Writing this review after one month of use of the instrument.
At first I was rather skeptical of buying string instrument online as there is no chance to test it, but as shop offers 30 days return policy I decided to take risk and don't regret my decision at all.
I play traditional music in folk group where there is need for improvisation and the low C adds a lot to it! I totally fell in love with the low C from the very first moment :) Despite the fact that instrument body is smaller than full viola, it still gives deep, full sound!
One has to account that instrument will be slightly bigger and heavier than usual 4/4 violin. As it comes without carrying case, I was a bit worried if I will need to buy new case, but violin ideally fits in my 4/4 violin case (but I suppose it may depend on the case and may not fit in some smaller cases).
It was rather easy for me to quickly adjust to five strings, despite the fact that string placement is a bit narrower than usual 4/4 violin. More tricky for me was to differentiate between C and G strings, as there was strong habit to sometimes "dive hard" into G string, but now the low C is the lowest string instead, so I have to be careful with that. But with practice it gets improved.
One has to be careful with string changes while playing, because it is very easy to "grab" other strings (due to closer placement and a bit different angle of strings). Took me a while to adjust to playing E string, as angle for right hand bow changed. But in general adjusting to the instrument was rather quick and easy.
Instrument comes with Dominant strings, which I haven't played before and I love how easy it is to play these strings, how responsive they are and what sound they bring. I love the deep sound of the instrument and how it fits into our band (accordion, mandolin, bass guitar, cither and two other violins), my 5 string violin brings new nuances to the overall sound of our band.
I'm very satisfied with price performance of the instrument! :)
