# NVD...?



## ferret (Aug 7, 2013)

What did Fedex bring me from Rondo today, on the basis of a whim and curiousity?







A box. Er. Well, what did Rondo put in it?






A black case! And apparently a much worse photo than I thought.






My gosh, a cheap chinese violin!






I've been very curious to pick one of these up since someone mentioned Rondo having them listed. I know they're essentially just cheap practice instruments, but the price is low and it lets me try something new and sate some curiosity. Pretty interesting so far. Maybe I'll make a clip once I actually begin to have an inkling of what I'm doing.


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## Mordacain (Aug 7, 2013)

Good luck man! I grew up playing violin but stopped in middle school. Tried to pick it up again a couple of years back but it was rough without instruction and I had forgotten pretty much everything save how to hold it.

If I can give any advice, it is to make sure you get your grip on the bow right, it's ridiculously difficult to correct once you've learned it incorrectly.

Also, I wouldn't be above using the grade school trick of marking the note positions with white dots.


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## Daf57 (Aug 7, 2013)

Congrats - I applaud your desire to learn something new! I'd like to experiment with one myself one day. 

Oh and I suggest a BKP Painkiller in the bridge!


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## User Name (Aug 7, 2013)

get ready to pump out some BROOOOTAAAHHLLL RIIIIFFFFFFAAAAGGGEEEE


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## r134 (Aug 7, 2013)

Is that for your Spinal Tap-esque guitar solo?




video related


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## ferret (Aug 8, 2013)

I broke a string.....  Don't think those were remotely good strings anyways though...

But I made some notes on the other 3!


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## r134 (Aug 8, 2013)

buy a book!

most people use the Suzuki Method book when they learn. I used it 15 years ago when learning violin/cello/piano, and even though I dont play violin or cello anymore, its still useful as guitar literature


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## MetalBuddah (Aug 8, 2013)

Not enough strings


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## yingmin (Aug 8, 2013)

I bought a violin from a pawn shop for $50 a month or so ago. It's been a lot of fun learning to play it, but it's also really hard. I already play fretless bass and mandolin, but even so it's a very different experience.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Aug 9, 2013)

ferret said:


> I broke a string.....  Don't think those were remotely good strings anyways though...
> 
> But I made some notes on the other 3!



Replace that string pronto. Violin family instruments have this stupid quirk wherein their stability teeters on the distribution of tension across the body. And if your instrument doesn't explode because you broke that string, it will at least be a complete pain in the ass to intonate unless you replace it and go through the grueling process of tuning a million times. Why mechanical tuning pegs have thus far eluded the modern violin is beyond me; string players must enjoy inconvenience. My string teacher from a year or so ago has a cellist friend who had a luthier put a mechanical tuning peg on his cello that is adjusted with an allen wrench, but only for one string. And, seriously, you need to fish around for an allen wrench every time you want to tune? What the hell, why?


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## ferret (Aug 9, 2013)

Yeah, that's basically how I broke it, trying to tune it up from shipping with it tuned down. It just shifted suddenly too far. Definitely tuning itself is a learning experience....


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## Forrest_H (Aug 9, 2013)

Nice score man!


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## r134 (Aug 9, 2013)

ferret said:


> Yeah, that's basically how I broke it, trying to tune it up from shipping with it tuned down. It just shifted suddenly too far. Definitely tuning itself is a learning experience....



when I was little and still played cello, I could never push the peg back into the hole, so I had to get my dad to tune it


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## yingmin (Aug 9, 2013)

Friction tuners are the perfect example of "it doesn't matter if its a bad idea, it's how things have always been, and we're not going to change it".


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