I've been using this shoulder rest near daily for a year and while its a great shoulder rest its not without its own problems. The feet constantly fall off, it used to only happen once a month or so which isn't a big deal but now its become a daily thing. Due to the feet falling off I'm going to have to start a search for a different shoulder rest. I've also found adjusting it to be very annoying. Other than that it looks very nice and is comfortable play with and seems durable outside of the feet problem. If it had a set up similar to their carbon fiber shoulder rest, I think it would be much nicer and less annoying.

It works well enough to say that it's a good product, especially for the price.
However I have one problem : The plastic swivels.
The swivels will come off since they have nothing to stop them from popping off after you swing them down and up a few times.

It's just an annoyance. It doesn't hinder the product in any meaningful way.

I recommend this for budget-minded people.

It fits my full size (4/4) violin perfectly and will stay on until I remove it.
The grip on the under side keeps it in place on my shoulder just fine and I don't worry about it slipping.

Good job, but please address the issue with the swivel grips popping off.

I am not the musician in our family. My wife however has playd the violiin since the 6th Grade or so. Her case needed replacing and so we decided to update some of the other components.

We both had valid concerns that this rest would be too stiff and uncomfortable. It is a very pretty wood grain that has a nice and natural curve. My wife ( after using it for a few months ) said, "I could see being able to use this withouth this grippy stuff.

The Grippy Stuff she refered to is a foam pad that is adhered to the wood. I's OK, but it will wear out WAY before she replaces this rest. That means I will eventually have to figure out what to use to fix it.

Weatherstripping for windows and doors maybe?

To any amatuer violinist looking to replace the rest for the 4/4 violin, grab this one and give it a shaot. If you don't like it it has a return policy.

All I can say is my wife LOVES hers.

I suppose this might be a serviceable shoulder rest if you really can't afford the extra five dollars for a Kun. For me, the difference was so noticeable that using it is frustrating, so I gave in and drove 40 minutes into Downtown on the weekend and bought new feet for my Kun and will be returning this. The feet by themselves cost about two dollars less than this rest, but it was worth it. (My old Kun feet were the kind with silicone or rubber tubes over the feet, and it was breaking down after 5 years of continuous use and 13 years of storage with occasional use. The new feet are a single piece of softer plastic.)

First of all, the Kun collapsible shoulder rest is actually collapsible. The way this rest was designed causes difficulty collapsing the shorter side because it can't get over the right angle of the box it's attached to (see picture), and difficulty collapsing the longer side because the screw for adjusting the size (3/4 vs 4/4 violin) sticks up too high (see picture).

Also, the screw on the side that needs to be taller (the side further away from your chin) is just as short as the side that needs to be shorter (the side closer to your chin). This means that the longer end is wobbly as only a very little bit of the screw is secured. If you needed it to be very high it wouldn't work at all. The Kun rest has a long screw on the long side and a short screw on the short side. (See picture.)

In addition, the Kun rest feet have a little side-to-side rotation, allowing the feet to stay parallel to the body of the violin as you apply one side and then the other, making it easy to apply. (You can see the mechanism that allows this in a couple of the pictures.)

Lastly, for a reason I haven't yet identified, but perhaps due to the fact that the Kun feet are a little softer/"stickier", the Kun stays on when you move the violin around (take it off your shoulder to hold in your hand while you listen to your instructor, jot a note on your music sheet etc.), whereas the Fiddlerman fell off multiple times during my 30 minute lesson and during my 30 minute practice session.

So, I highly recommend that you go for the Kun, with the new feet, if you possibly can.

Happy playing!

Heather

My son got this as an early Christmas gift because he has a strings concert coming up. He took the shoulder rest to school and everyone was in awe of the quality and feel of the rest. They kept saying "oh wow that's good quality" & "smells like real wood!" And "that's an awesome rest! Can I try it out!?" It was passed around the music room for those to try it. Many of these 7th graders wanted to tell their parents where to buy so my son told them on amazon! Where else he also added!
As a mom I Love the collapsible feet and the feel of wood as it looks great on my sons violin and can't wait to see him play this upcoming Tuesday with it in the orchestra.
Thanks for an awesome product!!!!