Cecilio Silent Electric Solid Wood Violin with Ebony Fittings, Electric Violin Kit (Full Body - Blue)

This is a great fiddle. I'm a semi-professional violinist and have been playing for 20+ years. This violin far exceeded my expectations of something that cost less than $150.I'm very impressed by the battery life. It takes one 9-volt battery. I've had this instrument for almost a month and I haven't had to change the battery yet. The battery survived dress rehearsals and opening weekend for a musical where I had the instrument turned on for close to 3 hours every night for a week.The tone control is amazing. Much more expensive models don't have this feature on the instrument itself. I can make the violin sound smooth and mellow or gritty and raw with just the spin of a dial, no fancy effects pedals needed!The instrument is well made with no blemishes. The paint job (I got a blue one) is great - vibrant color and sparkly! The bow is definitely cheap, but decent enough if you don't already have a better bow (for those who have had issues with the bow, make sure you rosin it up very well before attempting to play with it).The headphones are no better than the crappy ones you buy on an airplane, but most people have earbuds or a better set of headphones so it isn't a great loss. I've played the instrument with expensive headphones, mid-ranged headphones, and earbuds; the instrument sounds good on all of them.The strings that came on it were ok, but I put a brand new set of D'Addario Electric strings on the instrument a few days after it arrived in the mail. New strings are always a good investment for a new instrument.The case is very light and has backpack straps. There are two bow holders and a small compartment for rosin above the scroll. There's enough space to slide a shoulder rest next to the scroll. The outer zippered pouch is not big enough for music, but it is big enough for a cable, tuner, pencil, extra strings.I bought an amp so I could use this fiddle for gigs, particularly ones where I'd usually need to be mic'ed to be heard over other instruments. For less than $500, I set myself up with an electric fiddle, bow, case, rosin, new strings, cables, and an amp. Not too shabby a deal.Here's a good video review: youtube.com/watch?v=DJlb7z8CCGI (He even compares this instrument to one of his much more expensive electric fiddles. That was the part that sold me on getting this one!)My favorite part about this instrument: people coming up to me and saying "OH COOL! You have a blue fiddle! I love it!"

I purchased the metallic blue electric violin, and so far I am pretty satisfied by its quality. The color coating on the violin is very vibrant, except for the back of the neck, which is almost completely colorless. I'm unsure whether or not this was intentional by the manufacturer, but either way it doesn't detract very much from the visual quality of the violin. During the shipping process, the bridge became completely dislodged from its place and the D string was almost completely out of the tuning peg with the rest of the strings being very loose. Not a big issue for an experienced player, but those with little experience tuning a violin would need to bring it to a professional. The overall sound quality is great, with the only problem being that the headphones make the sound seem pretty dull and flat, although I'm sure this could be corrected with a decent amplifier. The bow is not extremely high quality, but with quite a bit of rosin it plays nicely. The rosin that is included is pretty good quality, and so is the cloth to clean the violin. There was quite a bit more space in the violin case than I was expecting, leaving a little room for storage. There is also a music book with a piano accompaniment CD and a DVD that covers the very basics of posture, note reading, and bow techniques. This is fantastic for a beginner, but wouldn't be very useful for anyone with prior violin experience.Overall, this was a great buy and I would recommend this instrument to fellow musicians.

I was a bit skeptical in buying a violin online for this price, but I a glad I took the risk! I am a college student and wanted a violin that I could afford and play(horrible at first) in a dorm without bothering my roommates. I should also note I'm self-taught. This violin was great! Here are the pros and cons:PROS:-The violin is beautiful! I ordered the blue one, and I was more than pleased with how it looked.-Its light, but solid bodied.-The case is very nice. Its a hard case, but is as light as a feather. It has pockets for two bows, and a compartment for rosin and aux cables. The outside has a pouch for odds and ends items that you couldn't fit in the case. Also, the inside of the case is a beautiful blue (which I loved)-It comes with almost everything you need )Bow, rosin, headset, aux cable, etc)-It produces great sound when using an amp or headset.CONS:-It was still very loud, even though its supposed to be 'silent'. Oh-well.... not too much of a let-down but make sure that you aren't buying this for the sole purpose of it being 'silent'.-The bow and rosin are not the highest of quality, so you may want to buy one yourself. My bow actually came with a bit of glue on it. In an attempt to get the glue off I actually broke my bow and had to get a new one. However, for the price and the great sound quality of the violin, I wasn't mad. I also bought myself some new rosin.-There was a bit of space on the back where they didn't finish painting. Its invisible to any observer, but it sorta bugs me (than again, I'm a little OCD about paint lol)-It took a really long time to rosin the bow enough to produce a sound.Other notes:-Headset was not the best quality, but you can just use your own pair of headphones.-I recommend buying a mini amp (I bought a HoneyTone amp for 20$)so that you can play in front of people (the sound quality stinks without an amp or headphone, which is expected with any electric instrument).-Buy a shoulder rest, as the violin doesn't come with one.-If this is your first time tuning, I suggest buying an electric tuner, or better yet take it to a professional to tune! If you tune it yourself, make sure you only tune one note at a time (you don't want any strings breaking)!

Pros:- great violin for the price that I paid. I would recommend this to any fellow beginners as I have had no problems with it!- comes with everything that you need to start playing right away!- the case is quite portable. It has three different kinds of straps so that you can carry it upright, briefcase style, or wear it like a backpack! It seems quite sturdy and solid.Cons:-The extras are a little bit low-end. The rosin is workable, but I noticed a huge difference in sound when I purchased a more expensive rosin from my local music shop.-the headphones aren't the best, but they get the job done if you don't have any lying around the house.- the strings don't do the instrument a justice. For $25 I got a better set of strings and it made a world of difference.- the pegs kept coming loose at first, but I found that pushing them in helped them stick.Conclusion:-awesome deal, even after paying for upgrades. I would be hard pressed to find a used violin locally for a price like this!

This violin arrived in perfect condition (Ontario).It sounds and works great. I have a bit of a hard time tuning it and I broke a string already, but I that's likely my own inexperience and nothing wrong with the violin. This thing looks great and was worth the money.

Fairly well made given the modest price. Treat yourself to some decent rosin, the rosin in the kit is workable but that's about it. Like the design and colour. Shipping was quick & it was well packaged. Overall a worthwhile package deal.

This was a gift. The strings have proven to be hard to restring. Otherwise, great.

The sound is good, but it just worth $200 or less. Nothing more...