The short answer
Every price on this page is for a full size 4/4 violin, and every one is a starting price. A handmade violin you can genuinely learn on starts at $428. A good intermediate instrument starts at $798, an advanced one at $1,698, and a master Gliga violin at $3,598.
Every violin we sell is handmade, at every price. What changes as the price rises is the wood, the amount of time and hand work that goes into it, and whose hands did it — at the top of the range, Vasile Gliga's own.
These are our own current prices, not industry estimates. Every figure on this page links to the instruments it describes.
What you get at each price
Each figure is a starting price, and each level runs upward from there depending on the individual instrument.
Starting at $428 — a first violin
Handmade in Romania from solid Carpathian spruce and flamed maple, oil finish, fully set up. This is the level for a first year of lessons, for a child starting out, or for an adult finding out whether they enjoy it. Genial 1 violins.
Starting at $798 — intermediate
Better wood, more hand work, and a noticeably warmer and fuller sound. This is the level most people should buy if they already know they are going to keep playing, and the usual choice for an adult beginner who would rather buy once than twice. Gems 1 violins.
Starting at $1,698 — advanced
For a player working on tone and projection rather than notes. More responsive under the bow, with a clearer voice at volume. Gama violins. They are made in Stradivari and Guarneri patterns.
Starting at $3,598 — master instruments
The top line in Gliga's workshop, in Stradivari and Guarneri patterns. Maestro Extra from $3,598, and Maestro Elite from $3,998 for instruments with additional work — a lion's head scroll, birds-eye maple, hand inlay.
Violin prices by size
A child's violin costs less than an adult's, simply because there is less of it. Starting prices at each size and level:
| Size | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced | Master |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/4 full size | $428 | $798 | $1,698 | $3,598 |
| 3/4 | $398 | $698 | $1,298 | $1,598 |
| 1/2 | $278 | $498 | $1,398 | $1,598 |
| 1/4 | $258 | $498 | $898 | — |
We also carry 1/8 size violins for the youngest players, and 7/8 size for adults with a smaller frame. Not sure which size you need? Measure from the base of the neck to the middle of the palm with the arm held straight out to the side: about 23½ inches means a 4/4, 22 to 23½ a 3/4.
What does a complete setup cost?
This is where honest arithmetic matters, because most violins advertised online are sold as "outfits" — violin, bow, case and rosin at one price. Ours are not. You buy the instrument, and choose the bow and case that suit it.
So for a full size beginner starting from nothing:
Around $740 all in. That is the number to compare against, not the $428.
We sell them separately for a reason. In a budget outfit the bow and case are where the money is saved, and a bad bow holds a student back more than a modest violin does — it bounces, it will not stay straight, and the player is fighting it instead of learning. Buying the parts separately means the bow is chosen for the violin and for the person, and it can be upgraded later without replacing everything.
Is a cheap violin ever the right choice?
Sometimes, and we would rather say so. If a child is not certain they want to play, a modest instrument for a year is a sensible way to find out, and a good beginner violin holds enough value to pass on or trade up.
What we would avoid is the $100 to $200 complete outfit. The problem is not that it sounds worse — it is that it is often genuinely difficult to play. Pegs that slip, a bridge in the wrong place, strings too high off the fingerboard. A beginner cannot tell the difference between a hard instrument and their own lack of skill, and a good many people conclude they have no talent when what they actually have is an unplayable violin.
Violas, bows and cases
- Violas — from $1,298
- Violin, viola and cello bows — from $169.98 in brazilwood, with pernambuco and carbon fibre above that
- Violin cases — from $129
- Left-handed violins — the same prices as the standard range
Buying from anywhere in Canada
Instruments ship anywhere in Canada from $65 and arrive in seven to ten business days, tracked, with the shipping cost shown on the product page before you reach the cart. Bows cost less to send.
Every instrument comes with a seven-day home trial from the day it arrives. Play it, take it to a lesson, and if it is not right, send it back for a refund less the shipping. Our shop is in West Vancouver if you would rather come and play several side by side.
If you tell us the player's age, size and level and what you can spend, we will tell you honestly what we would put them on — including when the cheaper one is the right answer.