I'm using this as a beginners violin really. My first introduction to a violin was a disaster, as the peg box got cracked as pushed the peg in too hardon the first day, so when I saw this with geared machine heads I felt I could give the violin a second chance. I tunes up nicely, it takes a while to get it to remain tuned, but it settles down after a few tunings.
It feels nice to hold and am a lot more confident with it.
Very pleased.