Ming Jiang Zhu 909 Violin

Excellent value for the Money

I have been playing my new MJZ 909 for about a month now and continue to be very happy with it. Its varnish is beautiful, it is properly set up by Fiddlershop and its sound is warm, rich and well balanced between strings. I already owned 2 violins: one a very good 20-year-old beginners’ instrument made by a luthier in training (under supervision) and another one a 17-year-old violin made by a professional luthier (though not a particularly famous one). Initially, the new MJZ 909, out of the box, sounded more powerful than both the others, though it didn’t quite resonate as strongly as either one. After I decided to remove the extra fine tuners from the other instruments, to compare their sounds under similar conditions (except for their strings), I realized how much better and louder they sounded (I should have known this before!). Now, with only one fine tuner each, both my older violins sounded more powerful and resonating than the MJZ 909, though not quite as well balanced as it is. I expect the MJZ to open its sound over time and at least match the other two in sound quality. The MJZ feels a bit harder to play, though, due to the combination of the higher string tension of the Thomastik PI strings and the higher string height. The G string on the MJZ was set up at 6.0 mm from the fingerboard (versus 4.5 to 6.0 mm on my other instruments) and the E string was set up at 4.0 mm (versus 3.0 to 3.5 mm). I’m sure Fiddlershop can adjust the bridge to your preferred string height if you request that while placing your order. This is, of course, something that I can get used to or have a local luthier adjust for me. All in all, I’m happy with my purchase.

Quality

This violin is absolutely beautiful ! It has a great balance between dark and brilliant tones. It came ready to play right out of the box! I want to thank the staff at Fiddlershop for all the assistance in helping me select this beautiful violin. I highly recommend this instrument and Thanks again Fiddlershop staff.

Violin home trial

Returned the violin before Christmas. It was an outstanding violin, but not what I was looking for. Great service as usual!!!!