Anyone know a good violin for the price?

You can't get a good quality violin for that price or even $200. They are just VSO's - Violin Shaped Objects.

You will get different views on this, some say that you can get a usable violin for under $200; I am not one of them. As a retired violin repairman, maker, accomplished violinist and a onetime teacher, I see things from all perspectives. Anything under $300 is not made well and tends to fall apart more quickly, and have a poorer quality of sound. They have ill fitting parts, especially the pegs and bridge causing the instrument to go out of tune more frequently. As an example; a popular on line violin outfit that has a list price of $250.00 and sold online for around $175. This instrument sells to the reseller for no more than $125. The manufacturer makes at least 20% or around $25. The bow is $10; the case $15, the pegs, bridge, strings, chinrest and tailpiece are another $25. This brings the violin body down to at most $50. You just cannot produce a quality instrument for that, or even twice that. These are the lowest prices that I could find on raw parts that aren't fit to the instrument. To replace or repair these parts if possible, will cost $50-165, even at the cheapest repair shop. So that $175 violin costs $225 or more, so save up and get the $300 or more to begin with.

Here are some that I feel fall into the category of don’t waste your money: Lark, Skylark, Cremona, Cecilio, Crystalcello, Prodigy, Stentor and Palatino. As a repairmen with 35 years working on instruments in all price ranges from $50 Skylarks to those made by the great Italian makers of the 1700’s, don't waste your money on anything under $300.

When purchasing on line, you will have to ship back the instrument for any adjustments or repairs if covered under warranty and then wait weeks to get it back. Internet sites ship violins with the bridge down. You must set it at the correct place and pray that the sound post hasn’t fallen. As it is only properly set into the instrument with some pressure on the top from the bridge, if it doesn’t fall during shipment, the post was probably put in too tight.

I understand not being able to afford a $300 instrument but after years of seeing people buy them on Ebay or from discount music stores and then having to spend another $100 or more to fix them, I just don’t like to see people waste their money. They frustrate the player because of poor sound and difficulties with the parts, making them give up playing from frustration. I personally don't care for instruments under around $400, but there are some that are serviceable starting around $300.

So where do you go for advice or trust for unbiased opinions on instrument quality?

Teachers need to have students even if they play on lesser quality instruments; there is nothing in their training that teaches them about the quality of how an instrument is made. Online dealers or anyone offering these cheap instruments for sale are to be suspect as biased towards selling their products. On the other hand, repairman, by recommending against these instruments, would be turning away money. A real violin store also turns away these sales because of the poor quality.

Violins should be purchased by sound, not by brand name or description and a picture on some website. Two violins by the same brand will have different sounds. Just because someone else bought “X” brand and you like it, doesn’t mean the next one will be any good. Go to a violin shop, not a music store where they won’t have the selection or experience, and look at instruments. If you don't play, the violin shop can demonstrate them for you. That's not available from most music stores and certainly not from a web site. You also get a real place to take it back to for a trade in or repair; it’s too easy for an internet site to disappear and remake themselves with a new name to avoid trade-in or warranty issues.

Most of the cheap violins come set up with poor quality steel strings, often by unknown manufacturers. To optimize the sound, upgrade the strings. I like the Pirastro Tonica strings which can be used with fine tuners that teachers recommend for beginners, and there are other brands of acceptable strings. The bows that come with cheap instruments are often just afterthoughts. If sold separately some would be only $20; you can’t get a usable bow for that price. Plan on spending a minimum of $45 on the bow, or at least 10% of the total outfit price.

When ready to purchase an instrument, be suspect of any specific brand recommendations as an instrument should be purchased by sound not by name, and in person not over the internet, so go to a violin shop. Dealers that only sell over the internet don't have a local reputation to uphold. Again, buy based on the sound, not the color or its pretty or it has some fancy inlay and never buy a painted violin. All of these just add glitz and just take away from the sound.

Price Of A Violin

Some music stores have a nice rent to own deal. Basically you pay your monthly fee(When I started it was about 25 dollars a month) and once you reach a certain amount you can put that money into purchasing a violin. I'd also recommend going to Craigslist. I've seen a lot of decent priced quality violins on there that the case and the bow. And I agree with ^. When searching for a violin, really take a good look at what you're getting.

Good Value Violins

http://amzn.to/1O4cxbY

There is no such animal I'm afraid. The base price for a good student violin is around $500.

There's no such thing as a good quality violin outfit for under $150. Resign yourself to spending more.