I am an adult beginner. I did quite a lot of research on the internet beforehand about buying a violin - go to a reputable dealer, make sure it is properly set up, try out a few before buying, etc.
So imagine my consternation when my teacher, who is a professional, said I could just buy one from a general music store (I told him I'll get one from a violin specialist).
But at the violin stores I've visited, they had no student models around for me to try out and at the last three I went to, despite being a violin-specialist store, the people who attended to me didn't even play the violin!
I am actually quite surprised by the [low] quality of violin stores in Melbourne. What's going on in Australia?
My want for a good sounding, good quality but reasonably priced violin is always fought by the practicality of going to a store with the teacher to find one with proper sound!
And you are on the other side of the world, no less, yet helped me out far more than the actual people in the actual stores I visited over here.
Plus you are a professional and a teacher and from the comments on your site, you work hard to ensure that people find their beloved instrument, and you generously offer low prices at a cost to yourself just so your customers can be happy.
Don't be surprised at my loyalty to you - I've bought many a thing in my lifetime, and I don't recall ever having been attended to to such an extent that I was longing to buy from someone!
Thanks for clearing my doubts. It would be terrible to receive the violin and then find out I've to go visit the shops I was trying to avoid in the first place!
You can be sure that one day when I've fulfilled my destiny of migrating to Canada, that my go-to store will be yours! I will walk all the way from Toronto if I have to.