Completed Electric Violin

[Craig Hodges]

Here's an electric violin I just completed for my daughter. She normally plays acoustic, but prefers an electric when playing on a stage with a band (primarily at our church). Neck is maple, body is pine. Finish is nitrocellulose lacquer - first 2 coats tinted with transtint. Pickup is LR Baggs. No active electronics on-board, using LR Baggs Para DI box on the floor. Very pleased with the sound. Much of the design was focused on decreasing weight as she sometimes feels fatigued by the weight of a violin. I was not able to produce a design lighter than her acoustic violin, but the center of gravity is concentrated back at the shoulder rest. This reduces the effort to hold up the violin's neck. This is the first instrument I've built that I have no ability to play. I spent a good deal of time measuring acoustic violins and studying violin books (primarily Courtnal's) to make sure the design and the setup would be playable. It was such a relief when she picked it up and began to play so well!

[Bob Francis]

Really nice design! What's your daughter's review?

[Neal Carey]

That is very cool. Perhaps a sound clip could be done by the lucky recipient of this violin?

[Eric Baack]

That is very cool. Clever design in moving the bulk of the weight to the one end

[Steve Senseney]

Clever!

That design is worth copying!

I like the color also.

[Jon Whitney]

That's very nice and certainly unique. If one of my string-playing daughters (2 violists, one cellist) ever requests an instrument, I'll have a good starting point.

[Jason Rodgers]

Well-planned and executed, sir! It's very interesting to see how folks interpret the electric violin, since there isn't really a standard design. The lower bout outline is there, but no upper bout. Is your daughter having any issues without the neck-body join as a reference?

[Bryan Bear]

That is all sorts of nifty! Well done.

[John Kingma]

Wow. Very nice.

[Craig Hodges]

Well-planned and executed, sir! It's very interesting to see how folks interpret the electric violin, since there isn't really a standard design. The lower bout outline is there, but no upper bout. Is your daughter having any issues without the neck-body join as a reference?

Jason, I was concerned about this also, but turns out the heel of the neck provides a good reference when she plays. She says it's not missed.

[Greg Robinson]

Hi Craig,
Nice violin!
I've merged the two topics you created. In future, if you post in the wrong section, please just post a note in the same thread and myself or one of the other staff member will move it for you. Please don't just post duplicate topics in different sections.
Thanks.

[Dan Gilmore]

Very nice design and work. What kind of amp does your daughter play it through? I was happy with the Barbera pickup on my violin played through a small tube amp, but would consider the Baggs, it is quite a bit cheaper. How is the jack positioned?

Dan

[Craig Hodges]

Hi Dan, I have a small 30 watt Crate amp that she can play it through at home, but generally she's on stage in a large theater when she plays with a band. So it's played through a house system. The Baggs Para D.I. I think is good at conditioning the pickup and it has phantom power so she doesn't have to worry about a battery dying. You can kind of see the jack in the picture at the top - it's tucked in the middle of the lower bout. Here's a pic that shows it.