Has anyone ever purchased a violin from this company? I am interested in a couple on this site as they seem very reasonably priced compared to many other companys around dealing in antique violins. Just wondering if their violins are as good and reasonable as they look. Will obviously be trying before we buy though!

What sort of price range are you looking at?

£1,500, - we are looking at a couple with repairs that look and sound good enough to be a principle study instrument at a conservatoire. Would not get a new one at this price good enough. The couple I am looking at also I know are fetching at least double at other dealers. Don't really want to say what models though, would rather not draw interest to them until I have had chance to try them out! Just wondered if the company's instruments lived up to their photos, sound files and descriptions.

We recently went tto their showroom/house while down in Devon recently for my daughter to try out a few violins that we'd liked from the website in the same price range that you mention. Found couple of really good violins. They seemed excellent value for the money but weren't entirely convinced about the fineness of the repair/restoration job on these. We ended up buying a good bow from them and are looking for violins elsewhere. It might be worth trying out the violins before you buy them online if you can get down there.

most of the 1500-ish violins on that site look reasonable for the money, but I would be very surprised if they were good enough for a music college performance course, unless you get very lucky. If you are buying a violin to go to college with in september, I would strongly recommend hanging on till then and getting some input from your new teacher before buying something. Most of the people I know studying violin at music college are playing on instruments costing in the region of 5-10k. The bigger colleges can sometimes help with a loan instrument if that's out of your reach.

For that amount of money, if you shop around, even privately, you could pick up a professional grade violin. Not all pros play on fine Italian specimens or an instrument requiring a second mortgage.

Yes, this is possible, but generally loan violins are part of a collection and in high demand at the conservatoires, so they tend to be short loans.

How about approaching Benslow Music Trust? They will loan out instruments to less financially endowed young players, right up to post-grad level. They also tend to be rather more long-term loans (two or three years), as opposed to a couple of semesters.

"For that amount of money, if you shop around, even privately, you could pick up a professional grade violin. Not all pros play on fine Italian specimens or an instrument requiring a second mortgage."

I completely agree. Thing is though, most conservatoire students seem to be playing on pro-level instruments these days.

Hi Tracy, Yes, I bought a violin from them last year. It's a 1933 Louis Courtier workshop violin, from Mirecourt. It cost £1,750 and was worth every penny. It was exactly as described, if not better, having a clear, bell-like treble and a gorgeous sonorous bass. It's in excellent condition, has not been repaired, and still has the (probably) original rosewood pegs. It came correctly set up, with new Dominants and a lightweight case, well packaged.
I believe Brian will accept violins for return if unsuitable, offering a refund less a nominal admin fee.
Incidently, I see he is currently offering a "near mint" benchmade Louis Courtier, at £2,750. Now that's tempting...

I'm very wary of older instruments that are 'near mint' condition. It gets alarm bells ringing that perhaps nobody liked the sound of the instrument enough to play it very much.

If the instrument is old, which could be anything from a few decades to a few centuries, then I'd rather opt for something in sound condition (repaired properly, if required) but with the varnish and wood showing signs of a busy working life.

They seem like a very reputable company and their prices are very fair. But I can't understand anyone forking out 2-3k to buy a violin mail order on the basis of photos and a sound clip (played by a slightly ropy violinist I have to say ) Sure, you can return it if you don't like it, but postage alone is going to mount up if you want to go through a few comparisons.......
Maybe a good excuse for a weekend in devon if you're a fan of low/mid-range French fiddles (I'm not, I'm afraid).

I ordered an instrument from them, and although it is at root a decent instrument, probably worth something like what I paid for it, it had at some time been repaired in a substandard way--the neck was crudely reset with a large block of replacement wood badly fitted to an overly enlarged mortise, and some kind of opaque brown paint brushed over the area. A lovely tender varnish still visible on the scroll had on the body been sloppily overcoated with a gloss varnish. The instrument had not been newly set up and needed a new bridge, new fingerboard, and at the least some kind of work on the pegs, if not a new set.

I do not know whether the repair work was done by West Country, I would prefer to think not, but the lack of disclosure of the overall condition was a bit distressing given the price and the lost shipping expenses in the event of a return.

They also charge a re-stocking fee - in the form of a percentage of the value of the instrument.