Purchasing Your Quality Instrument – The Vivace Violins Difference.

Congratulations! You just made the big decision either to purchase your first instrument, or your next, upgraded instrument – this is where the next chapter of your musical journey begins, and one which we are all too happy to help you with! There are, however, so many different shops to choose from, and even more instruments to choose from, and so much information to take in. Especially if you are new to purchasing stringed instruments, this can be a bit overwhelming; we have all been there once in our lives, so we are here to help.

No matter which level or type of instrument is best-suited to your needs, we hold each and every violin, viola, cello, and base to the same, high level of scrutiny. Even more so for beginner’s instruments, we do our best to ensure that every instrument is carefully checked, and rigorously tested before selling, as we believe this to be a crucial factor in a player’s enjoyment and success of a musical instrument.

What do we check?

Each instrument, no matter where it comes from, has to undergo examinations of its structural, tactile, and aesthetic qualities. Starting at the joins, we carefully check the projection of an instrument’ neck, and its angle. This greatly affects the ‘setup’ and the tactile experience of playing the instrument. Next, we observe the fingerboard and nut, that they are both made of genuine, quality ebony wood – and are shaped to fit our templates for industry standards. Once these are to our liking, we setup the instrument with its bridge and a suitable set of strings. Each bridge is carved by-hand by a European-trained, master violin-maker with over 20 years of experience.

So, what’s next?

You can come in any day of the week to try these instruments for yourself, and work with our friendly staff to find the right fit for you! We each play, or teach the instruments ourselves – you may have even met us before! When you have picked the instrument, you want to take home we do our final checks: we ensure the bridge sits at a comfortable, 90-degree angle from the body; the neck feels smooth to the touch; any bows are mechanically tested, and rosined appropriately; the strings are tuned; and most importantly we check to see that we have answered any and all of your questions about your new instrument. Then… you’re good to go!

What is the “Vivace Violins Difference”?

TL; DR – we are extremely competitive against our past selves. Each new day, instrument, and customer we are always working to out-do ourselves – we strive for the best, because it’s what we love to do, and because we know that it will help our customers to love what they do too!

28/10/2023 – Rhys Williams, Violin Specialist, BMus (Violin Performance)