I'm looking at hiring a very good violin but dont know any shops that do this.
I'm a grade 8 violinist, and i was thinking that if i can't buy a good violin, i would hire one, for things like university auditions...etc...

The type of violin i would want is a nice old instrument with a lovely sound. And i definitely don't want to hire anything cheap like stentor or any other beginner/intermediate instruments.

Does anyone know any shops/ places that do violin hires?

I always thought that termly hiring was only available for student instruments? In fact I recall it only being available for schoolchildren, though that does seem to have loosened up a bit.

To be honest, I don't see much point in doing the audition on a specially hired instrument - isn't it only likely to cause problems if you get in and then turn up with something much cheaper, not to mention the expense of fitting it with the strings you want, having bridge adjustments done to suit the piece you are playing, and so on, only to have to take it back to the shop? And don't forget it's the player they are auditioning, not the violin!

Have you tried Benslow?

Liz

If you talk nicely to some dealers, they may be able to come to a short-term hire arrangement - ie. a few weeks. I know there are a couple of London dealers who have doen this before, so it's more a case of phoning around and asking.

Getting a written reference from your current teacher would be a good idea. Dealers will want to know you're not a wannbe or some fly-by-night just looking to bandy a flashy violin around to your mates for a few days.

Failing that, do a Google search for Benslow Music Trust. They loan string instruments to promising young players who cannot afford to buy a quality instrument of their own.

With reference to wanting 'a nice old violin with a lovely sound', there are in fact some quite new instruments which have just as nice a tone. Not all old violins sound nice, believe me!

If your current violin is good enough to do grade 8 on, is it not good enough for the auditions too? I would advise against hiring an instrument for a few weeks as you would be doing an audition on an instrument that you were hardly familiar with. You would be better using the violin you are accustomed to playing. I got new violin about a month ago now. I am still getting used to it, although it's the 5th string that's caused most of the trouble for me!

I thought hiring was only for fairly basic student instruments too! I hired a cello for several months to see how I got on with it. It was a Stentor (the only cello available then on a rental package) and I got to grade 5 (merit) on it, but I realised I needed a better instrument to go further.

I wonder how a 5 string would go down in an audition?!



Presumably they'd want some sort of security as well - otherwise what happens if someone "disappears" with the violin? We lost a viola about four years ago after foolishly lending one to a University student whose own instrument had apparently been stolen. That was the last we ever saw of the viola or the student

Yes, as a minimum I would think a valid debit/credit card number from a parent (in the case of a student) and also proof of ID and address.

If it were a viola audition, do you think it would be considered cheating? It isn't much of an advantage to a violinist - unless they make one with a B string!

I'm from Ireland and I was forunate enough to receive a Collin Mezin violin on loan from the Musical Instrument Fund of Ireland http://www.mifi.ie for 3 years. It was a beautiful violin, with a lovely tone, made in the early 1900s. A French intrument. I had to audition and have an interview in Dublin. I handed it back last February and am currently playing on a family heirloom

If you are taking your violin studies to a higher level don't you think you should invest in your own 'good' violin. My parents (many-many-many years ago) paid for my in installments - I'm sure this can still be arranged? I think the problem with hiring a violin is that they are such personal objects and they all have their little quirks (mines on the D string - it can slip a regular millimetre and I can slip it back in a split second) and think how disenchanted you will be with the one you have now when you tasted something better. What's more the one you have now is going to have a massive sulk if you cheat on it!!

Seriously - it's worth checking out if you can buy a good one gradually - it's for life - it's a sound investment.




sound investment

Didn't intend the pun it just came naturally

Now that is a serious point...violins can get very jealous

Definitely!!

I agree on this one - Hamish would have a fit if I played on another fiddle (he just about tolerates the viola). It would be broken bottles in the carpark if I ever cheated, I reckon! And I don't fancy the other fiddle's chances...

so how much do you think i should spend on a violin?
I dont think my parent will pay for any of it.
I'm 16 with no job and i'm in year 12 at school...

It's perfectly possible to get a good sounding violin for not too much money, but you have to get out there and start looking. Violins will not come to you. Set a budget a then start making enquiries with dealers about what they have available in that price range. The will always try to flog you something more expensive, but don't fall into that trap. Some very pricey violins don't actually sound that good! Go along and play some instruments. If you don't like, go somewhere else and try some others.

I'm sure your parents will be willing to help as much as they are able. Show them just how much you want this violin by going and getting yourself a Saturday job, and saving the money you earn. Surely that should inspire them to help you too.

When I went to music college at the age of 19 I'd had to spend my savings from holiday and Saturday jobs I'd done since I was 16, and money that I'd worked hard to earn working full-time in the year after leaving 6th form. I spent £950 on a good mid 19th century German violin that was easily capable of taking me through music college and out into my first tentative steps of professional work. That was only back in the early 1990s and prices of similar instruments to that which I purchased have not gone up very much - there are too many of that sort of violin around for them to have escalated in value.

Pick up that phone and start making some enquiries. Contact the main music colleges, they often have adverts placed by exisiting (or past) students looking to sell instruments.

Agree absolutely. However it does seem odd that this person's parents won't contribute (I am assuming it isn't a case of can't, of course it could be that) if s/he is planning to study music at University.


Personally I spend more time trying to talk people down in price than up.

Liz

Your best bet is just to save up for a good instrument that will see you through university. Getting used to a new instrument can be difficult and it's not recommended just for auditions etc. then changing to your own afterwards. You should practice on the instrument you intend to perform on.

What violin do you currently have? If you got through grade 8 with it i'm sure you are more than capable of getting through auditions with it, especially as you are used to it. Is there anyway that your own instrument could be improved before upgrading i.e. changing the strings, different setup or even a new bow?

Don't forget you can always use your student loan to help pay towards a new instrument when you start Uni which is what I used mine for. There are many violins out there that you could try and you don't have to pay very much for a good one. I recently began the hunt for a new violin and it is a very exciting process. After trying out several violins I ended up getting a Gliga and I have to say I am more than delighted with my purchase. I can't help but smile more and more each time I pick it up.

Have you asked? Where they not impressed by your passing Grade 8? Can your violin teacher not make the case for you and even help you choose one? You could try striking a bargain with your parents and say that you'll pay them back later and what about an advanced birthday/Christmas present deal? That will show them how serious you are.

When you think what people spend on cars, T.V's, washing machines etc you can get a decent violin for peanuts in comparison. I'm sure if you explain to them how essential a good fiddle is at your stage they'll by sympathetic.

Good luck

Yes, it's ironic that you get people on here desperate to know how to sell instruments (and we often get emails from people in that position) and then people on a low budget wanting to buy. It would seem to make sense to bring the two together. There are other websites of course but in my experience all you get from most of them is an endless run of scammers trying it on (you know, wanting you to send the instrument to Africa by Fedex and wanting to pay you with a cheque worth four times the amount you asked for and requesting you to send them a money order for the difference). I do think there is room on this forum for a "for sale" board, open to private sellers only. I wish the ABRSM staff would consider allowing one.

Liz

I have known more than one person whose parents would only contribute to university study of subjects they approved, ie "if you do that course (which you want to do but which won't get you a high flying graduate job) we won't help you out, if you do this (potentially lucrative) one, we will". Sad but true


That's a really good idea, a good set up and a decent bow can make a vast difference

Yes, I'll second that request.

AmandaL has summed this up in a nutshell.

My advice to a student in your position would be that you need to plan ahead for the instrument that will see you through music college and beyond, if that is your chosen path. If your current instrument is already up to standard, then don't worry. If, however, you know in your heart of hearts that you need to upgrade it, now is the time you should be thinking about it.

If your parents cannot afford to help out, find out if you would be elligible for a loan instrument from Benslow or elsewhere in the short term. In the longer term you will need your own, and as well as the part time job and raiding university loan options mentioned above, you may be able to negotiate an installment payment option with a dealer when you eventually buy your instrument.

How about your bow? If your violin is already reasonable, could upgrading your bow make a significant difference to your playing? Often this can make more of a difference than many people realise.

Set yourself a goal and work towards it, even if it has to be gradually at first. And don't give up on your parents. Even if they can't or won't help much, how about asking for a contribution towards your instrument fund instead of presents for the next couple of birthdays and Christmases? What about other family members who get you presents? Is there any possibility at all that your parents could take out a loan to pay for an instrument now over, say, four or so years and call it your next however many years' presents? (possibly including those more expensive/'significant' birthdays?). They can't know how serious you are about this unless you show them.