What Do You Guys Think?..... Options

[aesir22]

So I have been considering an electric violin. I currently use a mute, which is ok for the evenings, but for night practice or early morning I need something with headphones. What do you think of the one I am listing below? Just as a cheap one, and its on offer, for those late night practice sessions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

http://www.normans.co.uk/p-657-stagg-evn-4...llic-black.aspx

[jojo]

whooooooooooooooo, I like it I like it!

well, I like the price!!!!

in fact, I might even buy it myself!!!! it's so cheap that even if I only use it a couple of times a year it will be worth it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Just a week ago I had to go out for dinner with my colleagues (yes, you read right, HAD to, what a nuisance (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) ), well, I work in cenral London, finish at 4pm. Dinner was in cenral London at 8pm.

Now my dilemma was: I WON'T BE ABLE TO PRACTICE VIOLIN! NOOOOooooooooooooo (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

My colleagues said to bring the violin to work and practice in my office before dinner. Trouble is my office is right next to a waiting room full of pregnant women waiting to see the midwife (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

So, decided to go ALL THE WAY HOME (one hour in traffic and an hour back to London) so that I could practice one hour violin!

Sorry about this long story, it's just to say that if I had this I could have practiced 2 hours in my office without having to travel the 2 hours to get home!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Let's buy it Aesir, you and me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

ok, just 2 little problems:

- have to check bank account and make sure I don't go in the red if I buy it, might have to wait 2 to 4 weeks (let's hope the price stays the same)

- Nobody tells my teacher I am buying this or he'll have a fit (ok MIFFY?????) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[aesir22]

Lol I am very very tempted! But I have read confusing stuff. Have heard people say that even if I have the headphones on, it will still give out as much noise as my acoustic, but with a mute. Which is what I have at the moment. In which case there is no point as I want it for late practice lol.

[jojo]

Lol I am very very tempted! But I have read confusing stuff. Have heard people say that even if I have the headphones on, it will still give out as much noise as my acoustic, but with a mute. Which is what I have at the moment. In which case there is no point as I want it for late practice lol.

mmmmmmm I see, if that's what you've heard I'll hold my horses then.....

If no-one on this forum knows I can find out for you (whether it is loud or not).
There a shop in central London selling them.
I can go there and try one out during my lunch hour on monday or tuesday
They do sell exactly the same one but not discounted so at the full wack of £169!

ps: I can't see how it can be loud (or as loud as a normal violin with the mute on) as there is no 'box' for the sound to vibrate into (by box I mean the hollow violin body), so to me it would seem that it is virtually almost silent. Anyway, like mentioned, I could go and try it out on Monday.

[aesir22]

Lol it has me confuzzled too. To make matters worse, I was gonna check my account online to check money situation to see if I could get it.....and the stupid site isn't running properly. So I can't! lol

[river]

I have one of these. It's not silent -- you can play it without plugging it in and you'll hear it -- but to me it's a bit quieter than my acoustic fiddle with a mute on. I still don't play it at night in this flat, though. The main advantage is that compared to a fiddle with a practice mute, the sound is much better -- it doesn't have the weak, strangled sound the mute produces.

The Stagg has a built-in preamp that runs on a 9V battery. If you play regularly, you'll probably need to change this one a month or so. Like all low-end electric fiddles, it uses a cheap piezoelectric pickup under the bridge feet, which produces a characteristic nasal sound accompanied by a high-pitched "quack". I use mine with an amplifier (Roland Cube 30X - about £130) that has a built-in equalizer to take the highs off, and add some reverb to give the sound a bit of depth. After that, it sounds fine -- good enough for practice, and I sometimes take it out to jam along with an electric guitar + bass, which it's okay for.

As you'd expect, it's not really comparable to a good electric fiddle, like the Bridge. I had a change to play a Bridge Aquila a few months ago, and that was much nicer. Of course, it also costs £700 ;-)

If you use one to practice with, don't use it exclusively. It's not the same as playing an acoustic fiddle, and in particular there's a tenancy to play too quietly, since you can just turn the volume up.

[jojo]

As you'd expect, it's not really comparable to a good electric fiddle, like the Bridge. I had a change to play a Bridge Aquila a few months ago, and that was much nicer. Of course, it also costs £700 ;-)

or another good electric violin:
HERE

at the mere price of £3000, this is where vengerov bought his electric viola! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[river]

at the mere price of £3000, this is where vengerov bought his electric viola! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

hee :-)

Sometimes I feel like saving up some money for a nice electric fiddle, but even an entry-level one like the Bridge is more than I can justify for something I'd rarely play except at home... I guess it'll have to wait until I form a celtic-rock-fusion band and become an international superstar.

[miffy]

My youngest daughter has a pink one of these and a couple of my pupils have them too.
In my opinion they are great little electrics for the money and better balanced than most electrics that cost hundreds more which means even lower grade violinists can swap to then without problem. Also, a Kun or Wolf rest fits easily to it.
When I was testing electrics for myself years ago I found many were too heavy or balanced wrongly which made them difficult to play.
2downsides to the Stagg -
The bridge is AWFUL, and it's easy to hit 2 strings at once. Very easily sorted for a few pounds by a luthier.
Secondly, it's made of that squished together reconstituted wood (which is why it's so light!) so don't drop it! This happened to one of my pupils, it just fell off a chair and the 's' shape broke. My Luthier stuck it back to gether and used nail varnish to match the colour of the violin!
I've got to say they are the best I've tried in the £500 and lower price though.

Hope that helps.

[aesir22]

Aaaarrggghhh I am so uncertain! To buy or not to buy! Lol

[Violin Hero]

Aaaarrggghhh I am so uncertain! To buy or not to buy! Lol

To buy if you are serious about becoming a decent violinist.

[river]

To buy if you are serious about becoming a decent violinist.

I am pretty sure decent violinists existed before electricity ;-)

[Alan aka sharkstooth]

I upgraded my violin a few months ago and as my older violin is perfectly fine with decent helicore strings it seemed a waste to just leave it be. I bought a pick up which clips inside one of the F holes for about £10, a pre-amp for about £25 and a cheap guitar amp for £25. I now have an electric violin. The pick up does not damage the violin and is easy to put on and take off.

How ever this does not make the violin silent as I guess that is what you really want. There are electric violins out there that state silent electric violin. Get googleing and where ever posible try and get a review of the instrument you are interested in. I was checking out electric violins a while back and some of the problems people have would do your head in.

[aesir22]

A decent violinist....time will tell! Lol. I want to teach violin and piano in the distant distant distant distant future. Probably when the OU music degree is finished in about 4 years (if I am up to teaching standard by then!)

I want to be able to practice for more than an hour after I get in from work. I would ideally like to do three short sessions a day - 20 mins before work, twenty mins right after work, and 20 mins during the night about 10pm after piano practice is finished. I live in a thin walled flat though, so can't practice unsocial hours. So I would use my acoustic just after work and at weekends during the day, and my electric before work and at night....if that makes sense lol

[river]

If it helps at all, here's a recording of what it actually sounds like: stagg.mp3. That's unprocessed, i.e. what you'd hear if you just plugged headphones in.

Please excuse the quality of the playing - in my defence, I can't plug the fiddle and the headphones in at the same time, so I can't actually hear what I'm playing ;-)