CremonaSV-150 Premier Student Violin Outfit - 4/4 Size

I purchase the 2011 model which has boxwood fittings (pegs, tailpiece, chin rest, button) and ebony fingerboard, all fittings are fine to me -- pegs and tuners all turned smoothly. The bow is a LB-13 octagonal brazil wood with ebony frog and unbleached white horse tail, the bow is straight and usable. The case is a TravelLite TL-33 with hygrometer (durability is ok for me as I don't lug the case around that much and use it mostly as a dust cover). The bridge was easy to install, but takes patience as tightening the strings require re-positioning so the bridge stays perpendicular to the table. I recommend purposely positioning the bridge a bit closer to the tailpiece (say 1/16" to 1/8" from it's final position) that way when you need to make the bridge vertical just slide the feet of the bridge toward the neck instead of sliding the part that contacts the strings toward the tailpiece which can be hard to do as the string tension builds. Bridge seems to be properly cut and the action seems fine (at least from first position the string height feels good). The stock rosin is deep amber and hard: I couldn't get any rosin on the bow until I scratched the rosin which opened the rosin up and then it took a good 20 minutes just to rosin down all the slippery parts of the bow (yes, the rosin is that hard and the temperature was about 55 degrees F so that may be a factor) -- well 20 minutes of rosin a little and test play a little, not 20 minutes continuously grinding away like grating cheese. By test playing you help evenly spread the rosin powder on the bow and prevent over rosining. You'll know when you have enough rosin as the bow will have the right resistance without feeling gritty (too much) or slippery (too little). Bottome line: the stock rosin is usable in a pinch, but I bought a Bernardel rosin ($6) to replace the stock because I want a more consistent rosin. The stock strings are Anton Breton VNS-150 perlon: E sounds warm and bright but the A sounds hoarse and muted when fingered (a brighter A would be better to match the E), G and D are nothing remarkable. Unit seems promising and will probably sound even better with better strings. Overall very pleased with the quality for the price (I got an additional 15% off during Amazon's promotional). Good starter package for a student. The weight of the instrument is 1 pound and 2 ounces with chin rest (average for a factory made). I also bought a cheap copy of Kun's shoulder rest for under $7: Anton Breton VP-70K and a rubber Ultra Practice Mute $3. Also, I use a Korg TM-40 tuner/metronome ($23) to tune the violin and verify my intonation.UPDATE: I replaced the tailpiece with a wittner composite tailpiece. I want to have fine tuners on each string, yet have the correct after length. The G and A string sound better with the correct after length.UPDATE: I bought this instrument in 2011. Since then (It's 2015 now), the folks at Cremona has improved this student instrument by replacing the individual fine tuners with a composite tailpiece with fine tuners built-in. In my opinion, the composite tailpiece with built-in fine tuner is better for a student instrument because it allows each string to be fine tuned while keeping the correct after length for proper harmonics.

This instrument arrived with no bridge, no tuners, and a broken G string. Absolutely astonishingly bad quality. Amazon was great in processing the return and refund as expected, but I was SHOCKED at how the instrument was shipped. I would NOT recommend this one.

The instrument is great for its price and beginner's level. I just don't like the small space for the violin. It's too small for putting the shoulder rest in. Mendini's case has a much bigger hole for the violin and it has enough space for the shoulder rest. Other than that, the pegs are slippery for tuning.So I had to take each peg out, rubbed with rosin at the end and retread the strings. It works like magic. Tuning becomes so much easier. It's a little tricky to put the A string on because the hole on the peg is tiny and it is at the very top. The bow is actually pretty nice with plenty of white washed horse hair. I bought 1 16 size violin for my four year old daughter. 1 10 is a little too big for her still. For a violin this small it works fine. I can play simple songs from the Suzuki repertoire and enjoy it's sound. Overall I am please with this tiny instrument. It's definitely easier to handle and sounds nicer than the other cheaper brand we bought before.

For a month was good, however, 2 months later the bow is very warped and the violin rattles on certain notes. My son's music teacher asked us to get a higher quality violin as a starter violin. Wish we hadn't bought this. Basically only lasted a few months.

The media could not be loaded. So the violin has a beautiful sound and it a nice varnish, the strings are not bull but the pegs are poorly fitted like any begginer violin of this price so i do recomend buying peg chalk or peg compound on the pegs so it stays in tune. The rosin is great just scratch it with a needle rock or anything sharp to open it. The bow is slightly more arched then normal and it comes untightned which is a good thing so you'll need to tighten it till taught. The soundpost is in place when it came so it most likely wont give you a problem and only thing is that i recommend searching up a video on how to align the bridge correctly. The case has padding inside so the violin doesn't shake too much. The case has a big pocket on top too. I recommend if you live in a humid place or area, that you put silica gel packets so the pegs wont get stuck, and the violin wont crack or a humidifier if you live in a dry place. as long as the hydrometer is 40-60 your fine. Do be careful when tuning the strings there new so there prone to snapping. Overall beautiful begginer violin for people on a budget.

This has been one of my best buys ever on Amazon. My violin instructor was pushing for me to consider an expensive violin package from a local luthier stating that I would not be able to get a good sound from anything ordered online. I did not want to spend the big money for a beginning violin. I took a chance on this package due to the other good reviews and sure enough I was not disappointed. The sound is big. I did have to get used to the bridge a bit, as it was curved different from the loaner instrument I was used to. But that was not a big deal. My daughter is now using the violin as she grew out of her 3/4 and she is happy with the full sound as well. I did replace the strings with helicores and that difference was very noticable. I would suggest spending some money on new strings. A couple of side notes, I did have to assemble it as the bridge had fallen during shipping. If you aren't comfortable with this find someone who is (a teacher, another student). Get peg drops as the pegs do shift for a while before they set in good. The case is great, side pocket for music, accessory storage for a shoulder rest (fits khun, etc) and a bonus humidity gauge.

The title sums it up. Don't buy this. The "outfit" includes a used bow from the trash can.