Electric VIolin.

February 19, 2007 at 09:23 PM · Hi Luke,

I checked out the you tube. Thanks for sharing it. My Zeta "fusion" looks different but sounds the same. I don't use it for classical music however, because I think that the electric sound does not fit the classical repertoire. Why play a classical song on Zeta except perhaps for the need of amplification (at a gig)?

The straight Zeta sound with no effects is very uniform. The violinist on that video does his very best to make it sound passionate (perhaps a little cheezy in my humble opinion, but then again it is a cheezy song:)

In my experience, playing the electric is different than playing the classical violin. One has to exaggerate everything to achieve any musical range. No matter what I do with the Zeta, the e string notes never sound as beautiful and sweet as when I use my old fiddle.

I have been playing and giging with the Zeta for a few years. It is a lot of fun to experiment with different soundscapes. And that is what it is for....expresing your music through an alternate channel without having to learn totally different instrument.

Lucia

February 20, 2007 at 02:42 AM · A suggestion...look on eBay. I searched for an electric violin last week, and there were some nice ones there at great prices. :)

March 29, 2007 at 07:55 PM · I must say I agree with Lucia. Also, in my opinion, a cheap electric violin is more like a toy. It can be a lot of fun but you'll be very dissapointed if you purpose is to make serious music.

March 30, 2007 at 12:18 PM · tretick he's spelled, I learned through youtube. yes - flat & pathetic. in this kind of context i don't see any need for cottoncloth piezo sound, either. if one loves this - sorry, one second, i have to mute the soundcard - pooh, yesss - why not play an acoustic violin and REALLY show off. another idea with this - mu..ck would be to use the capacities of the zeta: playing with effects, playing a rocky solo on the orchestra accompaniment...

Now to you, Luke. Lately I have tried to write down my experiences with low to mid-price contemporary e-violins as a kind of a guide:

Shape:

- choose between various solidbody and skeletal instruments – but - "achtung, baby":

- certain instrument shapes are instable, tend to bend, won’t stay in tune (the treble clef shaped “things”) or were reported to break (the big S shaped products).

- If your favourite instrument has an uncommon shape – is a special shoulderrest provided? How does it fit and feel?

Wood materials and manufacture:

- neck: polished?, laquered? – how does it feel?

- fingerboard: ebony? hardwood or softwood painted black? plastic? - corrugated or even?: look along it against light

- pegs: ebony? hardwood painted black? plastic? - do they fit properly / stay in tune? – if possible test with peg compound: where it sticks to the peg after turning it several times, there is no contact to the peghole.

- Body: weight? Top-heavy? Does your favourite shoulderrest fit / does the instrument’s (rudimentary) ribs have a rim?

- the bridge is often roughly cut (esp. the feet) and a bit too high – this is fine: your luthier can adapt it to your needs (see below!).

Projection:

- is the angle neck to body OK? – measure from mid-upper-edge end of fingerboard down to the body: flat-top solidbodies or skeletals: approx. 26 mm, semiacoustics: approx. 20 mm.

- too flat projection may cause instability.

- the bridge / the strings-to fingerboard distances may be too high – in some cases a luthier cannot cut down the bridge enough (not enough wood above the heart) to make playing comfortable for you: the instrument will need a new bridge.

Pickup (transducer) / electronics:

- test your future new instrument thoroughly. It should sound fine with a STANDARD guitar amp, (Fender tube amp) when you cut the treble control frequencies on the amp a bit (because of “the screachies”: frequent piezo disease).

- most cheap up to mid-price e-violins are equipped with a cheap piezo transducer under the bridge (popular: Artec 8888). Some producers even replaced it with an even worse device.

- the Artec doesn’t sound THAT bad purely – but many producers have added active electronics to eliminate the well-known screechy character of many of the piezo transducer family products, improving the Artec sound to the worse (muffled and flat – no clearness / brilliance, no “ground”).

- also test the often provided onboard headphones amp – many make a lot of noise or are even distorting.

- Some instruments have a plastic electronics unit pinned to the bottom including potentiometers, jacks and a battery compartment. Mostly the components are very cheap, are not replaceable and tend to make nasty noise soon. Not reliable.

- Some semiacoustics have slider units (see above) or battery compartments “nailed” to the ribs or elsewhere without adapting them properly to the curvatures of the corresponding body parts.

- I have even seen semiacoustics with a Barcus-Berry piezo bridge installed the wrong way round (piezo element under the e-string).

Connections:

- have a look at the output jack(s): mini jack or 1/4 inch standard (guitar) phone jack? Headphones jack may be mini (mono signal to stereo) jack, output should be 1/4’’ jack.

- Where is the output jack placed? – On the right (bow arm) side the cable may tear down the instrument (weight on the wrong side) and interfere with the bow arm.

Forget the bow delivered with cheap e-violins: light the open fire with it or break it on purpose in a show – it’s too soft, often twisted, tending to bend to the wrong side etc….

Use your own fine bow (I believe you started with and are still playing a tradional acoustic violin).

Forget the cables supplied with cheap stuff: limited frequency range, bad shielding, bad plugs…

Forget the rosin – buy something serious for few money at your luthiers’.

The cases are cheap foam but do their job – as long as you don’t let it fall down with your instrument inside. Temperature isolation sometimes is better than with expensive cases.

If you have satisfactorily checked all these items, you’ll probably opt for an instrument more than USD 1000 worth: congratulations – you will surely have a lot of fun with your professional instrument.

If there are too many negative checks and you want electrification now: think about electrifying your acoustic instrument. Have a look at my website:

http://www.uli-boesking.de/rebo/

Once again “achtung”: Big recommended music industry names don’t mean EVERYBODY is satisfied – many musicians spend a lot of money and only believe that THIS HAS TO BE IT – because of the price / the pain having spent much money. If you want to buy an instrument above USD 1000 make sure the company has an adequate return policy. You’ll probably need it, because very few serviceable instruments or almost none can be tested even in bigger music shops – only the big Y and F (last of low-mid price range) are represented here and there. See above.

I hope this article is somewhat impartial - except the Rebo link ;o) but - sorry, Luke, there's more where that came from:

If you go to your luthier and buy a manufactured instrument for a moderate price (USD 300 or 400) you'll have a fine basic material which FEELS GOOD and which you can electrify with a piezo bridge of your choice

http://www.barberatransducers.com/

http://www.headwayelectronics.com/

http://www.ashworthelectronics.co.uk/

http://www.barcusberry.com/

or with a magnetic humbucker

http://members.aol.com/bowtronics/

http://www.uli-boesking.de/rebo/

The magnetic PUs won't mute the acoustic sound of your instrument as the piezo bridges do.

Then think about building in the jack into the ribs of the violin

http://www.uli-boesking.de/rebo/inst_gal/Seiten/12moe_gr.htm

or using a Carpenter style jack.

http://www.uli-boesking.de/rebo/inst_gal/Seiten/03cze_gr.htm

Some systems need a preamp: you can buy an external one or go to a GOOD guitar repair shop and let them build the preamp in. I did it this way on one of my violins - the preamp is a custom design - not bigger as a thumbnail - fixed in the inside on the output jack. The battery compartment is adapted to the curvature and inserted into the ribs

http://www.uli-boesking.de/rebo/inst_gal/Seiten/14blu_gr.htm

http://www.uli-boesking.de/rebo/inst_gal/Seiten/13moe_gr.htm

Good luck

Uli