Cecilio Full Size 4/4 Violin with Hard Case & Shoulder Rest - Solidwood Ebony Fitted Violin with Premium Strings, Ideal for Beginners

I am new to the violin, but have played several other instruments. I decided to try the violin after seeing that there are many examples on Amazon that are highly rated yet affordable. I did some research, found many articles denouncing "cheap Chinese violin shaped objects" and so on, and decided to trust the reviews. I am not disappointed in the least. The instrument that I received appears to be very high quality. It is a very attractive instrument an appealing finish and genuine flame maple as per the photos. The instrument holds a tune very well and despite playing it for around 2 hours per day, I haven't had to do more than a small adjustment on one or two strings every other day or so. It is a very resonant instrument with a sound that projects impressively. The workmanship isn't entirely flawless; on close inspection some minor imperfections are evident, but nothing that would even be noticed save under a close inspection. The included extras are nice. In particular, it is reassuring to have an extra bridge and the instruction book has more interesting pieces than I expected, such as for example the theme to the 2nd movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony. These are fun and inspiring to play. The shoulder rest and tuner are adequate, but not exceptional. I ordered other pieces and use these instead. I also ordered a nicer bow, though I haven't found those included to be obviously bad. Someone more experienced than I could better evaluate the included bows. Overall, by all appearances this is a remarkable value and I have no regrets about this purchase. This instrument inspires me to play, and I am confident that it is of sufficient quality to carry me to at least an intermediate level of proficiency before the need for an upgrade becomes obvious. Of a first instrument, I can scarcely conceive of greater success than inspiring these statements while simultaneously being quite affordable.

I would have given it a five star if I didn't need to pay to have a new sound post cut. For the price I paid for it, I am very happy! Packaging and shipping: I placed my order on July 27 around 10 am, my 4/4 cvn 500 and 1/8 cvn 100 arrived at my front door around 3pm on July 29 - about 42 hours later. The package was fine, both violin came in the same big box stuffed with butcher paper. The violins were in individual box and they both came with cases, so they were well protected. Accessories: I opened the cvn 500 first and it looked fine. All the accessories - extra set of strings, extra bow, extra bridge, rosin, strap for the case, shoulder rest, tuner, and book were present. The shoulder rest is probably the cheapest one could get. The rosin is fine. The bows are okay. Some hair broke off of one, but still has lots of hair. There are a couple dints on the top and a chip at the edge, but I could accept those. Both bows that came with the vioin didn't need to be rosin much (seven or eight times)to be playable, a brand new bow does not make sound unless it is rosined for a good 10 to 15 minutes (if the rosin is new, it needs to be scratched up - use a paper clip to break the surface). Appearance and set up: I'm not an expert but everything seemed fine - the tail piece and chinrest look beautiful. Pegs are made of ebony but I'm not sure about the fingerboard, it might have been dyed black. The sound post was not in the right spot - it was under E string instead of under A string - it could have been too long or got shifted during shipment, which is common. The bridge looks great as well; however, it was not line up with the notch of f holes, again, it could have been shifted like the sound post. Strings were loose and I tuned them with the tuner that came with the violin. I took it to let my daughter's violin teacher to look at it, she was impress with the appearance but not the sound; she said the sound was "teeny." I heard from others that it takes 6 weeks to 6 months for a violin to be broken into - playing a good amount of time on it everyday. I am just a beginner, so as long as it is playable, it is fine for me. In addition, I really had no other violin to compare with and it sounded so different when you heard it right under your ear. Adjustment made and satisfaction after adjustment: After I had been playing with it for two weeks, I took it to a luthier for him to look at my CVN 500. He recommended a few changes: 1. to replace the sound post that is too long and not in the right spot, 2. to change the steel strings that came with the violin with Dominant strings, 3. to cut a new bridge, the current one is too thick and too low (a thick bridge would dampen the sound). It will cost me $150 for all three and I was not willing to spend so much money on it so I chose to replace the sound post and replaced the strings with dominant strings, which cost me $70 (I purchased my strings on line instead of from the luthier and put them on myself). When the sound post was off, my A string sounded very weak, like when someone couldn't get his/her voice out when he/she talks. After I had the luthier cut a new sound post the sound of all strings improved greatly, my A and E string sound a lot stronger/louder than before. On the fourth week I changed the steel strings to dominant strings. The day when I changed the strings, all the strings sounded great as people said the strings would make a tremendous difference.

I am an amateur violinist who was looking for an instrument to last me several years. I knew I did not want to spend the several thousand dollars necessary for an older professional violin, so I did quite a bit of research before selecting this Cecilio. First, this is a Chinese-made violin. That said, Cecilio luthiers have been trained in the classical European tradition of violin making; the quality of the instruments they are producing now is nothing like what Chinese violins used to be like 30-40 years ago (when they had a reputation for lower quality). Second, this violin, though inexpensive in price, is not "cheap." The tailpiece and fingerboard as well as the chinrest are real ebony; the front is real spruce and the back is real maple. I had all of these aspects confirmed by a professional luthier in my area. I cannot vouch for the quality of wood itself, but the instrument does produce a beautiful sound. Upon arrival, I received everything as stated in the description- full size violin, two bows, chinrest, beginner's book with DVD, tuner, rosin, an extra bridge, and a case. The case is surprisingly sturdy, with a handle and two back straps. The bows are fairly well balanced. I took the advice of several professional violinists and did not attempt to set up this violin myself; I took it to my luthier immediately and had him set it up for me. This involved checking the instrument for flaws, rosining the bows, resetting and adjusting the bridge, and moving one part of the tailpiece slightly. The luthier stated that this is a good violin for the price, and has a very nice sound. I agree! It is easy to play and has good resonance. I look forward to getting quite a bit of enjoyment out of my new violin. Of course this is not a professional level violin, but you really cannot do better for such a low price!

I really like this violin and it comes with everything you need to get playing! The Violin- I am a beginner, and admittedly do not know much about violins, but it sounds great to me! The sound is loud and clear. The violin also came in perfect shape (No dings or scratches, or imperfections in the finish) and feels very solid. It is not as yellow as in the pictures and is slightly more reddish and warm colored. The strings sound great as well, but if I may find I need to upgrade as I learn and progress. The tuning pegs up top did slip for me (some more than others), but the fine tuners worked perfectly, and there are many tricks to get the tuning pegs to stay put, so I wouldn't say this is a deal breaker. From what I can tell, this is quality. It is definitely NOT a toy or a cheap-o, and I can see myself playing it for a long time. The Bows- The bows sound good and seem balanced. They look pretty, though there are minor imperfections. They seem a little bit cheap compared with the quality of the violin, but they work well enough for me. Same as with the strings, I might upgrade as I progress, but as the violin comes with 2 bows, I can't see myself needing to upgrade any time soon. The Case- It is a hard-shell case wrapped with canvas and a soft lining. It zips up and has a button flap. It has a pocket in the front (which is just big enough to hold a lesson book) and a handle and backpack straps on the back. I am very impressed with it! The case also has a spot to hold your 2 bows and your rosin/accessories. Very sturdy (and light-weight despite that). I feel confident putting my violin in it. It could take some bumps and still be perfectly fine. Definitely a plus! The Book- The book also impressed me! It covers all the basics such as holding the violin and bow. It starts off with the open strings and progresses with all of the notes and various techniques and scales. It has 32 pages chock-full of exercises, folk songs, and classical songs which are fun to play. You can learn quite a bit from this book. It is perfect for getting you started (plus a bit more!) It does progress fairly quickly though, and does not cover a lot of basic music theory. These are not necessarily negatives, but may be important to know. It does say on the book that there is a cd(?) and it did not come with one if it was supposed to. No big deal though, as I probably wouldn't have listened to it anyway. :-) The Shoulder Rest- Fits well on the violin and suits my needs. It has plastic screws on the bottom to tighten it on and the rubber feet to grip the violin. It will not scratch the violin (unless you are jamming it on). It is comfy and doesn't jab into my shoulder at all, though it may for other individuals. It seems a little plastic-y/cheap, so I may upgrade eventually. The Tuner- Okay. I don't know if it needs newer batteries than what it came with, but it only registers about 1/4 of what is being played. But when it registers, it works correctly. I will try new batteries and see if it works better then. I already have tuners, so this was not a big deal to me. It has a built in metronome though, which could be useful. The Rosin- Works well. Applies easy. It is not messy and has plastic to hold on to as you are applying it. It has its own little case as well. I would definitely recommend buying this violin. From what I can tell, you probably can't go wrong buying any in the CVN series.

This has been an ok beginner instrument, but I quickly out grew it. The strings were tinny, so a friend replaced them with warmer sounding strings. We also replaced the bridge. The bows were of ok quality, but the hair was older, and it was slow to respond. I’d say this is a low cost entry into violin, but it’s not a forever violin.

The first one that was received did not produce any sound, and the school's expert would not be able to repair it. The return was easy and the replacement arrived quickly. He takes it to and from school learning to play the violin. He loves this one, and especially made note of the straps on the back of the case to help him carry it. It sounds great and looks fantastic. Even with the slight trouble at first I would definitely buy it again. My son in 6th grade absolutely loves it.

I had just received this violin today and I cannot begin to express the disappointment. Upon opening the box, it was nice packaged with no visible damaged. However, when I opened the violin case, I was disappointed with the craftsmanship of this instrument. When looking at it you can see on the top right shoulder, the varnish was not clearly even. Also this varnish was a satin finish and NOT at all glossy and shiny as depicted in the photograph shown. On the lower right hip, it looks like a dog had mauled the tip since there was so many dips and groves in it. Also was missing the second set of strings that was supposed to come with it. Lastly, this violin is very lightweight which can be nice but feels way too light for me and I cannot be proud to be seen this instrument. I know it is not on the very high end of instruments, but it looks way too cheap for me to display. My package was also three days late, but that was on UPS and not on Amazon, the seller, nor the manufacture. I plan on returning this instrument and purchase a different one...ASAP!

After reading all of the reviews, I was not quite sure what to expect, but I did not allow myself to expect too much from a modern student violin (in this age of cheaply made products and rock-bottom quality control), so I was pleased when the Cecilio CVN-500 violin turned out to be of better quality than I had allowed myself to expect. I am not qualified to give an in-depth detail on quality or performance of this instrument, but I can say that it is fairly well built and sturdy enough to play. Also, it does not feel like it might fall apart when tuning it (unless you are a careless brute), as I have heard that some of the lowest end violins feel like when they are being tuned. About the items that shipped with my violin, the D'Addario Prelude Strings have held up for me so far. I have not yet broken any strings. The Cecilio chromatic tuner may take some getting used to, but I found that, with some practice, I was able to get my violin in tune using it. The First Lesson Book had me scratching my head trying to figure out what in the blazes it was talking about, but after digging around online for available information about reading sheet music, and buying other lesson books, I am now able to understand that lesson book. By itself, it is not all that great, but it is handy because of the beginner tunes it provides. I have never used the shoulder rest. It seems that I do not have much of a neck to need a shoulder rest (I work out with heavy iron weights so there is not much neck left anymore). The rosin is okay for the beginner level stuff that I am doing right now. I have purchased what is said to be better rosin, but I have not used it yet. The two bows are somewhat less than hoped for, but they do work. I found that one works better for me than the other though. Both have unintended bends to the right, but they do work. The horse hair seems of very low quality. In fact, I fear that if I look at it too sternly I might scare it into breaking. The horse hair tends to snag, and break, easily when putting the bows in the case, and when taking them out. Even rosining up the bow may get you a broken hair or two... until you get better at keeping the bow away from the plastic edges that contain the rosin. And finally, the case, although not first rate, it will do until I buy something better. Most of my disappointment with this violin was with the finish work. Some of the craftsmanship could have been better. Even with the defects, though, it is still a nice looking violin. However, some of the trim work has flaws, there are some small flaws in the wood that was used to make the violin, there are some small spots where drops of varnish clumped, and the worst offense of all, there is an area where someone tried to buff out a bad varnish spot… probably just making matters worse. This left a large blemish on one side of the upper bout to one side of the fingerboard. At least the flamed back of the violin came out nice and defect free. All in all, I am pleased with my purchase. It is nice to finally get back to playing a violin... after a 42 year gap. I had taken violin lessons for about a year and a half in elementary school, but that was so long ago, that I have long since forgotten almost everything I had learned way back then. So here I am, starting over from the beginning, and having fun doing so. MACJR

The build was rather decent. Clearly manufactured but I enjoyed playing on it. I used to play the viola in the school orchestra and picking this up was fun and easy. The instrument was responsive and the sound was bright and clear. I removed three of the fine tuners because it was ringing a bit much. (I put them back in the case for the return) However, I played it for a full hour and found that my finger tips were stained. So there was residual paint from the finger board I think? The bows given were of poor quality. I had to test the violin with my viola bow the whole time. After tightening and loosening the bows once, they started to shed. One of them had a gap in the hair. moreover, the tension of the bow hair wasn't quite consistent. In one of them, I had tightened the bow until it was almost straight/flat and still the bow hair was too slack to play. They offered me a refund of 20% in credit but that wasn't quite enough to buy another bow... So I decided to return it. What good is a violin without a bow? There were some poor reviews about the shoulder rest and rosin. I thought the shoulder rest was ok. The rosin was pretty bad though. It chipped the moment there was contact at the frog of the bow...a rather messy affair. I was sorry to have to return the violin. I enjoyed the one hour I had with it. But after some deliberation, I felt that it wasn't quite worth it. It was not a great combination. Had I the option to purchase the violin itself at a lower price, I would have.

It's a great violin, the bow's aren't the best quality.

Fiddle came very well build with all accessories , Its a major upgrade from my CVN-100 . For the price you can't go wrong , i highly recommend

I've had this violin for 6 months. Great violin to learn on and worth the extra money if you are serious about learning. Holds a tune very well. I have three recommendations if you chose this package: 1)Invest in some good strings. A good set that won't break the bank is the Pirastro 4120BALL Tonica Synthetic Core Violin String Set, E-Ball Envelope, 4/4. If you have the extra cash, go for Dominant strings but the former should be great to start on at half the cost. 2)The bows are ok but the Fiddlerman Carbon Fiber Violin Bow 4/4 is a huge improvement. Worth the money if you are serious about playing. 3) The shoulder rest sucks that comes with it. The Kun original 4/4 shoulder rest is a huge improvement. A few other non essential but great things to grab are a fingerboard guide sticker and some good light and dark rosin depending on your climate (D'Addario Kaplan Premium Rosin with Case -Light and Hill VP-02D Bow Rosin - Violin - Dark are great). I use the dark in the winter and light when its warmer.

Soy principiante y es el segundo violín que adquiero. Lo compré porque quiero seguir aprendiendo pero con un mejor instrumento que me de un mejor sonido. Mi profesor lo revisó y me dijo que tiene muy buena calidad tanto de sonido como las cuerdas y los arcos. Incluye todo lo de la foto, y me llegó en menos de una semana.