With a price tag of less than 100 dollars, is the SKY SKYVN102 violin a good choice for a starter violin? Find out in our expert review.
SKY SKYNV102 Violin Review: Is This the Best Outfit to Start With?
SKYVN102 Violin Overview
A Great Violin for Beginners
About the SKY Music Company
Rain Proof Canvas Case
Professionally Made for Beginners
Getting Started with the SKY Solid Wood Violin
Unbeatably Low-priced Starter Violin Outfit
Pros and Cons
Alternatives to the SKY Solid Wood Violin
Final Thoughts on the SKY SKYVN102 Violin Outfit
SKY SKYNV102 Violin Review: Is This the Best Outfit to Start With?
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Ease of Use (3.5 / 5) Needs additional setup before tuning, not ready to use out of the box. |
Build Quality (4.3 / 5) Sturdy build quality with a solid maple wood body and flamed back. |
Sound Quality (4.2 / 5) Decent sound quality after proper setup of the tuning pegs and bow. |
Value Factor (4.3 / 5) One of the least expensive starter violin outfits with good sound. |
SKYVN102 Violin Overview
The SKYVN102 Solid Wood violin is a 4/4 full-sized violin that comes from SKY, a builder of decent quality violins at an affordable price. This particular outfit is made for absolute beginners.
Priced less than 100 USD, it is an excellent choice for a starter’s violin. This violin is especially useful if you’re not yet sure you will still be playing the instrument a couple of years down the road.
Constructed professionally in the US, the SKY SKYVN102 violin is made from a solid spruce top and solid highly flamed maple back, sides, neck, and head scroll. With a bit of help in the setup, you’ll be ready to start playing.
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A Great Violin for Beginners
The SKYVN102 Solid Wood Violin finds its niche with absolute beginners who may be getting their very first violin to start learning in classes. It has no bells and whistles and comes with everything essential for a beginner.
It’s made to last you for the first couple of years of learning, preparing you to upgrade to a better violin outfit in time as you build playing confidence. It is also well suited for children.
If you’re not sure whether they would persevere in learning to play the violin after a couple of years, the SKYVN102 will make a small and painless investment to get them started.
About the SKY Music Company
SKY Music, a US company, is a maker of quality musical instruments for beginners, ranging from string instruments to wind to percussion.
As a family business founded in 1995, they produce such a wide range of products, that they may not be dedicated to the fine craftsmanship of constructed violins. Nevertheless, they provide a decent baseline quality in all their products.
The SKYVN102 is a testament to that sense of quality instruments for beginners. They have been a valuable partner of schools across the United States and North America.
Rain Proof Canvas Case
The SKYVN102 Solid Wood Violin comes in a lightweight triangular carrying case, which fits the violin snugly. The case includes space for a bow, a compartment for accessories and spare strings, and a front pouch for tucking away sheet music.
The case sports shoulder straps for you to carry it like a backpack. Its rainproof canvas exterior protects it from wet weather.
The SKYVN102 also comes with a Brazilwood bow with genuine unbleached horsehair and double pearl eye, as well as a cake of high-quality Austrian rosin cake.
Professionally Made for Beginners
What Do Sky Violin Outfit Customers Think? >>
The SKY Solid Wood Violin is made from a solid spruce top, and solid highly flamed maple back, sides, neck, and head scroll, with a varnished finish. The purfling, pegs, fingerboard chinrest, and tailpiece are made of solid maple wood as well.
The violin is fitted with high-quality strings out of the box, and it comes with a set of spare strings. The instrument has everything you would need to get started, and it comes at an unbeatable low price of less than 100 dollars.
Getting Started with the SKY Solid Wood Violin
While very affordable, you might need guidance from your teacher or a professional mentor to bring out the best of the SKYVN102 Solid Wood Violin. When using the violin straight out of the box, the rough wooden pegs don’t seem to do their job very well.
You might notice them slipping now and then, losing their tuning ever so slightly. This problem might be difficult for a beginner to see, but it would be evident to a trained ear.
But this problem is easily fixed by properly setting up the pegs. Simply remove them one by one, sand them down, and applying a layer of chalk before placing them into back into the headpiece.
While you’re doing this, you might also adjust the bridge slightly lower than the default position, which is a little too high.
Lastly, you will also need to apply a good layer of rosin onto the bow before it can pull sound well. Be careful not to tighten the bow too much, as it might warp the shape of the bow.
Just tighten it enough to get the right amount of tension on the hairs of the bow, and you’ll be good to go. With the proper initial setup, the SKYVN102 will sound great and will be easy to play, even for a beginner violinist.
Unbeatably Low-priced Starter Violin Outfit
The SKYVN102 is an unabashedly affordable starter violin, and it prides itself as such. With decent sound and build quality, it is priced at the same level as most other starter violin outfits.
But it offers much better performance than its peers. However, do take note that it is what it is – a starter violin. You shouldn’t expect to use this for more than a couple of years.
You’ll eventually need to upgrade to a better violin as this would no longer suffice in terms of tone and sound quality after a few years.
Pros and Cons
SKY SKYVN102 Violin Outfit Review
What We Like
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- Lightweight triangular case with shoulder straps for easy carrying on one’s back
- Brazilwood bow with real Mongolian horsehair
- Unbeatable price
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What We Don’t Like
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- Not ready to play out of the box; requires minor setup before tuning and proper application of rosin
- Beginners might need a bit of help before jumping into this starter violin outfit
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What Do SKY SKYVN102 Violin Customers Think? >>
Alternatives to the SKY Solid Wood Violin
For an alternative starter violin that is just slightly more costly than the SKYVN102, you may want to look at the Cecilio CVN-300 Starter Violin, which comes with premium D’Addario Prelude strings with a solid ebony body.
If you do not wish to start with a base level starter violin and want to jump straight into one that would last you for a few years right at the start, you may also look at the Cremona SV-175 Student Violin Outfit, which offers a much cleaner sound profile than the SKYVN102.
Final Thoughts on the SKY SKYVN102 Violin Outfit
While not the best of its class in performance, it is the clear winner in terms of low price, with no cheaper violin in the market with comparable sound and build quality.
Despite its limitations, it serves its niche exceptionally well. If you’re looking for an affordable starter violin, you should look no further. Pick up for yourself a SKYVN102 Solid Wood Violin.
Read What Owners Think of the SKYVN102 Violin! >>
- Ease of Use
- Build Quality
- Sound Quality
- Value Factor
Summary
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