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[quote=Anonymous]At that price point, you are looking almost exclusively at a "workshop violins" -- violins made by many hands under the direction (hopefully) of a master luthier. Workshops have existed for many centuries, in many countries. I'd look with an open mind without regard to origin.

At your price point, I think that the shops in this area with the best value for the money are Weaver's (in Bethesda, used to be side by side with Potter's prior to them moving to Takoma Park), and Gailes (in College Park). I haven't looked at how Gailes has been since their founder/owner died, but they used to do an excellent trade in workshop violins, especially restorations of older workshop violins.

If your child has only been learning for a year, your price point is overkill. I would aim for $2,500 or less, possibly even $1,500 or less. You can get a Hiroshi Kono (a nice Japanese workshop violin) for that price; there are also plenty of older violins available at that price point. Reserve $500 to $1,000 to buy a decent bow; a JonPaul or Coda bow will do nicely (carbon fiber), but you might be able to luck into an okay-ish Brazilian workshop bow at that budget.

When your child has advanced sufficiently and has developed personal preferences in their taste in sound, response, and feel, you can trade that instrument in for something that'll probably be $2,500 to $5,000, and unless they decide to play professionally, that will probably do for their lifetime. [/quote]

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