"The fiddle is probably less sore on the fingers, but the lop-sided way you have to hold it and support it with your chin seems counter-intuitive and awkward to me. I am also put off it by the fact that it takes a long time to learn to make even a moderately pleasant sound on a fiddle. It's not an instrument for the lazy or the careless."

@Marje
I thought it hurt fingers like the guitar untill I tried my friends violin and realised it didn't...at least not if you don't play it for hours on end.

On the other point. Its been just over 5months from when I started having lessons...and I think I've got a semi-acceptable sound out of the fiddle now. Which isn't as long/bad as I thought it might be.