I said three violins. I have three sort of by accident, but I am now thinking, it would be useful for others. I won’t go into how or why I ended out with three, that would be too long a post. The short story is that I wanted to make sure I could actually hold, finger and bow a violin before getting a good violin. The first was purchased for that reason. The second one we happened across while waiting for delivery of the first. Both are very low cost. After I decided I could hold, finger and bow it, we found a violin shop and I purchased a higher quality violin, and then upgraded that one at that violin shop a month later.

The reasons I find the three violins handy are:

Reason Number 1: The first two do not sound really bad. They have a different sound than my good one. These are brighter. One of the two is brighter than the other. They are not as full sounding as my good one, they are a bit hollow, but still have a fairly good sound. When I want to see how a song would sound with a brighter sound than my Doetsch gives, I use my Mendini (the better of the two inexpensive ones). If I want it to be even a more simple sound, I use my Windsor. So, having three, gives me a variety of tines or sounds to play with.

Reason Number 2: Also, they are there if anyone who comes over wants to play with them. Not keen of handing my Doetsch over. I keep them tuned, so they would be pretty much in tune for drop ins. 

Reason Number 3: As, I think, Bocaholly said, I will use the lower end ones outside under our tree or out on our deck on hot humid Summer days. Got them in the Fall of 2018, so no Summer use yet. Not sure what the humidity and heat limit is for a good violin outside before damage could be done, so won’t take it outside. Good thing I live in the country. I prefer village and neighbors, but without the close neighbors, I will be able to do it outside without a mute.

Reason Number 4: If I have an issue with the Doetsch, I can use my Mendini for a lesson, if needed. Instructor will hate it, but it would only be temporary. I do have good Tonicas on it, not the less expensive ones it came with.

So, is three too many? Not for me. Would I be against buying another good one if my violin playing improves a lot? Not really. My husband has already suggested that I might want a good bright one down the road. I said that I would not want to trade my Rudoulf Doetsch in. He said we would just get the other one. So, maybe ... But not for a long time, not really interested in spending the money on another one.