I got my violin when I was 13. It was my first full size violin and it is still my main violin. It was made that year in 1990. When I bought it, I had my violin teacher come to the store with me. I played a few in my price range and picked the one I liked. She said it suited to the typical characteristics of my performace and agreed it was the one. I believe it got sound a lot better over the years, and I probably improved a bit since then. It's good to know that nobody else owned my violin before and it's mine only. I fantasize about getting an old violin because it's also nice to inherit the history of an instrument, but my violin is like my sibling who I grew up with and I hope it will be passed down in my family after my time. My parents paid $5000 for it, but it's priceless now.