purfling (decorative edge) is perfectly executed (cheaper violins have them painted and/or with errors – check the mitered edges in particular), and the finish is perfect. No bubbles or glitches. The flame back at first looked like a mistake, one side is ‘flamed’ and the other has little, but I realized that it’s just the characteristics of this particular wood that it turned out that way. They use the same wood wedge cut in half, so the sides are matched. Otherwise the fit and finish on the pegs, fingerboard and such has no discernible flaws. It came with the bridge in place and the strings loose.

Unfortunately I broke the e string during tuning so took it down to my local luthier to do some initial prep and get a new string. When he found out I bought it on the internet his attitude seemed to change, he claimed it was a cheap violin (after a cursory glance) and proceeded to try and sell me one of his $500 violins. He didn’t seem to realize that I knew a few things, and on closely inspecting his (no brand Chinese) violins I found much poorer workmanship (such as varnish bubbles and glitches). It looked to me like he was buying $150 violins and then with prep work marking them up – which I understand since he has a brick and mortar to support, but I wanted to buy a higher end beginners violin and have it serviced locally (unfortunately he didn’t win my business). One flaw of the violin is the bow has a small rightward bend when tensioned, which isn’t uncommon with wood bows. I shrugged my shoulder and will upgrade the bow eventually. The f holes are finished perfectly.

There is one defect, at the base of the violin, under the ‘Shellax’ finish there is a manufacturing mark which looks like a lightly penciled ‘3’. Seems unlikely this would have been missed, but it does look so. No problems, 3 is a favorite number of mine, and you can’t expect perfection for $350, but (other than the bow) this is the only defect I found.

On playing it the tone is full and sounds excellent (once I developed some technique!). Really if you’re looking for an upgraded violin from a rank starter this is hard to beat, if you like you can upgrade the tailpiece, strings and perhaps bow if you like, but by itself is a great first violin.

This is a great quality violin and is definitely a good investment for most of your learning days. It is beautiful sounds nice and warm right out of the case. I only have two small complaints. This violin slowly slips out of tune but I am aware that there are products to remedy that. Also I wouldn’t consider the bow to be extremely good quality but it definitely works just fine for a student like myself. Definitely don’t use the boxed rosin that is included in the kit. I upgraded to Jade rosin and it is wonderful. a few supplies I might suggest if you’re new to violin. A very soft cloth to remove excess rosin and a seamless microfiber cloth for buffing the Finish. I purchased music Nomads cloth and it’s really good quality. I would also suggest getting the app te tuner and learning the sound frequencies for each string

Tiene buen aspecto, buen acabado y color, pero no parece que sea totalmente nuevo. Viene montado. Las cuerdas mal montadas y la cuerda de RE venía con una cuerda de viola, por lo que la he tenido que comprar aparte. Lo probaré unas semanas para ver su estado. Lo mejor el precio, más barato que en cualquier tienda. La entrega, una pesadilla.

Very good instrument. Good value for money. Good clear tone. Haven’t
Had a lot of time yet to fully test it but so far it sounds good.