Hi,
I will be making a trip to China and would like to take a look at the locally made violins. I have heard that China made ones can be very good and would like some recommendations as to which are the brands I could look at. I am looking for a violin for intermediate level. What kind of price am I expected to pay? Thanks.

You won`t recognise the brands - most Chinese violins are sold OEM.

Liz

what`s oem?

Putting a brand name in for a wholesaler in the west such as Eastman.

Liz

oh I see. So if I open my own music distribution company, I can request them to insert my own company name on the instruments?

That depends. Some companies are more amenable to dealing with small businesses than others. But the point is that you won`t find the brand names you are familiar with in china and the factories who make for famous brand names won`t tell you who they make for, for obvious reasons.

Liz

Thanks for the info. It certainly supports something I came across a month ago when I bought a cello which had no brand name attached but had all the signs of a well known branded student model cello. (ie. came out of the same factory). The cello I bought was for a very small fraction of the price of the branded version.

O yes, that applies to lots of instruments. If you are very familiar with a particular brand, you can often find the factory - if you look long and hard.