On Feb 8, 8:41 am, hudgevu...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> I've been playing guitar for a while and want to buy my first fiddle
> for bluegrass/old timey type music.
> Never played a fiddle before, but I love it and am looking to spend
> around $200---can anyone recommend good brands (or buying tips) for
> this amount?
> I'll be clueless going into the music store! Any help would be much
> appreciated--thanks!
There are a whole lot of things to consider -- other posters will
undoubtedly list some of them (I don't have time right now to go into
it). You should be able to find a playable fiddle for $200, but it
might not be in a music store. When some of my kids were taking violin
lessons (late 1960s), the violins sold for Suzuki lessons were of
fairly good quality -- there should be some used ones for sale.
The most im****tant thing: try to find someone who already plays fiddle
to go with you when you go shopping. There are a whole lot of
playability and sound quality factors that are hard to describe in
words. The bow is as im****tant as the fiddle -- a good bow is
expensive, and a bad bow can ruin the fiddling experience. If a bow is
bad, you'd probably have to look for a used one. I once asked bowmaker
Lee Guthrie if he ever made medium- or low-quality bows. He answered,
"No, because it takes the same amount of work to make a poor bow as
an excellent one." On the other hand, I seem to remember discussions
on this group a few years ago about some sort of factory-made fiber-
composite bow that curved the wrong way. I don't remember whether
anyone liked it or not.
Lyle
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