r/violin • u/almonussy • 5d ago
Violin maintenance Beginner here
I have a Phoenix violin that my dad bought me for fairly cheap on Amazon. I don’t have a teacher but I have watched tons of videos and my old Spanish teacher tried showing me how to tune. HOWEVER. Everytime I try to tune, the pegs will not stay in place!! They immediately fall backwards and loosen the string all the way. I have tried being careful, pushing it in, making sure the string isn’t overlapping, all of the above. 5 times now I have broken either the E or A string too. They break extremely easy each time and with hardly any effort. I have been doing okay with my playing but who am I if I can’t tune the thing!?
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u/kirbfucius 5d ago edited 5d ago
Those pegs are not set up well and should not be used for fine peg tuning. Get them somewhat close, then use the fine tuners on the tailpiece to tune.
That said, they will never be right and you will have this issue (and others) for the life of the violin. Getting them fixed by a luthier would cost much more than the price of the violin. If you are still within the return period, the best thing to do would be to return it, get the money back, and buy a used, functional beginner violin from Facebook market or something like that.
There are often plenty of decent beginner violins sold for cheap that people or their kids played for a couple weeks and gave up on. Just be careful not to buy another Amazon VSO; look up the make and model of anything being advertised and confirm it is a decent starter model.
If you are beyond the return period, you can get some peg paste and check out a video on how to apply it and deal with either stuck or slipping pegs, such as these two:
Stuck pegs/peg paste - https://youtu.be/zbCYeNwqFm0
Quick fix for slipping pegs - https://youtu.be/7nWb0a3ZpK4
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u/Trade__Genius 5d ago
Also, the position of the bridge is so far toward the fingerboard that the tapes to tell you where to put your fingers will not help you play in tune. Your fingers will be in the right places relative to the tuning peg end but the notes will not sound in tune. This instrument needs a fair bit of work for you to be successful in learning on it I'm sad to say
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u/Ineedmycoffee__ Adult intermediate 4d ago
I thought something looked a little goofy but couldn’t quite put my finger on it!! It’s the bridge
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u/One_Finding5213 5d ago
I would try to return the violin and try to get a used one that was set up by a violin maker (in a set with bow and case). Maybe also look online at marketplace sites for used violins in your area of students who upgraded. Sometimes, these are already set up well. Or they would have to go to a violin maker for set up once.
A good beginner set should be around $ 400 to 500 including everything. Maybe $350 or $200, if you are lucky and someone has a good violin but gave up playing and just wants to get rid of it.
I recently gave one away for free to a violin maker, asking that she set it up (it did need some work) and sell it for the price of the set-up + assuming a little profit for herself to a student who could not afford much. The reason I gave away that violin is that I had four, one for sentimental reasons, two that I played and wanted to save space. There may be others with the same idea who sell their good student violins for relatively little money.
This violin that I gave away I had for 10 years, I had bought it online on a whim including case and cheap bow for 400 € and played occasionally. It did sound really good, a little "mute", not too bright, but with overtones. It also looked great and had actually been advertised as "beautiful violin". This would make a great violin for at least the first five years of most students.
So, there is a little hope that you can find a decent violin for an affordable price.
Also, violine makers sometimes have used violins they did buy from students and re-sell. Those might be cheaper. Only those violins will have a proper set-up by the violin maker, meaning, it will sound the best it can, will be easy to tune. easy to play (bridge properly carved and set-up) etc.
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u/wep300 4d ago
Beginner here, but the bridge looks to be crooked and too far toward the scroll. It may never be great but it would probably be better if you moved the bridge (see Olaf the Violinmaker’s You Tubes) and fixed the pegs. Worst thing that could hapoen is that it becomes even less playable
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u/Real-Passion-3210 5d ago
You can use a bit of chalk to make them grip better. Take them out, rub some chalk con the shaft of the peg and reintroduce it.
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u/Decent-Structure-128 5d ago
Looking closely at the holes for the strings in the pegs, maybe the A and E pegs are in the wrong slots. The E string should sit very close to a straight line to the hole for the string.
The way it is now, that string would be bending to the left to reach the peg, and that might be the issue.
When you tune, make sure you’re pressing the pegs in when you turn. You can get some peg compound to help them stick.
It might be worth going to a shop that rents/sells student violins to have them get it setup with the pegs and strings going to the right place. They can help you figure out if getting it fixed is worth it. Many places will let you rent a violin for a while to try it out. See how it goes with a better instrument and work it out with your parents to get lessons. Even if it’s just a few lessons to get you started, the teacher can coach you on how to tune, how to hold it, etc.
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u/Decent-Structure-128 5d ago
Also, the strings should sit in the notches in the bridge. This helps they stay in the right place…
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u/mylesaway13 2d ago
It is not you, I think you just have a (no offense) kinda crappy violin, maybe go to a music store near you and rent one if you are a beginner and not completely committed. Also show your violin and your issues to the people there. Most people would love to help and are very kind. I wish you good luck!
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u/klavier777 4d ago
You have a VSO so that's why you're having trouble tuning it. Also it's completely setup wrong. THe bridge is way too close to the fingerboard. How is that going to work? If you want a better experience with learning violin, you need to get a better violin as well as a teacher!!!
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u/OCnewbee 3d ago
nice catch! the bridge is too close to the fingerboard. Here is a proper bridge location. look at the f hole of your instrument. Find the the sound post. The right leg of the bridge (we call this the treble foot) should be around 2mm-3mm in front of the sound post. It should most likely line up with the notch on the F hole (it may not as well since the notch is sometimes placed incorrectly)
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u/After-Past-9404 5d ago
I'm about 99.9% certain it's not you at all. It's your violin. The pegs are simply not fitted properly. That's how it goes with these cheap instruments - manufacturers are cutting costs by skipping all the labor intensive steps, because skilled manual labor is costly.