I have bought a few of the blemished Preludes from Shar for students. Each of them is well made, and set up. I love the sound on these, and haven't had any reason to change the strings. They are perfect for the beginner and intermediate on a tight budget. The tone is nice, and not too loud and they don't sound cheap or tiny. My student that isn't serious about the violin won't ever need to purchase an upgrade! His Prelude sounds as nice as a much more expensive violin. Strings will need an upgrade as he progresses but the instrument is perfect! Thank you Shar!!!

I purchased this for my 10 year old son, he has been playing fiddle for 2 years now and we decided it was time to purchase one for him to play at home. I was looking for something nice but not too expensive as he isn't super committed. I didn't want to end up with some cheap one that falls apart in no time. I came across the Prelude from Shar and found a "like new" used one for a great price. I was a little hesitant but decided to buy one. Boy what a pleasant surprise. It looks perfect, sounds great, and his fiddle teacher was quite impressed with the quality, especially for the price. My son loves it and it sounds so much better than the older hand me down he was using before. The shipping was very fast. Overall I am quite thrilled and very pleased with this violin. Thank you Shar Music!

I bought this violin to teach with because 1) I am a violist so my I own a nice viola, but not a violin 2) I don't want to purchase a nice instrument to teach with only to have someone accidentally knock it off a table and break it. Anyway, I was happy with my purchase until one day I had my violin in rest position under my arm and suddenly the tailpiece snapped and came completely off the instrument! Good thing I didn't spend too much, but it was enough for me to be disappointed in what I wasted. :-(

I've been looking for an inexpensive violin that I could simply enjoy playing for myself. Projection and 'power' mean nothing to me. Sweetness and evenness of tone are what I was looking for. I recently bought a previously owned Prelude. I changed the strings from Overture to Overture Ultra. After settling in, this violin sounds lovely and laid back...just what I was looking for.

I bought the prelude because i wanted a decent beginner violin and it sounded good on the video when the girl from the shop is playing it. I have never been able to get any kind of decent sound out of it however. Granted, it is not expensive bit for almost $200 i thought it would at least be playable. I do not think it is. The prelude comes with very cheap strings and if you buy it i would replace the strings to something better. The D and G strings are absolutely terrible. A is not much better. E string has typical steel string sound. When i received the violin i noticed that there were several white spots inside the violin and after some time playing it some specks started falling out of the violin. Probably the vibration shook something loose. A tech i brought it too said they were probably buffing compound or polish marks. Whoever built the violin obviously did not do a good job and it should not have been shipped in that condition. I changed the g string after it broke to a d'addario prelude but it still sounds terrible. i should have returned the violin after i bought it but i missed the deadline and was not offered a replacement after notifying Shar of the white spots. I do not think the violin is worth the price and i will have to absorb the loss.

After trying and returning two other Franz Hoffman models (the Etude and the Maestro), I think I've found what I was looking for. I'm a senior beginning violinist and play just for myself. Power and projection, therefore, are the last things I need. I wanted a violin that is sweet and even across the strings. I bought a previously used Prelude (made in 2012) and changed the Overture strings (not bad, but I figured ready to retire) to Corelli Crystal G,D and A, and D'Addario Helicore E. Sounds (and looks) lovely, and will probably improve when everything settles in.