How much costs a good violin?
Recently many violin lovers, amateurs and even advanced players ask me frequently these similar questions like “how much does a good violin cost”, or “how much does it worth”, or more detailed as “what is the price difference among China, America and Europe”… To be honest, though I have been playing violins for many years, knowing so many violin makers and violinists, it’s by no means easy for any one of us to tell approximately how much a good violin costs even just in terms of its sale price, let alone talking about how much it worths in terms of its precious value as an artcraft.
However, if we only blindly talk about its market sales price as a product, then simply speaking, it still depends on what level you are playing the violin, and what kind of violins you are seeking for. Professionals (say, players in a professional city orchestra) have instruments that are probably in the $3,000-$20,000 range. However, most mid-level students get instruments probably in the $1000-$3000 range.
To answer the question more precisely, first, let’s look at what does “good” mean to you. According to my limited knowledge, I would say a good violin is the one that really suits you and belongs to you, which means it should correspond to its playing conditions by the player. For example, for a 5 year old beginner, a good violin will cost very little, and parents could buy what we called “practice models” in the normal musical instruments shop or even more luxurily in the special luthier’s shop. However, compared to the sale price of a normal practice models, a decent violin will deserve a great investment cost for an advanced player going off to music school to be a violinist.
Generally speaking, the investment you put on a violin depends on your plan of using it and how much you love on this hobby and even career. You can get adequate violins for learning at realatively good prices and it is unwise to invest in a very expensive instrument just because it is better if you have no determination to continue playing it. My recommendation is no more than $1,000 before student gets very serious on performing in the orchestra as his future plan. Don’t forget that violins need to be played often to stay in good playing condition so it’s a waste if you just let a good violin sit if you decide not to play, besides the waste of money.
(For buying the normal models in the violins shop, you will get my tips about some websites as a reference in my next posts, please check my blog regularly.)
As for the advanced players (professionals) and the so-called violin “collectors”, I think there’s no need for me to answer you this question by quoting a price either. As we all know that when we drop in a luthier’s, or even suddenly meet a good violin by chance, we’ll give our fairly reasonable offer according to our feeling, experience, knowledge and fondness on its sound quality, wood material, art finess, and even model origin.
(For advanced players, maybe you would have more interest in sharing with me the experience in pursuing the violins origin, the famous violin maker families, brands, artcraft process, material selection, and how to recognize good bows, strings and other accessories? Then please also keep droping in my blog, I’ll keep updated posts for sharing and learning with you!)
42 comments
how can we know if the violin worths its sell price?
As a marketer, I’d say, sale price is never a scientific measure of the product value in terms of its usage; as an advanced violin player, I’d say, sale price of a good violin would never be the fair assessment of its art vaule in terms of the intangible asset evaluation. So just by asking yourself whether your violin worths its whole life of accompanying you in your musical life, you would know the answer.
My personal view tells that a kid who deserves a $5,000 violin should be practicing AT LEAST 1-2 hours, 5 days a week, if not more, if they’re that serious about being professional at some point. One day I came across an old artist playing on the road, that can play anything he wants on a violin ( adequately enough )… The one he plays costs him $100.
thank u
I’ve just read your passage about how to chose a good violin.I think you’ve given some good advice to the violin lovers.Thank you so much!
I just got a new violin and wanted to know if the maker of it is real, it says John Bapt. And some other writing some is kinda fading. How do I know if its a real one? I love playing it sound I just hope I didn’t pay tooo much for it.
Would a good violin for a student in middle school cost maybe 100 - 250$ The violin he has now is very poor quality and has to size up soon thank god so is 100 to 250 dollars decent?
Hi, Emi,
For some reason J.B.Schweitzer was copied quite a lot. Maybe you have noticed that your instrument also fakes cracks in both tables. I see no reason of this trait other than trying to assist the look of old age.
As I don’t see your violin, so I made some assumptions according to other friends experiences. Look at your label, maybe we can find a clue. For example, concerning the origin marked on the label, I just know that the origin of JBS is in Pestini near Budapest in Hungary, not other countries like Germany or whatever (I am not sure which country your lable marks though).
If it’s from Germany, then possibily the time that label refers to is around 1813? For some reason, most later German factory copies of Schweitzer instruments have a date of 1813 in them. Some other experts believe that they were most common in the late 19th century, though this doesn’t necessarily mean yours is from that period. The date of 1813 is commensurate with Schweitzer’s working life, but it is highly likely that your violin was made later.
For some reason, most later German factory copies of Schweitzer instruments have a date of 1813 in them. I believe they were most common in the late 19th century, though this doesn’t necessarily mean yours is from that period. The date of 1813 is commensurate with Schweitzer’s working life, but it is highly likely that your viola was made later.
Hello, Sebastian,
If the sound quality is fine, then 100 - 250 USD is a fair price for a “Practice model” for low - mid level student. But personally I believe it worths more investment on a more expensive full size professional model for the advanced players (though he/she may be only a middle school student), say around 1000 USD.
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