| Before you purchase an electric violin you should decide what type best suites your needs. After all, you would not buy a vehicle such as a truck when you really needed a minivan.
The common element that most electric violins predominantly share is they all use transducer pickups utilizing vibrations from direct contact. Attempts with electromagnetic pickups and condenser microphones have been made but none were successful.
Electric Violins are divided into two basic groups both dealing with the construction of the body. The first group I will refer to as a solid body. Now there will be variations but the principle is the same. Solid bodies by my definition do not enclose air. The second group hollow bodies and acoustic instruments enclose air. Unless you value a particular design over performance, the hollow body would be the best choice. Keep in mind that a solid body electric violin whether made of wood, Plexiglas, aluminum or what have you, the choice concerning the placement of the transducer or transducers can only be done on the bridge. This gives you no diversity for pickup sounds. Most electric guitars have more than one pickup to give a variety of sound. So why should an electric violin be any different? Two major problems with a solid body violin vary between no body artistically to look at or a weight that hinders the player. All the straps and inventive gadgets will not make up the difference. So the only other option is a hollow body acoustic or semi acoustic violin. With a hollow body, you can place transducers in several locations using different techniques attaching pickups and wiring components giving you a diverse sound array just like an electric guitar.
With a hollow body electric violin, you should enjoy the lightweight, artistic design and practical element for technical skills that are normally used by a violinist. For electric violins and helpful aids, we recommend |