After a few years of playing, many students are ready for an intermediate violin. By this stage, they’re producing a fuller tone, exploring higher positions on the fingerboard, and often moving through different sizes. Even if you’re not yet on a full-size instrument, it’s worth stepping up to something better—your developing technique deserves an instrument that responds well and sounds great. (The truly special violins can wait until full size.)
Intermediate instruments usually start around $500. At this level, the craftsmanship improves: better grades of spruce and maple, French bridges, and more refined setups that make a real difference in sound and playability. Each violin comes with a bow and case included.
Most of these outfits come strung with higher-quality factory strings—already a step up from entry-level models—which helps keep the price accessible. For certain violins I’ll fit upgraded strings, and I can always customise to suit your preference. The same goes for bows: the standard bow is perfectly fine for most players at this stage, but I also carry a range of higher-quality bows if you want to upgrade.
Strings and bows are usually the next step in a player’s journey—upgrades here will keep your intermediate violin growing with your technique and improving in tone.
The models I most often recommend in this range include the Vivo Elite, Hidersine Piacenza and Reserve, the Paganini series (sometimes sold as Virtuoso or Concerto), and Raggetti’s intermediate violins. As with beginner instruments, many brands come from the same makers under different labels, so what I carry varies from year to year. I’m also happy to consider trade-ins.
You can expect to pay from $500 and up, which includes my full custom setup to make sure the instrument fits you well and plays at its best.
- Alois Sandner German Violin (Advanced)
- Enrico Student Extra (Intermediate)
- Enrico Student Violin (Beginner)
- Hidersine Violins and Hidersine Violin (Int, Adv)
- Jay Haide Violins (Adv)
- Kreisler Violin’s (Intermediate)
- Luthier Series, First Strings (Adv) Violin
- Pagannini Violin Series ( Intermediate, Advanced)
- Raggetti Rv2 Rv5 Rv7 Violins (Intermediate)
- Raggetti RV7 and Master Series (Advanced)
- Schumann Prodigy Violin (Beginner, Int)
- Sempre, First Strings (Int, Adv) Violin
- Sonore, First Strings (Beginner, Int) Violin
- Vivo Montanari Elite Violin (Intermediate)
- Vivo Neo (Beginner) Violin
- Vivo Neo Plus (Beginner, Int) Violin