Reviews of Josef Bremen Professional Violin Outfit 4/4, PROJBV44

Customer Ratings:

First, I didn't buy this violin here, but through a friend who owns a music store. He says Amazon has a good price on this.

I've been a fiddler for 37 years (Old Time and Celtic, mostly) and playing music for around 45 years. I've went through a slew of affordable old German, Eastern European, one Chinese from 30 years ago and a couple of American factory fiddles. Some were pretty good, most were mediocre to outright poor sounding. I kept my grandpa's old fiddle but rarely play it, and kept my old HOPF, which has a very dark early violin type tone. My lady friend has a Knilling (sp) which sounds quite good.

I have also repaired violins and banjos for about 20 years or so, and have built many folk instruments (no fiddles yet).

I ordered this from my buddy's music store in exchange for some guitar amp repairing, so have only my time invested. Which brings me to the Bremen violin.

I haven't played a Chinese violin since the very poor one I had back in the early 80's. I've been hearing from various sources that they have improved in leaps and bounds as long as you avoid the really inexpensive ones with the dipped-inpolyurethane finishes. So, without knowing anything about it, I figured I had little to lose.

This is a very beautiful looking instrument with a real varnish applied flawlessly. The case is very nice, too, with lots of storage for a shoulder rest and other good stuff. Out of the box, the fiddle needed some set-up (they all do, in my experience). The bridge was too short, causing string buzz, and the nut didn't have the string slots cut in the proper places. I filled in the ebony nut slots and re-cut, and installed/fitted a nice Teller bridge. That was all it needed to get going good.

Right from the start, I was pleasantly surprised! This violin was LOUD, with a very clear but full tone, with lots of well balanced resonance. I have heard nice European violins costing more than double this that weren't as good sounding. The tone improved after a week of playing. The strings supplied were merely OK, with a bit too much of a metallic ring sounding for my taste. I put my set of Black Diamond 7207 strings on (these are the best kept secret in strings out there, not to be confused with the standard cheap Black Diamonds). The finish on these strings is much smoother, and very lacking in metallic after-tones. They are steel strings. The sound of this instrument is now superb for an under $1000 steel stringed instrument. It is easily the best sounding fiddle I've owned! I haven't tried it yet with synthetic strings, but may someday.

BTW, the bow is much better than the typical throw-away bows with inexpensive Chinese violins, but still nothing like a really good bow. It is very playable, though, and can get you by.

I give this violin five stars for it's sound and value, with the caveat that you will need to do some set-up work, like the new bridge and nut. A good luthier should be able to set you up for under $75. Still a great deal.

Update:1/24/2013

I switched to D'Addario Pro Arte synthetic strings and must say the violin sounds even more refined. Pro Arte strings are poor man Dominants. The sound is smoother, a bit mellower and better overall balance. I really like this combo.

Dave

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The violin is excellent and I will recommend to my friends and family. Excellent. Fantastic place, beautiful, functional and full of expectations

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It is a very good and beautiful violin! My teacher says it has a great sound. Like all new violins, it needs to be tuned more often than normal. I bought it 2 months ago and am very satisfied. It comes already put together unlike some other online bought violins, with the bridge already put in.