When the time comes to buy an instrument, we begin to seek and collect information. You may notice that that the world of musicians is divided into two groups: those who are not afraid of new instruments the vast majority of which are Chinese, and the staunchest enemies of „the Chinese goods”, no matter what quality they are.
I dedicate this article to all those who have an aversion to the instruments from China. All this aversion to products from the East took its origin in the days when products of very low quality, ‘made in China’, flooded Europe. The instruments which reached Poland at that time were of such low quality that everyone who dealt with them back then still feels strong dislike and disappointment when they recall them.
It should be noted though that the features that distinguish Chinese people from other nations are: hard work, perseverance, and consistency. These features used to and still manifest in the field of violin making. It should be also noted that in recent years, many young violin makers from China served their apprenticeships at European masters’ workshops. Thus, along with the plant-manufactured goods, we can find today instruments made at the highest possible, master level. For many years, the instruments made by Chinese violin makers won the global violin-making competitions. It is worth mentioning that the Chinese history of violin-making schools is one of the oldest worldwide.
Nowadays, a lot of violin makers from around the world no longer make their instruments but rather buy products from Asia and, unfortunately, they often sign them with their own name. One of the violin makers in Italy got finally imprisoned for this type of misconduct. The same phenomenon we currently experience in France, Germany, Great Britain, the United States, etc.
Why would violin makers opt for this type of scam?
It’s because they have access to the goods made at the master level and of the best quality materials. The price of a master level instrument made in Europe is ten times higher than of the same quality instrument made in China. It is due to the fact that the price of materials of the same quality available in China is multiple times cheaper when compared to the prices in Europe. The same rule applies to the prices of the very making of instruments
I am convinced that Chinese instruments are made at least as well as the ones in Europe, whereas the Asian violin makers have access to phenomenal wood – beautiful, light, and amazingly sounding. It is actually really hard to find such wood in Europe. As a result, one may buy a Chinese violin, hand-made by a violin maker, and pay only 4 thousand Polish zlotys. Same level violins made by a violin maker in Europe will cost 15 thousand Polish zloty in Poland or 10 thousand Euros in Germany.
However, a few important elements should be taken into consideration while discussing the above issue. If you want to buy an instrument directly from China, you will probably encounter several obstacles, such as: duty, taxes, no possibility to see an instrument before purchase or check the sound of it. While buying an instrument from a Polish violin maker, we avoid such complications.
The instruments we offer in our workshop, both the ones we have made or the ones we have bought from other violin makers, can be inspected, tried, or rented before purchase. We also offer lifetime warranty on sound.
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Author : Bartosz Wozniak , contact : 604 278 560, bartosz.wozniak@lutnicy.pl
