Franz Sandner is a relatively well known factory violin maker from Germany producing higher end student and other violins in Germany, carried now to third generation. Sander German Violins pop up in shops and online with a bit of a price premium, here is my review and thoughts about them.
Digging a bit deeper, some time back though a joint Sandner violin venture was established with Taiwan, to form the Sandner Dynasty Company which builds and manufactures violins in China. China makes good violins these days, the cost of labour is lower than in western Europe so it makes good sense. The challenge comes around the marketing and does it pass the ‘pub test’. Is it really still a German violin? The labels implies that it is, and at the price point it would seem to be a bargain. Germany is written everywhere from case, to label inside the violin..and bridge!!
Even on the Aubert bridge on this one it seems not quite right as Aubert a French bridge company! . Personally I find it a bit deceptive and at the very least quite misleading.
None the less by way of first hand review, my son had a Sandner Dynasty violin for a while, it was a good violin for him at the stage he was at. It was a quality build, with a good bow and an upper end student case too…so I was happy with it, but if I had thought it to be a German violin I think I would have been disappointed. I still see Sandner Violins advertised as a German violins in music shops too..its a bit disappointing I recon, sure the store owner can claim ignorance as it says Germany on the label…but I recon they’d know! Probably it cheapens their actual German made Sandner violins reputation too.