Stentor, 4-String Violin (1550 4/4)

I'm a life long musician (piano) picking up the violin also. I didn't want to put more than $400 into my first violin and after much searching settled on the Stentor 1550. The final convincing point is a factory tour video that Stentor has on YouTube which you can find with a search. In it they show clearly how the violins are made - yes they are mass produced in China, but all is done by hand to high standards as you will see in the video. Further, by combining this with what they have on their site, it turns out that the 1550 (Conservatoire) and above are considered 'high grade' violins that get special treatment. One is they are made with an 'inner mould' instead of an 'outer mould' (see the video) with individual clamping, this is the more traditional method of violin making and should result in a more accurate and better instrument. They also have upgraded components (stock strings are Red Label from Florida) including spruce front, maple back/side and ebony pegs/fingerboard. The high end instruments are also made in a special part of the factory which is run like a traditional luthier shop (I don't know for sure that the 1550 is made there, but given how well it was executed and other factors I believe it is, with the 1400/1500/1510 made in the mass production area, which are still excellent starter violins).At any rate on receiving the violin a full inspection revealed it to be nearly flawless. The purfling (decorative edge) is perfectly executed (cheaper violins have them painted and/or with errors - check the mitered edges in particular), and the finish is perfect. No bubbles or glitches. The flame back at first looked like a mistake, one side is 'flamed' and the other has little, but I realized that it's just the characteristics of this particular wood that it turned out that way. They use the same wood wedge cut in half, so the sides are matched. Otherwise the fit and finish on the pegs, fingerboard and such has no discernible flaws. It came with the bridge in place and the strings loose.Unfortunately I broke the e string during tuning so took it down to my local luthier to do some initial prep and get a new string. When he found out I bought it on the internet his attitude seemed to change, he claimed it was a cheap violin (after a cursory glance) and proceeded to try and sell me one of his $500 violins. He didn't seem to realize that I knew a few things, and on closely inspecting his (no brand Chinese) violins I found much poorer workmanship (such as varnish bubbles and glitches). It looked to me like he was buying $150 violins and then with prep work marking them up - which I understand since he has a brick and mortar to support, but I wanted to buy a higher end beginners violin and have it serviced locally (unfortunately he didn't win my business). One flaw of the violin is the bow has a small rightward bend when tensioned, which isn't uncommon with wood bows. I shrugged my shoulder and will upgrade the bow eventually. The f holes are finished perfectly.There is one defect, at the base of the violin, under the 'Shellax' finish there is a manufacturing mark which looks like a lightly penciled '3'. Seems unlikely this would have been missed, but it does look so. No problems, 3 is a favorite number of mine, and you can't expect perfection for $350, but (other than the bow) this is the only defect I found.On playing it the tone is full and sounds excellent (once I developed some technique!). Really if you're looking for an upgraded violin from a rank starter this is hard to beat, if you like you can upgrade the tailpiece, strings and perhaps bow if you like, but by itself is a great first violin.

This is a great quality violin and is definitely a good investment for most of your learning days. It is beautiful sounds nice and warm right out of the case. I only have two small complaints. This violin slowly slips out of tune but I am aware that there are products to remedy that. Also I wouldn't consider the bow to be extremely good quality but it definitely works just fine for a student like myself. Definitely don't use the boxed rosin that is included in the kit. I upgraded to Jade rosin and it is wonderful. a few supplies I might suggest if you're new to violin. A very soft cloth to remove excess rosin and a seamless microfiber cloth for buffing the Finish. I purchased music Nomads cloth and it's really good quality. I would also suggest getting the app te tuner and learning the sound frequencies for each string

I am an adult beginner player though I played for 3-5 years as a kid. Mostly pleased but have had trouble getting it to stay in tune. My 9 year old granddaughter is beginning too and her violin holds the tune much better than mine. We bought a used 3/4 for her from a music store. I have been reading articles and found that problems with the strings cutting too much into the fingers could be a bridge too high and also that the post in the violin should be checked. I took it to a good quality music store with a luthier and he affirmed that the bridge was too high so he shaved it down and that the post was too high and was in danger of cracking the top wood over time. He adjusted that too. So if you buy this instrument, it might be wise to have a luthier look at it for adjustments. Strings are fine but over time I will replace with better quality. Overall, I am satisfied and pleased, but would check for the above issues.Almost 2 years later: Jan 14.19: This violin has served me well as a beginner and I have recently passed it on to my 11 year old granddaughter who has outgrown her 3/4 size. She is loving it and the tone is so much better than her 3/4 size. I have since upgraded to a higher quality violin with much better tone but I still will pick up this one from time to time when my granddaughter is around. My violin teacher had commented that this violin had good tone for a beginner violin.I am very pleased with the choice I made for my first violin after 50+ years of not playing. But again, had a luthier check it out for finer adjustments.

My niece has been playing violin since the sixth grade and his currently a freshman in high school. I wanted a violin that would give her a great salad and this does just that. Make sure that you take it to a professional and have it tuned for the first time and do not use the rosin that comes with it by a better quality rosin. Other than that great sound and great violin for an intermediate player

The violin is alright. The sound is nice, loud and bright. I must have received one of the older violins because the strings snapped without even playing and one of my other strings broke when it was tuned to a pitch lower than it was supposed to be (i was tuning the D string and it snapped before it even got past a B). I went to the shop and they said that all the string were about to snap anyway even tho I hadn't played the violin at all. I just ended up replacing all of them.Some of the varnish is a bit uneven too. The pegs are super stiff as well but that's probably because it's new. The shop made it a bit better.The bow is nice and so is the case. The rosin is alright too.Otherwise the violin itself is beautiful. I love the way it looks. It'd be perfect if the strings weren't already almost broken, the pegs weren't so stiff, and the varnish was completely even. It's like there was a part of the violin where there wasn't any varnish at all. I'm still happy overall with the product, but there was a lot of unnecessary crappy things about it that made the violin a bit sucky.It's a good violin, I just probably got an old one. I think you just have to get lucky with which violin you get.