Mendini by Cecilio  Violin For Kids & Adults - 3/4 MV300 Satin Antique Violins, Student or Beginners Kit w/Case, Bow, Extra Strings, Tuner, Lesson Book - Stringed Musical Instruments

I bought this for my daughter who suddenly said one day, "Mommy, I want to take violin lessons!" - uh, ok, but I don't know if you're going to stick with it or jump to the next thing like you did last time, and anyone who's rented before knows it's a terrible deal, you can buy the real deal in just a few months of renting! So I wanted something cheap but usable for a few trial lessons. This seemed nice enough to me, someone who's never seen a violin up close. Shiny wood, came with the resin, a case, some accessories.. Great! The first day the violin teacher saw the instrument he turns to me and goes, "she can't use that - that's a toy, it's not a real instrument". Well excuuuse me! I didn't realize we'd be performing at Carnegie Hall. Anyway, I've since learned that the teacher is one of those who truly loves violin as an art and passion, not just a way to make a living teaching kids. So of course this "toy" would be offensive to him. But just a warning to you beginners out there: this is not considered a "real" violin! I will say though, as I've been dragging my feet to buy the real violin, that although my untrained ear can actually hear a difference between his instrument (a richer, deeper more robust tone) and hers (a little more scratchy and weak) there's not enough difference that I would've ever known the difference if I hadn't heard them side by side. And I'm sure he spent thousands on his. 'Course that's the opinion of someone, like I said, whose never even seen a violin up close. Although, I'm guessing if you're considering this violin in this price range, you're probably not any more snooty on your violin tonal quality than I am! Oh! I will say though, several of the hairs on the bow started breaking and loosening just a couple of lessons in and we just had to cut them off. Not sure if that's normal for violin players or just a reflection of the poor quality on a toy...

Happy with this purchase. This violin is an affordable option for a child to learn on. Unless you know what you're doing, I recommend taking it to someone who can set it up to play... It is not ready to play right out of the box (btw, this item is very well packaged for shipping). That will save you breaking strings.

The violin arrived with a broken crumbly old rosin, but customer support sent us a brand new one, so I was impressed with how quickly they fixed the issue. The violin was quite nice, but the fact that we had to tune it EVERY DAY! Her teachers were really annoyed by the end of the year after having to tune it each lesson.

I just received the violin and there are a few issues with it. I was under the impression that I was paying for a new violin because no where in the listing did it say the product was used/second hand/refurbished. It is very obvious that what I was received was used and stored for ages before being mailed to me. The case has loose threads hanging around and the velvet inside is dusty, stained and falling apart in places and will definitely not stand the handling of a 4th grader. The bow was not good because the hair is frayed and loose. The rosin came with chipped pieces. The violin strings don’t look like they will hold up to the gentlest playing.

Ordered for my daughter who is a beginner. Yes it’s not the most amazing violin but it’s great for kids to learn on without breaking the bank. We are waiting to spend more once she needs a full sized. To me a novice it sounds great and my daughter plays a lot by ear and she has picked up a lot of songs already on it. We are satisfied with this purchase.