SKY 4/4 Full Size SKYVN102 Solid Wood Violin with Lightweight Case

My little daughter has been asking to learn the violin since she was a year old. Recently she turned 4 years old, so we bought the 1/8 size Sky Solid Maple Wood Violin Set SKYVN201 for around $80. We are very pleased with the entire set. I am reviewing the violin, the bow, and the case separately below:The Carrying Case And Accessories:The case is made of strong canvas fabric over a harder frame, complete with a handle, and backpack type straps for easy transport. The zippers work well and the case seems sturdy enough to withstand taking it to class daily. The mute is so small that I didn't notice it at first. The mute and the rosin are housed in a separate little compartment under the scroll housing. The shoulder rest is also made of sturdy plastic and fits well into an extra pocket on the front of the case. There is a special place in the lid to store the bow and a thick, soft velvet and silk cover to protect the top of the violin when the case is closed.The Bow:Prior to buying, I had been worried about the bow after reading negative reviews from other customers. There was no reason to worry. The bow is a sturdy, decent quality, real horsehair bow with an end screw.The end screw IS a little difficult to tighten and must be tightened by an adult, rather then the child. In order to tighten the screw, turn clockwise until the hairs are taunt but NOT so tight that it warps the bow. A pencil should be able to fit between the stick and the hair. The child should be taught not to touch the hair, because oils from your hand will destroy the bow and ruin its ability to pull sound from the violin.A few other reviewers said the bow had trouble pulling a sound, however I assume that they just did not rosin the bow properly. Any bow needs to be properly rosined in order to draw a sound out of a stringed instrument. This is because the hair needs texture in order to release a vibration from the strings. In order to properly rosin the bow, lightly scratch the clear surface of the rosin with a fingernail, penny, or other un-ridged surface until the surface is no longer shiny and has powder coming off it. Tighten the bow strings and run the rosin gently back and forth along the horsehair until the hairs are coated in the white powder without any forgotten spots (usually more then 20 times up and down). Test the bow on the violin to make sure it pulls good sound. If it does not, then continue to rosin the bow until it does. Re-rosin the bow around 5 strokes for every 3 hours played on the violin. Use a clean piece of smooth cloth (one that doesn't shed) to gently wipe excess rosin off your violin and bow.This is a musical instrument, not a toy. Despite other reviews, this bow is not flimsy and will work well if the child is NOT allowed to treat it like a toy and IS instead instructed how to properly hold it, use it, care for it, and to put it away properly when they are not practicing.The Violin:The violin produces pleasant sounds with good resonance, especially for such a small instrument. The main part of the violin, fingerboard, and the scroll are made of wood. The tailpiece, tops of the tuning pegs, chin rest, and shoulder rest are plastic. I assume that the plastic parts will wear out, but they seem sturdy enough that they should last until she is ready for the next size up. If not, then I will replace them with wooden parts. I consider the violin to be a good value for the price and am happy that I don't have to spend over $200 for something she will only be playing for one to two years. The strings are good quality as well and I am happy that the set comes with extra strings.For us, this set is an excellent value for the price and should work well for anyone needing a decent violin that doesn't break the budget.

first off I would like to say that you’re honestly not going to get a great violin in this price range. But for a very beginner in a tight budget, this is a very good violin. if you knock on the wood it feels very cheaply made, and the strings may break easily. I’ve already broken the highest string twice, so honestly I would get different strings elsewhere. The bow is nice quality for a beginner like myself. The case is very nice, and it is also very nice how much it comes with. All in all you get what you pay for, and this kid is very nice for the price.

First violin for me. It came ready to play. I had to figure out how much is too much rosin. Lots of sound .great price I'm happy.

Not only am I relearning how to play, but the basic state of the instrument is also teaching me how to restring, tune and maintain the pegs. I strongly recommend getting peg drops or it'll never stay in tune.

It arrived very well adjusted. I have been teaching Suzuki violin method since 1972 and this was a great violin for the money.

My girls both started off with little violins, and I got a little jealous. I ordered myself a 4/4 size and I couldn’t be happier. Is it an orchestra quality instrument? I have no idea…I’m a beginner. But I feel like I’m in an orchestra soloing while scratching out “Twinkle Twinkle”. It really has a beautiful sound once I broke the strings and tuner pegs in. Now I only need to use the fine tuners once every couple of days.There was a problem with my bow however. I practiced through the uneven bow string, and then I asked my child’s teacher about it. She said it was bad. I contacted the seller, and within 24 hrs, a new bow was on its way. It just arrived today in absolutely perfect condition. And it plays great. THANK YOU very much folks, I’m loving learning on your violin.

Had my old violin teacher take a look at the instrument and with a few tricks we were able to tune it and play it. The rosin is too smooth right out of the box, so I had to use sand paper to gently rough that up. The strings aren't spaced correctly which doesn't cause a huge issue, but it will make playing a little trickier. The bridge is decent quality but is too thick and too high, so that will need to be adjusted. In order to tune the instrument we had to remove the pegs one at a time and gently rough them up with fine sand paper and chalk them. A little more work than I'd expect on an instrument that comes "set up" but better than I had been fearing. Increased stars from 1 to 4.I was so excited to get my own violin. I took lessons over 20 years ago and had to quit when I went to college because it was a borrowed instrument. I finally decided to get one that I could just play around with and see if I wanted to invest more money into in the future. I was thrilled it came today rather than Tuesday when it initially said. Out of the box it was all ready set up and beautiful. I plucked a few notes and new I needed to tune it. The bow had one broke hair (no big deal I know there are more than one hair on there and it shouldn't be a problem). I couldn't get any sound with the bow, adjusted the tension, rosined the bow for a very good amount of time and kinda got some sound out of it. Got frustrated but decided, no worry, I'll just tune it and finger pluck a bit and deal with the bow later. Couldn't get it tuned by ear, with piano, or tuning app. Strings were all in the wrong octave, and as I was tuning it, the tuning pins on the head were untwisting dropping the pitch as soon as I would let go. Tried to tune a little sharp and the D string broke. Again, no big deal because they included an extra set of strings. Went on and couldn't get any of the other strings to tune because they would just untwist and drop the pitch. I'll give it another go after I cool off but at this point I am pretty much ready to return it and wait until I can afford a better instrument.

Si hay algo que desagrada y evita hacer alguna compra., es q el vendedor no especifique algo tan importante como lo es los tipos de madera de un instrumemto como este....por lo cual tuve que informarme bien de este modelo antes de comprar ya q para un principiante es muy importante la calidad de la afinacion para no desesperarse al querer conseguir un buen sonido...la madera de la tapa es de abeto.,todas las demas partes: cuello, clavijas, barbejo, caja, laterales, puente y cordal de excelente madera de arce.,Un violin barnizado al oleo y altamente flameado que le de ese toque fino y sumamente hermoso.. El arco es de madera de Brasil, con doble ojo de perla, cerdas de crin de caballo mongol genuino sin blanquear., muy bien alineado y conservando ai curvatura una vez tensado.Tiene un muy potente sonido que entre mas se use, mas se le desarrollara.,Los accesorios igualmente de calidad.Una compra muy sarisfactoria y sumamente economica para este excelente violin.

Great beginner violin!Just ensure the bridge is positioned properly and the notches are accurate.Purchase better strings when you buy this and good quality rosin.Bow is nice, but we bought a carbon fibre and it sounds amazing with the carbon fibre bow.You will have to fit the pegs better so purchase peg compound when you buy the violin as well.

this was bought as a gift for a talented teen who loves music. the price point of this packadge deal was spot on for someone who dabbles in all instruments and didnt break the bank if they do not want to persue further training. the construction is decent, however, i am well aware how much of a pain the tuning pegs can be on all modles of violins, alas, these plastic ones do not stay seated tightly. i have not investigated further as to why strings are snapping, but 3 strings broke within an hour if setting up. may be a sharp edge on the "bone" as they all seeem to break at this point.

► Es mi primer violín, ¿Me lo compro?Recomiendo mucho este paquete si es tu primer violín porque tiene lo más básico que necesitarás para tocar en al menos tu primer año de práctica. Cuerdas, almohadilla, brea, y sobretodo su estuche para que te dure.► ¿Es buena marca?Opté por este paquete porque las especificaciones son muy claras (Tipo de material, madera, etc), aunque no es conocido, es un producto vendido internacionalmente.► ¿Se desafina?Mucha gente se queja de que se desafina fácilmente, pero es muy normal en instrumentos de cuerdas. Especialmente si lo dejas de usar por tiempos prolongados y es la primera vez que lo usas.► ¿La brea/resina/rosin viene seca?OBVIAMENTE, lo que la gente no sabe, es que hay que tallarla un poco con una llave (NO demasiado) hasta que haga algo de polvo. Pasa el pelo del arco suavemente por la brea, y vas a obtener un sonido muy claro.►¿Es duradero?Sacúdelo con un trapo de tela suave cada vez después de tocarlo para que no se le quede el polvito del arco. Algunas partes son muy delicadas como los micro-afinadores y la almohadilla de descanso. Siempre guárdalo en su estuche Y si no lo vas a tocar en al menos 1 mes, aflójale las cuerdas.Cuando lo afines, tensa las cuerdas un poco SIN LLEGAR al tono adecuado, ténsalas más diariamente hasta que llegue al tono apropiado. De otro modo, las vas a reventar. Esto se tiene que hacer cada vez que le pongas cuerdas nuevas. Es algo que mucha gente desconoce y por eso se queja.☼ NOTA: He visto que mucha gente se queja de que la parte de atrás del cuello del violín está "despintada" o no la pintaron bien. Tradicionalmente muchos violines se fabrican así.► ConclusiónNo duden en comprarlo, es muy buena opción para un primer violín. NUNCA es tarde para aprender, es muy fácil si le dedicas tiempo y ganas. Dudaba si comprarlo porque no viene con la plantilla para los acordes, pero créanme, es lo de menos, tú la puedes hacer en casa. Algunos materiales se ve que no durarán por muchos años como el arco, el puente, o las clavijas de afinación. Prepárate a hacer un pequeño gasto dentro de unos años, la ventaja es que las partes no son costosas. Gracias a mi experiencia con guitarras lo he cuidado mucho y me ha durado bastante, y eso que por error pedí uno usado.

Tengo dos meses usando este violín y me a resultado muy útil y práctico. Incluye estuche, cuerdas extra y cojín lo que es muy bueno para comenzar a tocar.Las cuerdas no son las mejores, a mí se me rompió una a los 2 días por suerte trae un remplazo pero yo recomiendo comprar un par extra de cuerdas y de mejor calidad.El estuche es bonito pero muy sencillo y lo mejor sería adquirir un soporte para el violín.Sin embargo es una exelente obcion como primer violin y yo estoy muy contento con la compra.