Yamaha V10 SG 4/4 OV

After decades of playing piano, trombone, and guitar, I decided to learn a stringed instrument but also wanted something that I could grow into (rather than out of).

The wood selection and woodworking are top notch: the back has beautifully flamed maple, good scroll carving, and a comfortable fingerboard and chinrest. The only defects are an inconspicuous thickness variation where one binding meets another.

The timbre and dynamics are excellent for fiddle music (my preference) as well as my playalongs of opera, theater, and symphonic recordings. With a metal mute, the neighbors are never bothered (or are too polite to mention it). Without the mute, this Yamaha resonates everywhere between a whisper with the bow held at an angle up to shaking the walls playing the first chord of Chaconne from Bach's Partita. I can't judge whether this is more of a solo or orchestral instrument, as I still play violin alone.

The E tuning screw is convenient, yet I haven't had an issue keeping the strings well-tuned with the pegs alone. It took an hour or two to get a good feel for seating the tuners, but once they're tightened, I can hang the instrument on the wall for months without losing a cent---even while airing out the apartment daily.

The case is good. The bow is good and only recently started to lose a few hairs. After two years of daily playing, one of the strings is getting worn near the bridge, but the strings are great.

Caveat emptor: I have no other violin experience, yet I've never felt that my violin feels or sounds like a student instrument.

If you had to buy only one violin and want to play regularly as a hobbyist with a tone you'll appreciate years after your first note, this would be my recommendation. It looks beautiful, sounds great, doesn't cost too much in the world of instruments, and feels nice.