On Feb 8, 10:15=A0am, Lyle Lofgren <lylelofg...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 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! =A0Any 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 =A0as
> 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
I addition to having another fiddler along for advice, it's good to
have someone else along that can play the fiddle while you listen.
What the player hears and what the listener hears can be quite
different.
And again, I would also stress the im****tance of the bow. The bow
affects the sound you get, as well as the ease/difficulty of playing.
-Matt
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