Every beginner deserves an Instrument with a good sound
and a professional set-up that won’t hold them back
Why? Because beginners believe that when they learn to play the violin, viola or cello they will be able to make beautiful music…

Unfortunately most beginners will be disappointed, you see… most beginners will go to a professional music shop, believing that they will get a good instrument. The problem is, that most music shops sell something that I would call a VSA (Violin Shaped Object) or a toy, because they are not trained violinmakers and restorers. Yes, they sell the instrument in good faith, thinking that they have a good product, but most of the instruments they sell are unplayable.

The way most beginner instruments come out of the manufacturers, they really are unplayable…. They have horrible steel strings that sound like a cheap steel guitar. The strings are so high of the fingerboard that it hurts a beginners fingers. The strings are impossible to tune, the bridge is made from timber that I would use for firewood and the soundpost (in some languages called the “Soul” of the instrument is in the wrong place)… all in all a cigar box with a good set up and stings would probably sound better.

What can you do to make sure you don’t end up with one of those instruments?

The only way is to make sure that you deal with an expert, who knows how to choose a good instrument to sell and to set it up the same way they would set up a professional instrument.