Franz Hoffmann® Concert Violin Outfit - 4/4 Size

First time violin buyer, and we are pleasantly surprised by the quality upon arrival. Our 11 year old has had this violin for 4 months and it sounds and looks amazing as day one. We are so pleased with the product, we are ready to get one more, so the 11YO can have one at home, and leave one at school.

This violin comes with an excellent smooth sound. Definitely not for a beginner, hard to get a loud projection (difficult to get a real forte) but an excellent value, totally worth while for the diligent intermediate student. The case is roomy and nice quality. I really enjoy the sound that is readily achievable with the Brazilwood bow. First-rate quality except that the bows tend to start coming apart after just a few months. Just the leather part near the frog tends to fall off. I enjoy this violin. It is a worthwhile investment.

This violin comes with an excellent smooth sound. Definitely not for a beginner, hard to get a loud projection (difficult to get a real forte) but an excellent value, totally worth while for the diligent intermediate student. The case is roomy and nice quality. I really enjoy the sound that is readily achievable with the Brazilwood bow. First-rate quality except that the bows tend to start coming apart after just a few months. Just the leather part near the frog tends to fall off. I enjoy this violin. It is a worthwhile investment.

Unbelievable. I got my violin and right away my learning improved. Now I'm using a top quality violin from a awesome supplier, my musicianship has improved. Thank you Shar for getting me on the right track with a beautiful instrument both visually and by sound. Now I feel like there is hope for me. This is definatly the best. I'm totally lost for words. I had no trouble tuning and the speech is awesome. I so wish I went with Shar from the beginning. Thanks again.

I have bought quite a few things on theShar music store. One thing that I have to say about them is there amazing customer service and how easy it is to reach them. All I have to do is press live chat, and I get all of my questions answered

I bought this violin for my middle school kid, It sounds great and looks good. I recommend this product to others. My son love this violin.

All I can say is "WOW"!!! I had to return my Hoffman Etude due to a manufacture's defect (BTW: I could not possibly be happier with how Shar handled the issue) and decided to take the opportunity to upgrade. As I am broke, I could only afford to upgrade to the concert violin... what a HUGE difference for $30! Clearly, there is a reason they are willing to guarantee this instrument: I feel like I paid for a beginner's instrument but got an intermediate one. I will be more than happy playing my Hoffman Concert until I can justify (and afford) an advanced model... and when I can, I will definitely come back to Shar: you can not put a price on good customer service!

I bought this to be my spare violin and the quality is impressive. It has a nice voice and it's really quite striking. The figured one piece back, all the little details. It's a very well made instrument and in my opinion a huge value. Thank you, Shar!!

I am an intermediate student, picked one of these up to resume my studies after a hiatus (I had a very basic Franz Hoffman as my first instrument) and wanted to try a rental. When it arrived I immediately changed the Overture Ultra strings for the more familiar Dominants with a Jargar Forte E-string. After the strings settled - Wow! Just wow! The projection of this violin sounds just like I remember my instructors' as a child, with many rich overtones throughout. The sound of the Jargar Forte E was amazing. It is very hard to find a good student instrument that does not make the E sound too bright and metallic - this combination provided a very rich, layered, yet brilliant tone and still crystal clear. The setup was perfect as well, the nut was filed perfectly - the E-string sits about a millimeter above the fingerboard in first position. For the cost of this outfit combined wtih its availability through Shar Way, I am eagerly resuming my studies. I planned on trading in for a Lamberti Classic as soon as I can afford one, but I am falling in love with this instrument.

the sound is amazing, love this violin. BUT the only thing is it's VERY easy to leave a mark on this violin. The scratches on mine look pretty bad but i hope i can blemish it. OTher than that, the sound, quality and everythig else is absolutely amazing

I do not play but wanted to purchase as a gift. They were sold out of the one I wanted. Going through there website some how I found an offer free upgrade if not in stock. I called and the offer was expired 2 months ago. After sending them the info so they could verify that the offer was still on the website they honored it. All I can say is truly professional to honor an add that was 2 months old right before Christmas. If they will do that I'm sure any issue will be resolved with the customers best interest in mind. Sorry for not saying anything about the instrument but the customer service is worth doing business with.

I had been looking to upgrade from an instrument which I have used for many years, a very sweet sounding older violin made in Czechoslovakia. I visited a couple of nearby violin shops (not many in Maine!) and tried many instruments ranging from $1500 to $5500. I was astounded at my level of universal disappointment with each and every violin... having had the expectation of being blown away, in comparison to my more modest longtime sidekick. In fact, most of those "mid-level" violins were truly horrendous sounding, to the point of being unlistenable... thin, screechy, "dead" sound. My quest having been foiled and my enthusiasm considerably diminished, I decided to change direction and try more modestly-priced instruments. At that time Shar was running a page of their trade-in instruments and one of them was the Concert, for under $200... why not? Well... when it arrived and I began playing I could not believe what I was hearing! Rich, balanced, beautiful sound! I changed strings to Obligatos, and it took it up another few notches! It is amazing, now my #1, and I wouldn't think of getting rid of it. Maybe mine is a fluke... or maybe they got a bunch of things "just right" with the design and construction of the Concert. In any event, it is a joy to play every day, and I highly recommend it... not only for beginners, but also as a second or a back-up instrument for intermediate players!

I am an adult beginning and I have have my Hoffman Concert Violin for over a year now. I am 100% happy with the violin. I have made great progress on the violin. The staff at Shar has been amazing. I would recommend the SHAR Way rental program and this product.

Fast shipping! Great sounding violin!! Recommended by my daughter's violin teacher. Very nice.

This violin is just stunning to look at, a beautiful instrument at a great price. This violin has a great sound, as well as, great projection. The included bow is not only beautiful, but very well made and contributes to sound of this violin. Case is what you would expect for a begginer outfit. Well crafted, but has a small storage compartment, too small for an electronic tuner. Will hold extra bridge and rosin with room a little room left over. All in all, a great value. The flex plan is a wonderful way to experience a great instrument without paying a small fortune all at once. Especially since fifty percent of all your payments goes to a future purchase of a higher level violin.

Purchased a used clearance 1/8 sized violin with light wear at a great price. Instrument arrived in excellent condition that looked to be almost new. Came with nice strings and bridge. Compared to my Suzuki 220ís that I still have from when I was a child (1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 size) this Franz Hoffman Concert violin is probably better in quality with a richer sounding resonant sound. Perfect for my little kids! More than satisfied by price, shipping speed, shipping care, and quality of instrument that exceeded my expectations. Thanks Shar.