Axiom violin review

You get a lovely looking instrument, with seemingly all the hall marks of quality with a spruce top and flamed maple back, a nice case, the bow is serviceable if a little soft…so when you see it for sale for $99  its amazing value money! If your looking for an instrument to play and learn on though it’s not without its challenges.

First up the setup – the Axiom violins I have seen come with bridges too high (NOTE: this may be because its been out in the wild a while and with Qld humidity you get movement) . Though the owner of Axiom assures me all instruments are setup (see violin setups) . The running gear isn’t ebony (the pegs might be but the fingerboard isn’t) – fair enough ebony is expensive and your only laying out $99. Finetuner are serviceable , strings are OK (the usual beginner steel strings)

Secondly, the bow, which makes half the sound is a rosewood bow and they are generally too soft to play on. Ok for a few months but you really want a Brazil wood or better bow.

Critically though how does it sound?. The Axioms sound Ok up to a point ….. the reason is the timbers. You can’t carve a violin top and bottom plate for $99 there is just too much about in it. Instead the Axiom uses very thing plywood, with lovely spruce and maple veneers and presses them into shape. I get it its quick, so reduces the labour and skilled labour costs so you can do it all for $99. the problem with ply woods (this looks to be 5 ply) is the cross grains of each layer and the glues in between…yes they give it great strength but impede its ability to vibrate so the tone is sacrificed. (See inside a plywood violin here)

In fairness to the Axiom its targeting the lower end of the market and its good value for money for what it is (some people would call them a VSO) , recently they have brought out some higher end instruments but I haven’t come across these.

My verdict, if you can get the instrument setup properly its probably OK for the money for the first few months of learning. The challenge is the cost of getting the instrument setup is approaching the cost of the violin…and if you put all that money towards a better instrument you would most likely be better off.