As a professional violinist who graduated from the RCM a couple of years ago, I have had a fair bit of experience trying out violins. I play a Nigel Harris acoustic violin with my orchestral and session gigs, and a Bridge electric violin with my electric string quartet “Eclipse” with whom I played support with the pop group “McFly” at Wembley on their recent tour.
I think that the Bridge electric instruments are great: rich and even in tone, reactive under the bow, and well built for touring! So when Bridge Violins asked me to try their new range of acoustic violins, I was intrigued…
The first thing that strikes you is the beautiful finish. The two violins I tried have an antiqued dark golden brown varnish, with texture that has been added (grooves and dents) which belie their age!
The headstock features the distinctive Bridge “shield” instead of the traditional scroll. This feature is synonymous with Bridge instruments, which makes them really stand out. The violins I have tried are the Aotearoa model, with its pretty Maori pearl inlay, and the Woodstock model with its subtle floral decoration around the f-hole.
I found the sound on these violins to be of a good quality, even in volume throughout the strings, with a dark tone on the D and G strings, and more open and bright on the A and E. I found them very playable as they have been set up nicely, and the strings were reactive under the bow.
Considering that these violins have been hand made in China by award winning luthiers, the quality of these instruments is not surprising, with Bridge Violins hand finishing and setting them up to each player’s liking. The price makes them very appealing too.
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