3/4 Gliga Gems 1 Elite Extra Intermediate/Advanced Violin - Code D1678V

A light honey-gold back, fine close flame running across it, and varnish clear enough that the fibre of the maple reads through — this is the paler of our two Gems 1 Elite Extra violins in this size, the one where you see the wood itself. Handmade in Reghin, Romania, and set up here in Vancouver by our luthier before it is sold.

What makes this an Elite Extra

Every Gliga instrument is built from Carpathian tonewood — resonance spruce for the top, flamed mountain maple for the back, ribs, neck and scroll. What sets the Elite Extra apart from the standard Gems 1 Elite is which pieces of that wood are selected, and how long they are left to dry before carving.

Gliga tonewood is air-dried. Drying slowly matters: moisture leaves the cells gradually and the wood settles evenly throughout. Wood dried quickly gives up moisture from the outside first and keeps internal tensions locked inside it — stresses that go on working against the instrument for years, as the plates continue to move. Wood given a longer drying period arrives at the bench already settled.

That is what the step up buys: not decoration, but stability. Plates that hold their arching respond more evenly across the strings, and keep doing so as the instrument ages. It is the difference a player notices in the second year, not the first week.

This is the violin for a student who has outgrown a first instrument and is beginning to work on tone rather than notes.

Handmade in Romania - Professionally Set-Up - Ready to Play - Intermediate/Advanced Violin

This violin is set up with Thomastik Dominant strings and a standard tailpiece with one fine tuner. To change these settings, use the options at the top of the page. To select a case and a bow go to the top left menu and choose these items independently, or you can use these links for a 3/4 violin case and a 3/4 violin bow. All items will be shipped at once, in the same package.

The combination of woods that is used at the manufacturing of this violin is as follows:

- Solid Carpathian Resonance Spruce (Latin name: Picea Abies (L) Karst) - used for the top plate of the instrument, the bass bar, the blocks, the corner-blocks, the linings, and the sound post.

- Solid Carpathian Flamed Mountain Maple (Latin name: Acer Pseudoplatanus L.) - used for the back plate of the instruments, the neck, the scroll, the peg box, the ribs, the bridge, and sometimes the accessories. 

- Ebony (Latin name: Diospyros sp.) - used for the accessories: fingerboard, pegs, top nut, purfling, chinrest, tailpiece, the saddle, and the end pin.

The Anatomy of a Violin

Shipping Information

Orders are processed immediately and usually ship within 24 hours. Orders placed on Friday, Saturday or Sunday are normally shipped the following Monday. If anything delays your order, we'll email you.

All our instruments come with a 7-day trial period. The trial period begins on the day of delivery. You may return all items you purchased within 7 days of delivery. A refund will be processed promptly, as soon as the items reach our office in Vancouver. The items must be in the same condition in which they were when received.