Cremona Premier Student Violin Outfit – 3/4 Size

I purchased this violin because of its deep discount of the price. I like it because it looks nice. The only drawback is that I had to install the bridge by myself. It sounded okay to me. However my daughter’s violin teacher thought the sound quality was bad. She said both A & E strings sounded weird. So I had to return it finally and purchased another violin at much higher price from Sharmusic.com which was recommended by the teacher. I enjoy the service of Amazon.com. They made returning sooo easy! Thanks!

This is my daughter’s 3rd Cremona violin. She started with 1/10 size, now she’s up to 1/4.

The craftsmanship is superb. These violins not only look beautiful, but also sound great. They actually sound better than the Suzuki violin we rented at first.

The wooden bow is also very nice. Lighter than the plastic one that came with the rental.

The bridge (also great quality) had to be adjusted, which is expected with a new instrument. We never used the strings it came with, but replaced them with Vision Synthetic Core mediums, which have a wound E string (much more comfortable and has a warmer sound).

I actually took the bow to a well respected bow repair person in Boston. He first laughed that it was made in China. Upon inspection however, his smile faded, and said that it was very well made and better than the $100 bows he sells.

I can’t recommend this violin enough. Not only do they look and sound better than rentals, but also much easier on the wallet and you actually own it.

The sv-200 1/2 size that I received (and returned to Amazon) had a problem with the fine tuner on the A string: there’s not enough space between the tuner prong and the tailpiece, so — even at the lowest tension — the ball-end of the string butts against the tailpiece making it immobile which means the string tension cannot be changed by turning the fine tuner. I’ve tried reseating and loosening the tuner, but still not enough space between the prong and the tailpiece to allow the tuner to function.

UPDATE: I re-ordered the sv-200, hoping that this replacement won’t have the same problem as the first unit (if it does, I plan to replace the tailpiece with an Anton Breton VP-61 alloy tailpiece with integrated tuner which costs less than $8). There is one (not two) bow holder for the 1/2 size case.

UPDATE: The tuners of the violin works fine, but the action may be a bit too low (or the G string is just too flabby) — there’s string buzz on the G string when A (one tone up from G) is fingered and played in fortissimo. In pizzacato, the A string is dominated by the first harmonic, not the fundamental (pluck the string it rings the harmonic one octave higher), but sounds fine in arco. The D and G strings sound harsh and the body of the violin doesn’t resonate a warm sound, perhaps there’s too much wood (violin is heavier than other that I have) or perhaps the stock strings are not good. I compared the tone to another 1/2 size and even a 1/4 size and both sounded better than the sv-200. Did Saga spend too much time on the flamed maple good looks and not enough time on the good sounds? I like the spec of the sv-200 (ebony fingerboard and fittings, brazilwood bow, case with hygrometer etc.), but the most important spec is the sound. I’m going to swap out the stock strings to see if that helps.

UPDATE: Changed the G string and the violin sounds did not improve. Check the arch top of the violin and discovered that the chin rest was touching. Removed the chin rest and the violin seems to resonate better. But the violin still doesn’t sound right, took another look and discovered that the adjusting nuts of the tailpiece hanger is touching the arch top of the violin because of the angle of the recess/through holes: this is probably the reason for the weird sounds — nothing should touch the arch top except for the feet of the bridge!

UPDATE: Replaced the tailpiece with the A. Breton VP-61 and the nuts for the tailpiece hanger is no longer gouging into the body. Sound seems to be better. The music teacher says it sounds good, too. I think what made a difference was the integrated fine tuner. Because the integrated fine tuner produced the correct string after-length, the violin resonated better and is more in-tune with itself. Where as the original set up has fine tuners for each string, which interfered with the intended string after-length so the violin sounded weak with funky harmonics. If you get the sv-200, I recommend swapping out the tailpiece for a Wittner-type tailpiece with integrated fine-tuner.

UPDATE: I purchased the instrument in April 2013. Since then (it’s 2015 now), a few improvements have been made — 1) the strings are now D’Addario Prelude strings (steel-core strings that are great for beginners because they sound decent and stay in tune), 2) the composite tailpiece have now replaced the individual fine tuners. With these changes, the violin should function better right out of the box. You shouldn’t have to fuss over the strings and tailpiece like I did back in 2013.

This is the first violin I have bought for myself, and I love it. It is beautiful and I love playing on it, but I had to do some alterations first. I bought a higher quality rosin than came with the case, and have not used the included rosin at all. I tried playing on the provided strings, but they sounded horrible. I changed them out for some D’Addario Prelude strings and in comparison, the sound was amazing. It came with a nice case with room for accessories and sheet music, and included a bow that is decent enough. When I get better at playing and have a little more money I might replace the bow, but it works well for now. This is a great beginner instrument and I highly recommend it because I have been very pleased.