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Showing results for tags 'electric'.
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Hi everyone, Topics about octave violas have appeared on this forum in the past, such as Viola to Chin Cello and "Octave Violin" & "Octave Viola"; however what is now available on the market appears to have changed. I have a Yamaha SVV-200K with a vibrating string length of 373 mm, which the Electric Violin Shop modified for me to be able to play on the Super Sensitive Sensicore Octave Viola strings and tuned exactly like a cello. Initially these strings were fine; however within months, they would repetively snap by themselves inside the case (either at the ball end or the peg end) unless I loosened them a few tones down during storage. I did subsequently have the octave viola examined by two different local luthiers here; the second who further smoothed out the grooves in case the strings were being pinched and resulting in breakage. Although Super Sensitive kindly sent me free replacements, they did snap and I currently have one full spare set and a spare C and D string. I had a look for alternatives online. D'Addario only makes octave violin strings. From memory I found these 1/10 cello strings online, but quite frankly they are rubbish to play on and the vibrating string length is too long for my octave viola. These 1/16 cello strings were even longer than the 1/10 cello strings; hence I didn't even try them on. Any tiny adjustments either via the pegs or fine tuners results in an unusually large change in the pitch of the string. Without any viable options left, my octave viola was left sitting in the case unplayed for several years. Recently having started practising regularly on my acoustic viola, I curiously decided to check out the current market situation for octave viola options. The Sensicore options have seemingly completely disappeared from Super Sensitive's product catalogue, which makes me wonder if they have been discontinued. Larsen recently released their Aurora line of cello strings, the smallest size which is 1/16 with a vibrating string length of 420 mm (this information was accidentally omitted from their information PDF; hence I had to ask them via e-mail what the vibrating string length was). Currently I have e-mailed Pirastro and Larsen to see if they can make custom extra small cello strings with a vibrating string length of 373 mm, but I have yet to hear from them. I figured it would be cheaper to get custom strings rather than a custom-made large electric viola with a vibrating string length of 420 mm. I can probably play a massive viola since I have long arms and fingers though, but I have not seen any viola in Australia thus far that is bigger than my acoustic viola. Or as my friend says, just buy a good, old fashioned cello and learn how to play it, hahaha! Does anyone else here have any tips or ideas? 16 March 2021 Jargar has replied saying they were unable to help. D'Addario replied saying that they have actually acquired Super Sensitive and there are currently discussions on which strings they will continue manufacturing. I have yet to hear back from Larsen, Pirastro or Thomastik.
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Hello everyone, I want to give some background to contextualize my need for a luthier to consult with on a custom electric violin My name is Cooper; I'm 24 years old and have been playing fiddle for about 19 years. I am classically trained and also grew up playing country music, particularly Western Swing. I'm from Bakersfield, CA and I am very proud of "The Bakersfield Sound," Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, etc. Currently I play in a Bakersfield Sound band with my brother and our friends. So much fun! Mosrite was a Bakersfield based guitar company that left its stamp on country music and music in general. With artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, Fender, a California brand, rose to prominence because of the Bakersfield Sound. Why do I bring up electric guitars when I'm looking for a violin? Well, I am looking for a custom luthier to make a guitar shaped electric violin (filled body, non-acoustic), one either in the style of Fender Telecaster or a Mosrite Ventures model. The idea is not completely unfounded (check out Mark Wood's "Katana" and "Legend" electric violins). I do wonder how realistic it is to make one. I have some details in mind (shorter body, issue of bow clearance, putting a "saddle" on the neck where it would sit traditionally on an acoustic violin, geared pegs, guitar-esque tail piece or regular one, fingerboard height, etc.) Of course, these issues should be fleshed out in more detail with whomever is interested. It would be ideal to discuss price range first too. I am new to this forum. If you have public contact information (website, business email, etc.), please do share! Or, let me know what way is better to get in touch! Thank you so much for your time and consideration! Cooper
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This was a 5 string electric violin project I finished off almost 10 years ago after completing a similar cello design. It was my first violin, albeit not a traditional instrument, but it sure packs a lot of fun and can produce an enormous range of sounds. I would be interested in people's thoughts or reaction to this design. If you would like to see more, check out zamarstrings.com (a start up electric violin line that I was ready to launch years ago, but that got moved to the way back burner of life's little side adventures. Someday, maybe I can bring it back to the front burner)
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Hi there Internet stringed instrument experts! I have a bit of a funny question for you. I happen to own a 3d printer, and have successfully designed instruments in the past (look up the 3d printed trombone if you are curious, I'd link it but i'm guessing new posters posting links get blocked) , and I decided I want to make another one. There are other 3d printed cellos in existence, but I think I might be able to make a worthwhile electric cello to complement those designs. Whatever I come up with will be open source and freely available to all to download and print. The difficulty here is that I don't actually play the cello. So I need some help from the cellists and Luthiers around here, if you have a moment to help improve the eventual resulting design I would greatly appreciate it, and will credit anyone who helps in the final design when it is posted online. You can see my usual design style and postings on thingiverse under the username "piercet" if you have any questions regarding my design skill level. I'm intending to create a pure electric cello with a sealed resonating chamber under the bridge, with bass guitar tuning pegs, a real wooden cello fingerboard and tailpiece, a wooden bridge, 4-6 strings (or both?) using a piezo pickup between the bridge and the cello body, with an integrated preamp in the back. There will be space internally for the end spike, I will have a wooden nut above the finger board and a wooden saddle thingy at the bottom, some sort of folding leg spacers and arm rest guide piece since those seem to be important for playing the cello. There will be some sort of neck truss rod to hold the whole assembly together, The main body will be composed of several sections of 3d printed ABS plastic. The area I'm looking for help with is the section immediately under the bridge. I have what I believe to be a decent set of cello layout ideal measurements to go off of for the string angles, lengths, bridge heights, etc. What I don't have is any idea of what the radius of the curve should be right under the bridge. Any ideas? I'm going to take a look at the local cello shop and see if they have any used bridges that aren't necessarily playable, but have a decent ideal measurement for me to start with, but if any of you happen to have a good idea of what to shoot for, I would most appreciate it. The other thing I would like some guidance on is the resonating chamber itself. I want to add some bass to the cello piezo pickup, so my intent is to make a chamber that has a top skin 2-3mm (1/4"?) thick with an integral bass bar and sound post. The chamber itself would be about 30-40mm deep, maybe more, but that whole area would probably only be slightly wider than the bridge itself My intent is to create an easy to print, functional instrument that sounds decent and could be created by the average 3d printer hobbyist or skilled cello player for around $100-$200 in parts, would have a usable sound for a student or a traveling musician for the rock / jazz scene, and one that might not spontaneously combust out of shame if it ever accidentally ended up on stage in a concert hall. The cool thing about this is the whole thing will be somewhat modular and configurable, so myself or others can create upgrade components for it as time goes on. This will also give me the opportunity to play with different materials and structures (would a cello sound better or worse with vibration damping pads embedded in certain areas? things like that) Any help you can provide would be much appreciated! Thanks! Tim Pierce -
There's a new violin pickup coming out and it's not Piezo, meaning no flat digital sound. Very interrested in opinions: http://www.vcoilpickups.com
