Cecilio 1/2 Violin Solidwood Violin with Hard Case, Bow, Rosin, Tuner, Shoulder Rest & Lesson Book – Ideal for Beginners

For starters I am not an expert violin player. I purchased the full size version and the 1/2 size for my son, we are learning the violin together. I have played the guitar for years. I have played the violin for about 2 months, I have an electric violin, my son had a 1/4 size acoustic, my son grew out of his so I just got us both a new acoustic. The violin comes with d'addario strings - which sound very nice. The violin sounds nice and looks just like the picture - its obviously not hand stained - but its nice and shiny. It plays pretty well (I am obviously not the best player in the world, i don't hit the other strings too much - or at least much more than I do on other instruments). The bow feels a little heavier then ones I have used before so it takes a little getting used to that, but I don't think its a bad bow. It tunes pretty easy. I tuned both of the violins in about 5 minutes - granted I have played guitar for years so I am not new to the process of tuning string instruments but violins are MUCH harder to tune than guitars - and cheap violins often times are really hard - and then they don't stay in tune after for that long. The case is good, about what you would expect and everything they said that comes with it did. The tuner is also a metronome which is a good thing to have for a student. For the price, this is a very good violin. If I had spent 150 or 200 for this I wouldn't feel ripped off, I think the violin sounds good - and is very playable. I would recommend this to people looking to start violin, you're not spending a fortune and you're not getting a cheap violin that is very hard to tune, wont stay in tune and the bridge just makes you hit other strings all the time. The violin is a hard instrument to learn, so I wouldn't recommend spending much more that 200 dollars for a first violin in case you don't stick with it but having said that, I don't know if I would go too cheap either because if the violin is cheap and doesn't sound good and doesn't play well at all, the cheapness of the violin you're trying to learn with adds to the difficulty, this violin seems like a good medium and really they could probably charge a little more for it. Also for parents wondering how loud their kids violin will be: The violin is fairly loud, so you even with a practice mute will hear in the next room, violins are not quiet, no matter what you try - if you buy an electric silent violin which is the one I started with, its quieter but you can still hear it in the next room. Acoustic violins are a little better sounding, actually they're a lot better sounding - so just buy earplugs.

I was hesitant to buy a violin online for my child, but since I myself play the violin, I felt confident that I could fix it up and make it work if necessary. There were a few minor ajustments that needed to be made initially, such as placement of the bridge, but overall, I was very impressed with the violin. The main problem I had initially was that it came with a broken g-string fine tuner (which is not necessary, but super nice for beginners). I contacted the seller about that and they very quickly provided me with a replacement fine tuner. In the seven month that we have owned this violin, I have been very pleased. The sound quality is quite nice, and the value is unmatched. I am very glad that I saved myself so much money renting by buying this fine instrument instead.

After reading the reviews I bought this violin for my 6yo daughter as her first. She had her first lesson and it was fantastic. One week later, the day before her lesson, the wire attaching the tailpiece to the body broke. It was like out of a cartoon. She was playing just fine, then it sounded a little off. Then ping ping ping pong all the wires popped loose. It looked as if it had been soddered on to the tailpiece, and one end of the wire came loose. There was no fixing it. So, my daughter couldn't practice at her next lesson. I contacted the company and they said they'd send me a replacement piece, which I was thrilled about. I didn't know if it would arrive before the next lesson so I bought another tailpiece (also off Amazon). It arrived and lo and behold it was the wrong size. By the time of my daughter's next lesson, still no replacement part from the company. Next week, still nothing. Then we went camping, and by the time we got back, still no replacement piece. I ended up returning the violin, getting a refund, and just ordering a new one. Day after the new violin arrived the replacement wire came in, FINALLY. So now I have a backup for if and when the wire on this new violin breaks. I'm figuring it will because after close inspection, it also has the wires soddered together. The replacement wire was a screw on though. Why they didn't just use that style to begin with is beyond me. After all is said and done, it's a good violin and I would recommend it. However don't depend on the company's customer service. My daughter lost 3 weeks of lesson over a really simple part. I blame myself for putting so much faith in the company to correct things.

My daughter surprised me one day and said, dad i am taking orchestra. I said “atta girl, what instrument are you playing”? She said violin. I said awesome. Then she said, btw you have to buy me a violin because the school doesn’t have any. So after cussing a lil bit in my head so as not to damage her fragile young ears, i took to Amazon. I bought her a violin, case, music book, music stand etc. It’s pretty. She has to retune it a bit often but the tuner works. It’s actually a really good quality. It has made it for 2 years of school, the bus, getting banged around by a 10-12 year old and still works great! I don’t know much about it but she says it’s very easy to play. Wasn’t crazy expensive and does the job for a kid.

I bought the cecilio 1/2 for my daughter who was to begin lessons fairly soon. When the violin arrived, the chin rest was broken in half. Also, there were several strings broken off of both bows (not a big deal), but still. I contacted the seller who sent a replacement chin rest which was missing the corkboard underneath to protect the violin. This was not a problem as we just peeled off the old corkboard and let the issue go. But then we noticed that the fine tuners on the tail piece were hard to adjust. Since I am no expert on tuning a violin, I left it to our tutor to tine the violin only to find out that even she could not adjust and recommends we replace the tail piece. This news has left us seriously frustrated. The violin itself is very nice looking and has great sound but if every piece needs to be replaced, is it even worth it? Perhaps we just got a bad violin?

Upon unpacking my daughter's new violin, I noticed that the 2 bows were shipped taut. This was disappointing as a bow should be loosened when done playing, or it can be damaged. The strings were put on the pegs in a sloppy way (crossing over instead of cleanly wound). The E-string was even put on upside from the peg. The violin "Owner's Manual" states that the violin is inspected by skilled technicians at the distribution center before shipping, but I doubt they are that skilled if they did not notice these obvious issues. When attempting to tune the violin, the pegs slipped and would not hold, in spite of my efforts. That being said...I knew that I was purchasing a budget violin. The case is very nice, and the violin looks pretty. It also came with a tuner, an extra bridge, and a beginner's book with some nice songs to get you started and build skills (although don't expect to do this without actual instruction if you are a beginner). The fine tuners were not stiff. Here is what I did to make it playable... I re-strung each peg making sure to wind the string cleanly and correctly. I also added Peg Drops to help prevent slipping (worked great, but it does make the pegs very stiff, so use caution). I tuned the violin slowly, to allow the strings to stretch. I added quite a bit of rosin to each bow, tested them, and then loosened them for storage. After these adjustments, my daughter was able to play her new violin just fine. I think this violin will suit my needs as a introductory instrument for my daughter. Perhaps if she remains committed to playing, we will upgrade her in a few years. I would have given a higher review if the strings were not put on incorrectly.

Works well, well made, sounds great for beginners

At the beginning we were hesitant about this violin, even our violin teacher said that she didn’t know how it would be later on, because the brand didn’t have good reviews according to her. However, the violin has been great for my daughter to learn, and after 15 months of using it, it has held very well. The shoulder rest had to be replaced, the one it brought didn’t work for us, but overall, the performance and quality had been great!

Bon violon

Muy bonito instrumento. EL inconveniente por lo que lo tuve que devolver fue el tamaño lo cual fue un error mío el pedir 1/4. Muy amable la atención para la devolución.

The fingerboard is not real ebony. It's painted black. My daughter's fingers turned black after playing the violin for a few minutes. Even the neck of the violin started turning black from paint smearing over it. Sound quality is poor either due to low string quality of the violin itself.