Other string instruments?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjbphotos
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mjbphotos

mjbphotos

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My wife told me 'no more guitars'. I've already got a mandolin and banjolin.

I've been looking on Ebay at the cheap Chinese-made violins - waste of money?
 
I mean.... If you don't really care about the sound and just want to learn violin, go for it
 
What do I know about violin sound? Only when I hear a good player it sounds good!
 
if you're just starting out on any instrument, don't spend too much.
upgrade when your playing has improved and you know you're going to stick with it.
 
i got my cheapo violin for free.

this kid i knew had one and every time i went over i was like "hey dude, lemme play your violin!" and endless manglings of the theme to Fiddler on the Roof would follow.

i noticed the violin became harder to find every time i went over. and pretty soon the kid just gave it to me.
 
mjbphotos said:
What do I know about violin sound? Only when I hear a good player it sounds good!
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haha okay man then buy it! From my perspective, even a great player can sound pretty shi**y on a shi**y violin. A great drummer can still sound amazing on a horrible kit. He doesn't even need a kit! Just something to beat his sticks on. A great guitarist, IMO, can sound pretty good on a bad guitar. Even if the guitar is out of tune, the guitarist can play some cool licks on one string. It's just not the same with a violin. Even with the best player, a bad violin sounds so screechy and squeaky to the point I actually cringe. I'm a classical guy though, and that may be the reason I'm obsessed with the sound of a violin.
 
moresound said:
There is always the accordion!
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I've been looking at the little squeeze-box ones, but figured the cheap Chinese ones probably sounded like cheap Chinese ones ... Can't see the sound from them working with my various styles, anyway. Guess I'll save my money for strings. :)
 
I like my dulcimer, only 4 strings, and it looks cool on my wall.
 
Oh, I my wife tried to tell me no more guitars, or any musical equipment I'd kick her out of the house. One must have priorities!
 
My wife buys me new gear (Zoom R16 for Xmas, dobro last year, 5 string bass the year before, Roland Disclab the year before that, all the way back to 'cello in 1996).
Get a cheapie violin but don't expect great tone etc.
It's a VERY hard instrument to play well - particularly if you're coming directly from the fretted world.
I thought going from bass to 'cello would be easy give the tonal nature of the two but I was WRONG. Tuning, strings and everything changes & a new mind set was required. THEN I realised exploration wasn't the way to go either so took lessons. THAT made a difference (as well as dot stickers on the finger board).
The cheapie violin will do you long enough to decide whether or not you want to/can play after which you go & see the local fellow.
Oh, & as they say - when you start getting it together the BOW is the 1st to GO (because cheap is cheap when it comes to bows).
 
Maybe I should just go for the bow and use on electric guitar ala Jimmy Page
 
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