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DanielB said
..........The only thing I might have seen that looked like it could be a tiny bit off was that the E-string side of the bridge looked a little closer to the fingerboard than the G-string side. I want to stress that I am by no means sure of that, since perspective with pictures can make it hard to tell something like that for certain.........
I think that this could be misunderstood. The E string should be closer to the fingerboard but perhaps you mean something else?
For me, everything is fine except that the bridge is a bit thick as others have pointed out and easy enough to rectify if you are inclined. It's actually quite common though with inexpensive instruments. Also, you have the top of the bridge leaning slightly forward towards the scroll rather than straight or slightly back. This is also common and is why Daniel recommended using graphite in the notches. Over time, the top gets pulled forward like that from tuning and should be pulled back carefully or the bridge will warp and eventually even snap.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Mea culpa. I will try to clarify what I was saying.
It looks to me like the foot of the E string side of the bridge may be closer to the fingerboard than the G string foot, just going by what I think I see in the pics.
Meaning that the bridge is almost, but not quite, straight. Looks like the G foot is lined up with the F-hole notch, but the E foot looked to me like it may not be and could be a little too far towards the fingerboard.
I could be wrong on that observation, however.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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Nice video and photos ... almost like being there. That makes things easier.
I noticed the bridge being set crooked too, and by that I mean the played length of the E string is shorter than the played length of the G string. I'm trying to make the same point as Daniel, in a different way.
The played length of the strings should be between say 325 mm and 330 mm, but pretty close to the same for all strings, GDAE. 327 and 328 are common lengths. The relation of the bridge location to the sound post location may have some effect on the sound. The inner f-hole notches ought to line up with the bridge feet, pretty close. At least you can use those notches as points of reference.
The easiest and most effective improvement you can make is most likely some better strings.
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Rice
There is no common upgrade to make a "cheap" violin sound much better except perhaps new strings.
Also, as a brand new student, don't expect to make the best music no matter what hardware you change.
I've had 3 VSO's and they all got better as I got better. Give it some time.
Do you have any friend who might be able to play the violin for you? I did that once and the Russian student/luthier soon demonstrated how far I had to go!
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
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Fiddlerman said
DanielB said
..........The only thing I might have seen that looked like it could be a tiny bit off was that the E-string side of the bridge looked a little closer to the fingerboard than the G-string side. I want to stress that I am by no means sure of that, since perspective with pictures can make it hard to tell something like that for certain.........I think that this could be misunderstood. The E string should be closer to the fingerboard but perhaps you mean something else?
For me, everything is fine except that the bridge is a bit thick as others have pointed out and easy enough to rectify if you are inclined. It's actually quite common though with inexpensive instruments. Also, you have the top of the bridge leaning slightly forward towards the scroll rather than straight or slightly back. This is also common and is why Daniel recommended using graphite in the notches. Over time, the top gets pulled forward like that from tuning and should be pulled back carefully or the bridge will warp and eventually even snap.
Whoops silly me. I have since fixed that.
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Oliver said
RiceThere is no common upgrade to make a "cheap" violin sound much better except perhaps new strings.
Also, as a brand new student, don't expect to make the best music no matter what hardware you change.
I've had 3 VSO's and they all got better as I got better. Give it some time.
Do you have any friend who might be able to play the violin for you? I did that once and the Russian student/luthier soon demonstrated how far I had to go!
Haha yes I fully understand. I realise that playing the violin is quite difficult. I have some experience playing keyboard, but there's just so much more that can go wrong with playing the violin than with the keyboard. I won't keep my hopes too high! There is a music store in town that I visited a couple of weeks ago to look at violins. I could try popping in again to ask the luthier to have a look at my violin, and verify that more skill will equal nicer sound on my particular violin. Until then, I'll keep scratching away xD
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when a two year old pushes the single C key down on Piano, he sounds as good as a concert pianist when he pushes C... the Violin, not so much
But it does get better 
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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By now, you must be breathing a sigh of relief, now that you've seen it. It looks very nice -- slightly chubby bridge aside. That's not something you need to worry about for months. Congratulations on the new fiddle. Buy your next one from FM and that will take fear out of the equation.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright
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