Ok, the aim of this is just to be as silent as possible, I don't want to disturb the neighbours, and even using the metal mute is not enough. I am quite disappointed by an electric violin, it was very silent but so heavy compared to an acoustic, it was breaking my neck. I know the Yamaha sv150 weighs like an acoustic but it's too expensive. I am not interested in the quality of sound so I was thinking of buying one of those cheap ebay acoustic violin and, instead of filling it with expanding foam, I am thinking of removing almost all the wood, front and back, to leave a strong central strip to take the bridge. Leaving the linings and blocks intact would ensure adequate strength to take the string tension. Has anyone tried this yet? and what's the best tool to cut through the wood? Is anyone selling silent acoustic violins just for practice?

If you remove wood as you suggest you will fundamentally undermine the arching and greatly reduce the strength and rigidity of the instrument with all kinds of unwelcome consequences. The fact that the blocks and linings will remain is of no help here. You wouldn't expect to be able to randomly remove parts of a road bridge and still expect it to carry the same loads just because you hadn't removed the foundations, would you?
Why not buy a cheap solid body electric instead and hack lumps off that until it's light enough for you?

Why don't you get a cheap Chinese electric (like an Aileen 501) if the sound doesn't matter? They are lighter than normal violins, but very quiet unamplified, so almost work like a silent violin. Something like this:

http://www.a-violin.com/product/109-electr...in-ve501--3a5e/

I got one and modified it a bit myself, because the sound quality isn't great off the shelf. I had to change the bridge a bit since it didn't have full contact with the pick-up strip, and it desperately needed decent strings, because the ones it comes with are appalling. If you ever want to use it with an amp, you'll also have to get a decent lead, because it comes with a TV lead (!), and I don't need to mention how that sounds
After a bit of work, it doesn't sound too bad though, not much worse than the rather nice looking but rather heavy Bridge E-Violin I bought second hand - and it sounds better for Folk since it still has a wooden body, unlike the Bridge, which is great for Pop and Rock. For everything classical, I still use my good acoustic one, nothing beats that one anyway.

If you only want it to practise and look for a lightweight option, it is not too bad considering it won't break the bank.

Hello

I was at Sidmouth Folk Week back in the summer and saw a violin where most of the front and back had been cut away so it was VERY quiet. I have a, rather poor, picture of it on my home PC and will post it here later tonight.



An odd looking instrument that caught my eye.