Chinese Ebay violin Corelli Alliance Vivace Strings - Salut D'Amor by Elgar

Full review playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU71GmsG8gM&list=PLM1P94oqNn1t1isssKLRJRm-DRlPLl-l7&index=3 EBay Yitamusic Guarneri del Gesu copy of the 'Lord Wilton' violin with Corelli Alliance Vivace strings. The bow is my old faithful and better quality one rather than the free standard bow that came with it. I think there is a marked difference in the brightness of the tone, especially in the lower register we can start to hear the richness of sound. You have to cut the violin some slack as it's label says made in 2015 but I doubt it will have been sufficiently broken in yet and has survived being shipped from China. It is a virgin sound at the moment, but even now you can hear it wants to sing. I think it will get better with more playing and I will post some more comparison videos at a later date for a fairer test. Unfortunately my antique German violin has fallen asleep as I haven't been playing it regularly so I will keep practicing on both of them. I am stunned at the quality of sound coming out of this 'cheap' instrument. It would be an insult to whoever made this to say it is cheap as I can tell a lot of time and effort has gone into making this violin. I certainly couldn't knock one of these instruments out in a lunch break. Whether the Chinese workshop have dubious practices is unknown to me. I know some people are sceptical whether these are hand carved etc etc. I know the re-sale value is even lower and people have a low opinion of these kind of 'mass-produced' instruments but if they're like this I just can't help myself. Also, for students/parents who can't afford the antique highly sought after instruments these are a good alternative. My antique German violin is a Stradivarius copy, it has weathered some damage so I managed to acquire it a cheaper price than I should have had it been in mint condition. It has a decent sound when it is truly on form and being played regularly. I am not advanced enough to probably unlock all of the potential but it certainly helps me sound better than the average student violin. I have an almost guilty feeling that this Chinese violin might actually end up sounding better than my traditional antique German violin - shocking! It could be personal preference but me and my husband both prefer the Chinese sounding violin to my original violin at the moment. Maybe once both are played in I'll change my mind...