Cecilio Electric Violin 4/4 Full Size Silent Violin Set for Beginner, Solid Maple Wood Silent Violin with Ebony Fittings, Black Metallic

Very good and practical for money! Out of the box, the violin was already strung. I do recommend buying the peg drops as some other people have recommended before; Upon tuning the violin, the pegs did initially have some slippage, however, after applying peg drops, they stabilized and the violin was playable with no further repair. The violin without any amplification sounds like a normal violin with a steel mute applied (which means more muffled if you've never heard one) which, in my condo, make's it good for practicing 24/7 without worrying about neighbors noticing. I did find, if you put headphones into the violin directly, the sound it initially makes is a rather plain sound; to fix this I put it through my tube amplifier, and PUT REVERB on both the violin (since it has a reverb setting) and the amp; this made the violin sound much more natural and better. With proper amp settings, in my opinion; this violin under $200 sounded better then what looked like way more expensive electric violins that I saw at a high school electric violin concert, that in my opinion, wern't using ideal settings. You can make this violin sound however you want with a good amp; it can sound like a regular violin that is simply amplified, or you can go for the distorted guitar sound which sounds good too with the right settings! This violin overall looks very nice too, it has a fine paint job. The bow; overall good; the horsehairs seem of decent quality, and the wood bow came without being warpped or having significant problem's, the only thing I don't like about it, is in the middle of it, if you try to bounce it (spicatto) on the string (which you usually want closer to the frog for this) it the wood part of the bow will sometimes make contact with the horsehair/string of the violin, and I've tightened it so much I'm afraid I will break it if I tighten it more. This is not a major problem, the bow is still good for practice and I've even used it in some preformances before. The case is awesome; very light but still has a semi-solid- body to protect the instrument, and also has back straps which makes carrying it more convienent. It also came with rosin which is a plus. the only not so good components were A; the headphones; they remind me of disposable airline headphones. B. the cable if I remember right broke after some use; which is no big deal just buy a new one for like 8 bucks online. I DO reccomend getting the shoulder rest with this violin, because it is not as thick as a normal violin; it still has the normal edges/shape of a violin, so the shoulder rest I bought fit great with it! OVERALL: great instrument with great value; this is good for A. practicing at home silently/with headphones, B. amplified preformances C. an affordable way to learn violin (though electrics you don't learn tone as well, I might suggust trying another cecilio normal violin for a beginner)

I will start this off by saying I have recently started learning to play the violin, so this review is from a less experienced player, though I do have other musical knowledge. I have a housemate, so I chose the electric as to try not to be disturbing while practicing. I was initially impressed with what this provided for the price. I know there are packages that can be had even cheaper, though not something I would want to consider playing. As several other reviews have stated, the headphones that come in the package are bad. I mean worse than early 90's Sony Walkman headphones. Those got trashed immediately, as I had also ordered a pair of Sennheiser HD 419 headphones. The very next thing I did was take the violin to a quality local shop to have the strings replaced, which cost me another ~$35. At this point I'm at about $215 total investment, not including tax. At some point I will likely get a better bow as well, delegating the one that came with it as a spare. The instrument itself. It feels solid, not exactly excellent quality, but it doesn't feel like it's going fall to pieces if I set it down or play it wrong. My instructor commented that it seems to be of a better quality than the Cecilio acoustic violins. I do not believe I have had issues with the pegs slipping as I heard in some other reviews. I say I do not believe so as at this point it could still be the new strings stretching. You do have to push in on the pegs when tuning for them to stick. I have peg drops in case, though. Sound: It is a little louder than I was first expecting, though not extremely so. If you're looking for a comparison it is definitely louder than an electric guitar without an amp, but about half as loud as an acoustic violin, sorry I don't have a sound meter handy. I could avoid disturbing others in the house if I have a movie or music going. It has a cheap built-in amplifier with a 3.5mm jack so you can connect headphones directly into it without the need for an external amp. I don't notice static/white noise with the headphones. Although the overall sound quality could be better, it is much better than I was expecting. The case seems solidly built for a soft case. The violin fits well along with a shoulder rest (my instructor is one that does promote the use of a shoulder rest), and can hold 2 bows. The compartment at the top of the case fits the rosin and my tuner well. What can I say, it seems like your typical irigid soft case, not as roomy as some but good for the price. Overall I will give it 4 stars; Although it is not a superb product, it is well worth it for the money. I have spent an additional $75 for decent headphones and new strings, the rest can be upgraded here and there; bow, case, and eventually a new violin once I'm sure I will stick with it. I don't count the tuner in the cost as you can download a tuner app for your smartphone/tablet, having a stand-alone tuner is personal preference.

Pros: -This violin looks amazing -It's light-weight and sounds pretty close to the real thing -The bow's quality is flawless -The hard shell carry case is strong and also light -Came with a 9 volt battery -Entertained my dog for several minutes Cons: -The strings are rather poor quality and fell apart (Didn't even snap bro) -Extreme difficulty digging holes with 5/5 Would buy again

This is my first violin and my fourth instrument that I'll be teaching myself. It arrived quite well packaged and in a very timely matter. The case upon opening was rather impressive and the contents inside were all there where they should be. The instrument itself is a rather nice looking piece of work. Solid wood frame with a "color varnish" type of paint job. Sturdy with some weight to it and feels great in the hands. I didn't even bother to play it until I took it down to the music shop and replaced the strings with a good quality set, and bought a higher end bow for it. The man at the music store tuned it up for me and plugged it in to test it out and it sounded ok. He said it felt good and handled well and the new strings and bow make a big difference. I bought a 30 dollar shoulder rest and an expensive rosin and I was all set to go. I took it home and ran the output from the instrument into my mixer board with some EQ and FX and was VERY impressed with the sound. If you EQ it right you can have a really decent sounding electric violin here. I'm very happy with it and look forward to continue learning to play.

It's difficult to focus on anything else with the crackling and buzzing in the background when I'm practicing. I tried different pairs of headphones but it seems the violin itself is the problem. Very disappointed.

Bought it three weeks ago. The violin itself is decent and bow is functioning. But everything else should probably be replaced. Rosin and headphone are garbage. Remember to get a better rosin and a shoulder rest with this violin. Basically there're two problems with this violin making me give it a 3-star. One is that it's still pretty audible when you play it. I'm living in an old small studio apartment and sometimes can hear neighbors (sometimes I know someone is talking or watching TV loudly). I'm still not sure whether they really can't hear me playing at all:/ I would say the sound may be more like an acoustic violin with a practice mute (and may be quieter). But the pro is that you absolutely can practice without headphone, and if you want, you can get a better and warmer sound through the headphone, or even EQ it with a mixer. The other problem, which is more annoying, is that the bridge is set too high which causes finger pain. And it also get harder to make good sound with a higher position, especially with pinkie. It seems the only way to solve this problem is to bring your violin to a luthier and adjust the bridge at your cost. Replacing the strings with synthetic core ones may also make it better though it won't change the situation. Anyway, I won't say it doesn't worth this price. But get ready to pay more than the price shown on this page to really set it up.

This violin is great for silent practice. I haven't had it for long but playing it sounds decent with headphones, it is very convenient for practicing without disturbing anyone (neighbours, room mates etc.) The strings don't seem to keep their tune very well but this could just be that the strings need to stretch (time has passed and they did just need to be stretched) or be changed to a higher quality string set. Mine arrived with a chip in the varnish at the back but I was given a reimbursement for the damage when I talked to Amazon. Overall: -Great for silent practice, sound quality is decent and works well with both headphones and amps. -Case is not high quality but will do the job in protecting the violin. -Violin itself looks and sounds great, heavier than an acoustic violin. (not an issue for me and the difference isn't that much) -Chinrest fits well with no issues. -Strings don't stay in tune long; this could be the strings need to be stretched out a bit as the pegs are not slipping. Could be easily resolved with higher quality strings. (Strings just needed to be stretched, keeps tune well now) -Is perfect for playing outdoors and effects on amp works great. There is one PROBLEM with the cecilio electric violin i received. The strings sat much too high from the finger board and caused hand pain. This is no part amazon's fault as it's a manufacturing issue. I took this up with cecilio and they continued to send me bridges to try and resolve the height as it became unplayable. After many bridges and frustration I took the violin to a local Luthier for advice. He determined that the nut sits too high as well as the bridge and suggested it was likely a manufacturing error. After bringing this to Cecilio's attention (still under warranty), the only option I was given was to have the local luthier fix it at my cost or ship it to the and pay for shipping both ways. This was upsetting and and not just for this reason but when looking up this problem online, I found many others have had the same issue. So overall I'm not impressed with cecilio and the quality they allow their instruments to leave their warehouse in. I can honestly say I will not be purchasing a cecilio instrument again.