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  How to Buy A Violin IV: How to Try a Violin 

Over many years I have observed all manner of tonal tests by retail buyers in the string instrument market. Some of these tests are more effective than others, but no one method for testing an instrument can tell players everything they need to know in evaluating an instrument or bow for purchase.

In order to understand the different ways people test instruments and bows, it is first necessary to sort out the different motives and conflicts inherent in trying a new instrument or bow. With few exceptions, there are essentially two categories of players with regard to equipment satisfaction: those who are forever searching for an improvement to their equipment- let's call them the Fussbudgets- and those who adjust to whatever they play on and forget about it- we'll call them the Whatmeworrys.

The Fussbudgets are forever heading into the shop for special rehairs and soundpost adjustments. They experiment endlessly with all manner of new accessories such as strings, shoulder rests and rosins always in search of the optimal confluence of factors. In trying instruments Fussbudgets tend to be suspicious of an instrument or bow until they have tinkered with it in the pursuit of their personalized sense of ideal equipment performance. Sometimes a Fussbudget does find what is believed to be the perfect instrument in optimum adjustment. But this arrival is frequently short-lived as some flaw in the instrument or adjustment soon becomes apparent to the player. Some Fussbudgets will speak wistfully of a particular violin or bow and set-up that was perfect and then "died." More often than not, they may simply have become aware of a drawback that was not initially evident to them, but ultimately spoiled their enjoyment of the instrument. Fussbudgets are wildly frustrating to dealers and repairers, who perceive their endless quest for perfection as a mysterious sort of "holy grail" search with a constantly moving target.

 The Whatmeworrys, who simply adjust to what they are playing on, pose a completely different set of issues: a Whatmeworry can sometimes present a violin with its  bridge warped and nearly ready to topple over, yet completely unnoticed and unattended to. A Whatmeworry's violin may have open seams, or the handle of the bow may have been allowed to become terribly worn in some way. If a Whatmeworry is given a new piece of equipment to play, it may rejected it instantly, simply on the basis of its unfamiliar feel. The Whatmeworry cultivates ignorance, resists change, and generally holds to a very narrow concept of what is desirable. Most of us share the traits of both Fussbudgets and Whatmeworrys, becoming at some times obsessed with equipment, and at other times unmindful of it.
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