Beautiful violin, my son was thrilled! Needed a little tuning but then it worked beautifully.

My daughter starts violin lessons at middle school this year. This kit contains most of what she needs. My favorite thing is that the case is large enough to include a little "cubby" section for her rosin, shoulder rest, and extra strings. No need to carry extra stuff separately. Very happy so far.

I've had this violin for about three weeks now, and although that's not very long to write a thorough review of a product, I will attempt to get my experience down in a short Amazon review.

I'm a college student that has never even touched a violin before I bought the Bunnel Basic, so I have no comparison to this violin in terms of build quality, but I can tell say that the sound on this violin is actually pretty nice. It has a beautiful resonance when you play open strings, and even my crude beginner bowing creates a pretty sound. The violin feels sturdy, although be careful with the tailpiece when using the fine tuners because you don't want to bend it too much. There seems to be some confusion as to whether this is a clearance Bunnel G2 or Bunnel Pupil, as even when I ordered it I had no idea. Mine is a Bunnel Pupil with a very small varnishing blemish, and it's for the most part hidden under the fingerboard, so I am very happy that I bought the clearance instead of spending the extra $40.

The bow is alright. Again, I have no experience with violins or bows, but I can tell if something is poorly made or not. The bow I received is from Giuliani (along with the rosin), and it's held up well for these first few weeks so far. But still, the bow isn't anything special, and if you are expecting anything other than the most basic bow, then you need to either cough up some more cash or lower your standards. Also, my violin did not come with a shoulder rest, so don't expect one.

I was delighted to find that my violin came with D'Addario Prelude strings already on the instrument. These strings are great for beginners, and they've held up well (although be prepared to tune them every twenty minutes for the first few weeks). The extra set of strings I believe are the Portland strings as advertised, although mine came in an unmarked plastic bag.

The best surprise about this outfit is the case. It is sturdy, and I feel very safe putting my violin in it and walking around with it. There are two bow holders inside, a place for a shoulder rest, a compartment for your rosin, cloth, and extra strings, and even a built in hydrometer to keep the humidity in check. The case also comes with extra straps so you can wear it like a backpack, which I find very convenient since I also sometimes need to carry my saxophone around at the same time.

I'm giving this violin five stars not because it's the best violin on Amazon, but because it is exactly what I needed at the perfect price. It may be just a simple beginner's violin, but it can always be upgraded with better strings, a new bow, or a sound post adjustment when needed. And if I ever get good at the violin, I'll buy a more expensive violin. But this violin is the one to buy for any beginner.

P.S. I got this violin shipped from Washington state to Ohio, and everything was perfectly intact to play (although the pegs slipped during shipping, and tuning the first time was a trek).

The violin plays beautifully. And this has been a long awaited experience for me, to hear the violin in person. This violin looks extremely fragile as most do. So if you should buy this I reccomend that you have a place where you can keep it from getting damaged. I would like to also say thank you to the company ( Kennedy Violins) foe dòing a giod job.

I didn't want to spend too much on a violin since I wasn't sure how I'd do and stick with it. When I opened the case, I was pleasantly surprised and the only blemish that I could see was where there isn't much varnish on the bottom of the neck. Other than that it looks and sound great. I'm looking forward to more lessons with it.