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Hello all
I am new to the violin... and pretty much musical instruments in general. I never learned to read music or playing anything real. I started with an electric guitar and was as far as producing very simple tunes. Now I finally have some money to put into the hobby. I chose the violin because I always liked the sound. I loved how the same instrument could play the craziest bluegrass or a beautiful classical piece.
I have been serious about learning for 5 weeks now so I have a basic understanding of sheet music, can play open strings and twinkle twinkle little star... I have been taking some private lessons and my instructor says I am if anything I'm trying to learn too fast. I know I should be focusing on the basics but I don't want to get bad habits that will hinder me later. For example she is recommending the finger board sticker. I don't care that it is only 5 bucks I just don't want a crutch and I don't want to keep looking at the finger board. Instead I attach my tuner to my bridge and place it next to my music. I then play the music and see how my finger placement is. Using fiddlerman's technique of putting the thumb on the nut for first position I can hit the first position notes without the stupid sticker.
The gear I have is my first violin (Musino V2044) bought from a music shop when I didn't know any better. I have spent some time learning on it and pretty much how it works. I am comfortable swapping strings, adjusting the bridge, adjusting the chin rest and started to play with a few bridges to see how the sound is affected. My second violin was bought from fiddlershop and is a K500P. I just received it yesterday so haven't really had much time to play it.
Wow.... long winded.... sorry about that...
Hi! Welcome to the forum 
I agree, it's amazing how the violin can play anything from classical to rock, Celtic, bluegrass. All different genres. It's really a great instrument. Hope you have fun learning new thing here as well with your lessons.
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Welcome razor02097,
I enjoyed your introduction and look forward to your progress reports
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regulars
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Welcome Razor! Congrats on your new violin!
Welcome to the forum, Razoro2097! =)
I never had any tapes/dots/marks too. My teacher never told me about something like this, but somebody said that one lerns faster with them... Anyway, the choice is yours =) If You are already good, so don't worry about it =)
Seems You are very curious about sound and violin adjusting! You'll be in a great company here with all this, LOL! Lots of people here always do something with their (or someone else's) violins...bows...bridges...sound posts etc. 
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Thanks for the warm welcome all!
Here are my babies
http://i108.photobucket.com/al.....850030.jpg
Bottom one is the Musino the top is the Johannes Kohr
I received my fiddlerman CF bow today. I love the packaging! Something not even UPS can tear up 
Regulars
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welcome to the forums razor!!
those are very fine ladies you've got there
hmm...about those dots and tapes, i don't and never had added them as well, been playin' for a month, but i know that it is better without tapes, plus, tapes ruins the fingerboard 
once again, welcome and have fun!!
cheers! - ⁰ℨ
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Hello Razor! Great looking violins you have there! Glad to have you aboard, this community is really awesome.
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welcome as well from the west coast of the USA.
I started back at the beginning of this year without tapes or anything and then tried it for a couple of weeks. I was impressed how far OFF I was and after a little corrective practice I removed it and found I was right on the note placement.
Sometimes a little 'crutch' is helpful. As far as tapes ruining the fingerboard...if it's ebony it isnt going to hurt anything, but if it's a different hardwood (commonly found on cheaper instruments) then you might end up changing the finish on it when cleaning off the adhesive.
One of the senior members here has a "print it on your home printer" chart that attaches easily with a piece of tape on either side of the neck, scotch tape or other transparent tape works nice.
I have 3 violins, and one is a K500. I'm currently searching for some strings for it since I'm not a big fan of the Dominants they normally come with. My 90 yr old German has Zyex strings and my old Chinese Student model has Preludes and sounds awesome now. I'm one of those here that do a lot of technical stuff and work part time for a local shop setting up instruments and doing some of the more elementary work. I make bridges from scratch, do sound analysis and have many many hours of work into all three of my instrument.
Playing each is a challenge since a very tiny difference in even the radius of the bridge shoulder makes for a different location for the bow to hit the string(s)! As if it isn't hard enought o play these things huh..
enjoy yourself here.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Very cool! I'm definitely interested in learning more on the mechanics of the violin. Most of my experience is involved in tuning compound bows and 1911s so I know how little changes can make a big difference!
The replacement bridge I cut down was done as a copy of the original bridge. I replaced it because the original was soft and my metal mute wouldn't hold on very well. Next to be replaced is the tail piece because I am having problems with the E string fine tuner... Any advice on fitting a new tail?
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