... I did indeed learn much from this instrument. It has been used for hundreds of hours of acoustical testing, bass bar experimentation and so on over a two year period. It was rented as a student violin for five years and now they have purchased it (10/2007). ...That is real mother of pearl inlay in the fingerboard between the fingering positions (my first attempt at inlay work in ebony). ...What this instrument will give you is honest 93 DB sound through out the range including all the way up the 'e' string! That is full concert instrument sound volume. The tone is not as refined as some of my later instruments but the power is excellent.