Hallo party peeps.
I have a friend who wants to buy a 3/4 violin for a homeless teenager. Anyone know where she might get a good deal?
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3/4 violin advice
(14 posts)-
biophile87
offlineMemberPosted 5 months ago # -
GAM
offlineMemberI'd check out the violin shop at Market & 24th. If they don't have one, they surely know who would.
Posted 5 months ago # -
boatgeek
offlineMemberThere are a number of places online that sell violins for $50-$100. We've had mixed results with this approach (one great, one OK), so it's probably worth looking at the reviews online before buying. Violin shops might be able to give some advice on brands.
Posted 5 months ago # -
I don't think the online bargain violins are worth it, especially for a kid just getting started. If the instrument doesn't really work learning to play will be an exercise in frustration likely to end in quitting the instrument. It is really hard to tell a bad instrument if you don't play -- I know, as a non-player parent to two violinists. All those instruments look the same to me! Shiny, new, etc. -- but string instruments are very subtle and unforgiving of smallish flaws in design and assembly. So your friend should figure out how much she wants to spend and call a violin shop to explain the situation and ask their advice. It is worth talking to Lasley & Russ at 24th and Market and also Olsen's at 65th and 3rd. If the budget is very small, maybe a rental return violin from Kennelly Keys -- I've heard some poor reviews of their rental string instruments but they are still a more reliable source than the unadulterated internet. Orchestra teachers would be good contacts to make in this search, too.
Is this a very small teen? Most kids are in full-size by the teen years, or close enough to it that it is a little stretch to play but not damaging. You will have an easier time finding an affordable instrument in full size since there are so many more of them.
I'd be concerned about a homeless teen's ability to keep an instrument safe and try to figure out a plan for that before handing it over.
Posted 5 months ago # -
biophile87
offlineMemberThank you! I've passed this on. You guys rock.
Posted 5 months ago # -
I would second my concern if this person is truly homeless. If so, I am skeptical that a delicate musical instrument is the best gift, especially one that is very sensitive to temperature changes and moisture and even more so right at the start of winter.
If they are just "not very well off" that's another story.
Any wood instrument like that will not fare well in the elements.Posted 5 months ago # -
Even if the teen is not living outdoors -- I had assumed in a family shelter, or moving about from motel to relatives to friends -- it might be really hard to take care of and keep track of an instrument. You hear so many stories of families that are homeless who manage to keep a roof over their heads, but the price is endless upheaval. Things can easily get left behind or lost.
Posted 5 months ago # -
teigyr
offlineMemberI've seen them for sale for not that much but second what other people have said. I'll keep my eye out for one.
Not all wood instruments are created equal and there is a HUGE difference between some. Also they don't react well to moisture and upset, too much jostling and the bridge can fall which leads to, even worse, the sound post falling. I have a cello in a soft case that is in that situation due to it being moved and it falling on its side.
I've seen some acrylic type instruments used in school situations. I played an acrylic bass for a while and it wasn't as bad as what you'd think. Depending on the situation, it might be good to look for something along those lines.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Cate
offlineMemberYes, a homeless lifestyle might make it more difficult for this young woman to take care of her violin. But it also might be the one thing that gives her hope and lets her know that she is cared about as a person. By all means a hard case instead of a soft one but I think this is a wise and loving gift.
Posted 5 months ago # -
lifeisamazing
offlineMemberWhat Cate said
Posted 5 months ago # -
ynh98107
offlineMembereBay and possible the collector's section of Dearborn Goodwill (it would have to be a chance find).
Posted 5 months ago # -
I agree with Cate the the gift is worth making, but if the giver knows something of this teen's lifestyle it might be good to have some kind of backup plan. Like, the instrument can live at the giver's house for any short periods that the teen feels she doesn't have a good place to keep it (or at school, maybe?).
I just watched the PBS Frontline show about homeless kids, and what often seems to happen is that shelters admit families with just a minimum of possessions -- usually each person can bring in one bag. The family puts everything else in storage. But then they can't pay the fee and lose it all. This happened over and over in the stories on that show, to different kids living in different parts of the country.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Cate
offlineMemberYour right angeline, I've seen that happen to families. And it is hard to know what this young women's situation is. Hopefully the giver, a school counselor or music teacher, someone, is trying to look out for her.
Posted 5 months ago # -
SmartsyArtsy
offlineMemberI hadn't thought about this in many years. When i was 9, my uncle wanted to buy me a piano but I was going back and forth between two households and I was anxious about how I could keep up my practice. He rented one that the nuns at my school agreed to house in the convent. He drove me to school an hour earlier every day so I could practice in the morning as well as a after school.
It was a good compromise. I'm wondering if something like keeping the violin at school would work -- or is a violin a more personal instrument?
Posted 5 months ago #
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