Customer Reviews

Cecilio CVN-200 4/4 Size (Full Size) Rosewood Fitted Solid Wood Violin + Hard Case, 2 Bows, Rosin & Extra Set of Strings & Bridge ~ Teacher Approved!

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This will be a moderately comprehensive review of Cecilio CVN-200 violin

First of all my knowledge of violins is limited but I'm learning everyday. I do have a music background playing trumpet in school and piano at home with some compositions on the side. I've always wanted to learn violin and finally decided to try. 100 bucks for a violin, does it even work?

I received this instrument four weeks ago and am extremely happy with it.
The outfit for this is great for the price. You get everything you need to start playing and more, ie. TWO bows, TWO sets of strings, an extra bridge, a case, a shoulder rest, a simple tuner, and a cake of rosin.

All of these are essential for playing the violin and you get them all. Also, the bow and strings are very delicate parts so having two in case one breaks is a huge plus for a newbie. The violin itself also comes with four micro tuners (at the bottom end of the strings) rather than just one on the e string that even some 500 dollar outfits are lacking. This is an excellent value for this price.

Now, none of this stuff is of the highest quality, far from it. The bows were slightly twisted, the rosin is barely usable (but is), the bridge is asymmetrical (by design not defect), the case pocket zipper sometimes fails, the pegs do slip, and the micro-tuner hooks need readjusting. However, all of this, though unthinkable for an intermediate player and up, are more than manageable for a beginning player.

So how does it sound? Well, the last violin i touched was over ten years ago and I have no others to compare with. Having said that, it plays quite well, at least it produces a sound akin to other violins I've heard. My understanding is that violins at this price are normally considered junk and unplayable. This one has quite a DECENT SOUND. Some of the other reviewers mentioned that even his/her teacher was impressed with its sound.

In fact, it plays well enough that I absolutely positively love practicing on this violin. Since receiving this little thing I have not missed a single day of practice and on average spend one and a half to two hours each day on it! Something I never thought I would do.

Having said all of that, the one thing holding this back are the included strings. The strings take precision bowing to respond at its full potential (which isn't high).

As a beginner, one tends to bow wobbly and bouncy-like which causes the bow to slide up and down the strings. The strings respond by losing resonance and whistling or shrieking. Cleaning the strings of rosin helps, and so does re-rosining the bow. As I said all the shortcomings of the product are manageable. However, once I got better at bowing I realized the strings were holding me back which is a good thing rather than replacing the entire violin.

I just recently put in an order for a set of Thomastik Dominant strings (35 USD). I read that even with a 300 dollar student violin, you should replace the included strings with much better ones (usually Dominant set is recommended). I consider this upgrading the violin to meet my own growth as a violin student rather than a shortcoming of the original purchase.

Again, I absolutely love playing on this violin. For such a small investment you get so much, everything you need to learn and develop your skill... until you outgrow it.

I am already looking at intermediate violins between $750-1100 since I now know I want to stick with it.

This violin is perfect for someone who wants to try out the violin but not yet committed, at least not enough to spend $300-500 on a typical student violin.

Considering price, 5 STARS for an excellent violin.

I bought this violin and a CVN-100 1/10 size for my four year old son. He loves the CVN-100, and I love the CVN-200. Please remember that most instruments need a "breaking in" period. Get some peg drops and that will help with the tuning pegs.

The thing that I like about this violin is it's tone. A nice beautiful sound. I'm sure that upgrading the strings would also boost it's tone, but for right now, I'm happy. The thing that is nice about this violin, aside from the great price, and tone, is the fact that I don't have to worry about my four year old son breaking a $500+ violin. Because I've been able to be so relaxed, my son has taken full responsibility for his violin. He treats it carefully, wipes it down, and really takes pride in what he has learned in his lessons. It's been a wonderful, low stress way of introducing music, and instilling self-confidence in my little boy. Thanks Cecilio.

Know that if you get this violin, you need to learn how to install the bridge, you may want to order some peg drops, and you need to let it "break in". You'll love it, I do.

I recently purchased this violin and love it! Both my local music store, and my new teacher looked it over and thought I got a great deal. Being a beginner, I really have no idea if it truly sounds good or not. But, my teacher (who has been playing violin half his life) said it really does have nice sound! So, I would recommend it as a good beginner's violin.

I had some knowledge of musical instruments, as I used to play a mandolin & guitar earlier. I wanted to learn violin and bought this violin after reading the reviews. This is a good student violin. If you are a beginner, you should know few things like, how to fix the bridge? how to tune the strings? how to apply rosin to the bow etc. The extra strings saved me when I broke the A string while tuning it. Pegs drops are a must to have, otherwise we cant go ahead of tuning. The fit and finish is good, I can term it a 'student violin' only because its less expensive. I have been using it for a week, and its really fun to play.

This is may be a cheap priced violin, but it's an excellent choice for a student violin who's just learning or maybe is not sure about it. I have got good compliments about my violin, it has a good sound and beautiful finish. There are some glue marks in the inside but that's no problem.
The two bows are good usefull, of course you shouldn't expect real horsehair, it's synthetic but good anyway. Now the rosin is of the poorest quality, unusable, so buy good rosin. Also I haven't used much the pitch pipe, but seems good. The shoulder rest is a piece of plastic with foam, but that wasn't a problem for me since I don't use it.

In conclusion: This is a good violin for the student and begginer. It doesn't look cheap.

By the way the fingerboard isn't ebony, of course for the price you shouldn't expect real ebony, but it's good painted black.

Sorry for my bad english

I bought this violin about 3 months ago, and from the first day I got it, I have LOVED it! I was an absolute beginner. I have been taking lessons from my Grandma, and this violin has never failed us.

The case is VERY nice, sturdy, and the perfect cozy bed for both storing and packing your violin.

The extra accessories are spectacular. The rosin works great; you just have to scuff it up a bit with a piece of sandpaper or a knife so that the rosin will actually come off onto the high-quality bow.

The pitch pipe is VERY useful when tuning your violin.

The extra strings are very nice. I snapped my A string while tuning it (I twisted it WAY too tight) and I was able to just grab my extra string and put it on.

I highly suggest getting an experienced violinist when you are installing your bridge. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO IT IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

The violin itself is 100% goregous. It's smooth and polished, and just beautiful to look at, even if it's not singing! It has an amazing tone... It is more mellow, not as harsh as most violins, and just clear and brilliant.

Even my grandma, who is an experienced violinist, loves my violin and agrees that this was a really good deal.

I love this violin. I'm glad I found this amazing deal; it's totally worth your money! I bet I'll have this violin for years to come.

From a 100% satisfied customer.

After careful research, we purchased this violin for our daughter. Although some feedback left us the impression that the bow might be sub-par and the rosin might fall apart, everything in this package exceeded our expectations.

We purchased ours from Austin Bazaar and the item arrived with everything promised in the condition promised. The bows in the package are very nice. The rosin was boxed and when opened, it was encased in plastic on three sides which allows the user to draw the bow across the open side. I don't even think my daughter got any rosin on her. My husband only had to score it a little bit to get it started and it worked wonderfully.

Although we had warned our daughter to look up instructions for attaching the bridge, the violin came with the bridge attached. It is a lovely violin and the finish is very nice. It makes a beautiful sound once the bow is properly covered in rosin.

The case is also very nice. The exterior is soft but the interior is a lined hard case that cradles the violin. There are places for all the accessories and the strap makes it easy to carry.

Many reviewers said a violin will lose tune until it is broken in. Our violin did lose it's tune very quickly but, as many reviewers recommended, I ordered peg drops along with the violin and they solve the problem beautifully.

This violin is a fabulous compromise if you are new to playing or want something for practice that isn't terribly expensive. We searched music stores all over our area and found nothing remotely comparable or as reasonably priced. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Cecilio again.

My CVN-200 arrived in a reasonable time. I took it home to check it out and was simply amazed by the high quality of finish, workmanship, and overall construction. I don't play the violin; with this I will try to learn.

It came with 2 bows, an extra set of strings, rosin, a tuning device, some sort of pad that I don't understand yet, and all in a really attractive case. For this price, that is astounding!

I would have given it five stars, except I have no idea as to how good it is at playing and being played. But, at this price, even if I never play it, it will be an attractive monument to impulse buying, in a place of honor in my parlor.

so I just got my violin in the mail and I am very pleased. I just finished setting it up and played it for a bit and the violin has a great sound! I have been playing for about 3 months now and this instrument sounds way better than the violin that I have been playing previously. the sound is clearer and carries more. It's A Good Buy!

My son used this violin for about 6 months. Now I feel it is time to get him a new one. I bought it because it looks nice and provides some spare parts. Very soon, I realized why. One of the strings was broken very soon. The bridge was out of shape after 3 months. Most important, it does not stay in tune. My son's violin teacher told me that it is very difficult to tune it and suggest me to get it repaired.

I brought it to a string store. The guy told me immediately:" Did you get this online? It is not a good brand." It would be at least $40 to repair it.

I suggest you stay away from it.