How can you tell a good quality violin from a cheap one?

Question:

How can you tell a good quality violin from a cheap one?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: How it sounds is the most obvious answer - but not the only one. Because a good violin that has been sitting for a while without being played will sound flat and the tone will be dull.

If you find a fiddle with good wood and carpentry, precision in the placing of the sound peg (inside) if the fingerboard looks good - find out if it has been played a lot and recently. If the answer is no, some sellers will be willing to let you return it after six months if the tone does not come alive - or you can takea chance and try bargaining down the price.

Obviously, the final factor is the sound - but how it sounds when you first play it may not tell the whole story.

And by the way - cheap violins can sometimes be very good, and expensive violins can be very bad. Price does not always tell the story either.