Molly Carlson Edition

Student Violins & Violas

Molly Carlson is an award winning fiddle player and instructor based in Roseville California.  After years of teaching, she had become increasingly disappointed with the poor quality violins brought to lessons by her students.  They were often difficult to play, poorly set up, not well constructed and tended to have lackluster tone at best.  A friend introduced her to the Apprentice Collection violins produced by Maple Leaf Strings, a manufacturer based in Cincinnati Ohio.  She loved how they sounded and played, and felt that a few minor modifications to how they were outfitted would make them an excellent choice for her students.  Maple Leaf graciously agreed to her requests.  Molly selected an ebony Guarneri chinrest with ebony tuning pegs.  She chose an ebony tailpiece with nickel plated steel fine tuners.  In her experience, she found that the fine tuners on many composite tailpieces tended to fail in a short period of time and steel tuners tend to hold up better.  For the bow, Molly chose graphite composite.   She believes the bow is most critical to learning how to play the violin.  And while she enjoys the sound and feel of a good quality wood bow, she found that, for her students, graphite tends to perform more consistently over time and is much more durable.  With model options well-suited for beginning to intermediate students or even advanced hobbyists, Molly Carlson Edition violins and violas by Maple Leaf Strings exceeds all expectations in tone, craftsmanship, playability and value.

• Durable hand applied ruby red varnish
• Ebony fingerboard and pegs
• Ebony Guarneri chinrest
• Ebony tailpiece with nickel plated steel fine tuners
• Set-up with D'Addario Prelude strings
• Fully hand-carved with seasoned spruce top and maple back and sides
• Outfit includes graphite composite bow and oblong thermoplastic case