Let me start out by saying my wife is an experienced (10+ years) violin teacher and has played violin for most of her life. We bought this violin for our 5 year old son after being unimpressed with the "economy" violin rental for $25 per month. The rental was Romanian-made and was "valued" at ~$500 by the shop.

This Bunnel violin outfit is a great value and likely one my wife will be recommending to new students.

The violin itself sounds great for a student violin and the fit and finish is nearly perfect. It is very beautiful, and the setup done by Kennedy was very good. The action was perfect, the bridge fit well, and the strings were mostly in tune.

The rest of the outfit is definitely lower quality than the violin, but nothing is junk. The bow is good. The case is a little cheap, but should hold up well. The oblong style is nice to fit music in the side pocket. The rosin is good. The shoulder rest is very cheap, but should be ok. It is much better than the foam one my son was using on the rental. The poorly written description the shoulder rest box was funny.

Overall, what you get in this outfit is impressive, the violin being the most impressive.

*I will add to review after a few months have passed including any instructor comments* We received this violin this week for our 10 year old who will be playing the violin starting in September. I researched violins online and in stores. The local shop had a great program and quality violin but it cost more than I wanted to spend when I am not sure he will stick with it. At 1/3 of the cost I was able to order a violin package online. What I loved about this violin were the package deal, reviews and service. This Bunnel Violin shipped and packaged beautifully. The case seems to be of a good quality including a humidity guage. There is lots of case space and straps for carrying. The package came with the violin, case, a shoulder rest, extra strings, rosin, cleaning cloth and case tag. Information about care, registering and warrantying the violin is also included . The violin appears to be in great condition with no defects. As other reviews have mentioned the pegs are plastic but to be expected for an affordable violin. Kennedy also has a warranty of 1 year for all issues regarding defects along with a limited lifetime warranty on the craftmanship. They also have a trade in/upgrade program that applies to all their violins despite being sold in another state. Information card that came in package informs about Kennedy instructional YouTube videos and phone number for tuning help.The violin appears to be set up and tuned, however we will have his instructor confirm when school starts since our son is the first violinist in our family. Over all this violin is a great value for a beginner violinist! Update to review 10/1/17 * Kennedy violins also has a sign up to recieve a packet with a folder, music and an additional case tag. The first set of strings we had the D string break in the first week of use. His teacher used the extra strings to repair. Currently we are having an issue with the E string having a twang and we are investigating will further update once we determine the cause.

Outstanding violin. Shoulder rest broke on the first day and certain straps on the case are starting to tear after infrequent use. Regardless, I have to give it 5 stars. For the price the violin is amazing and the accessories are a nice plus.

Unrelatedly, there is also a heart drawn in pencil on my fingerboard nearest to the bridge. I have no idea why it's there but I love it. If anyone knows the story behind this, feel free to let me know.

I would recommend Kennedy Violins to my friends.

I'm playing violin! This is truly special musicians kit, it comes with everything one might need at an extremely reasonable price to try out the violin. Violin is frightening and alluring, it's very, very challenging and mostly sounds terrible at first. It's nice to have a beginner instrument to torture, squeeze, squeak and enjoy that doesn't break the bank. No regrets, everything in the kit is perfect, I wouldn't change a thing. The folks at Kennedy do it right, perfectly set up and ready to play (note: may need a bit of a tuning adjustment). I turned on some YouTube and went for it... now months later I still sound terrible, but smile all the time. Your neighbors may not see it that way! Good luck and just do it.

Purchased this for my almost-13 year old who had a 1/2 size for a few years and only has another 1.5 years to play. The instrument is beautiful and in great condition. The case is even better than the one we had, with more storage and room for 2 bows. The color of the violin is darker as other reviewers noted (picture attached). It needed tuning badly, but the temp changes of 50 deg. plus/minus from outdoor transport/delivery to indoor room temp are probably to blame. My son says the rosin is great, but did not like the shoulder rest (it is sturdy and well made, but he just found it uncomfortable). He noticed the "louder" sound versus the 1/2 size, and was very happy to have the larger size which fits him better now. The chin rest is very well made. Overall, very happy with the purchase.