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If you are thinking about purchasing an electric violin for your string student, there are certainly plenty of options. With Mark Wood's Electrify Your Strings program, students are interested in electric violins more than any time since they've been invented. And they are certainly an exciting new way to explore the bow on a string. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
If your child is in an orchestra program, we highly recommend being sure they have an excellent acoustic instrument before investing in an electric violin. There is no substitute for a nice violin when you are learning the fundamentals of the instrument, and the acoustic violin, viola and cello are uniquely and beautifully built for the sound they create.
An electric violin is well worth considering, however. A well designed electric will benefit the student who is eager to plug in and explore sounds they hear in music they are listening to. Electrics typically inspire more practice time in students, and you will certainly hear Bach and their school literature being played. And you may have a student wired for a different style of music that only an electric can bring out. The main thing is for the electric violin, viola or cello not to hinder their overall musicianship.
String playing technique requires fine motor skills that take many years to master. Electric violins that do not mimic the playing experience of a student's regular instrument can be detrimental to their overall mastery of skills.
This is why we strongly encourage the purchase of well designed electric violins. This will boil down to 3 main areas: weight, design and pickup quality. Some inexpensive electrics do fine in 1 or 2 of these areas, but we have never found one that excels in all three.
Almost all electrics under $400 are heavy. For example, one well known brand name electric violin requires a built in shoulder rest that is uncomfortable to use, and the whole instrument creates fatigue very quickly because of its weight. While this instrument has a adequate pickup, the instrument itself is uncomfortable to play. And it retails for the price of around $600-$700. It is literally almost 1/3 more overall weight than the Stingray violin. With violins, this is substantial.
Most inexpensive electric violins have poor quality electronic pickups. This is the single most important part of an electric violin's sound since it is the connection between the strings that are vibrating and the amplifier that is converting the electrical signal back into a sound wave. Poor quality in this area means the instrument will produce an ugly sound and require the student to overplay in order to get enough sound from the instrument. For example, another well known brand from a violin retailer is very light, but has mediocre electronics that are tinny, thin and ugly to hear.
The great thing about designing an electric violin or cello is that you are not bound by the physics required for an acoustic instrument body, which is why you'll see wild, fun shapes of all types in solid body electric violins. But the one place that the design MUST follow those of the acoustic violin is in the other details like fingerboard length, correct planing of the fingerboard, nut position, string length, neck angle and shape, and other things like those that are critical to matching the playing experience of the acoustic, promoting "in-tune" playing and training the fingers and muscles to do the right thing and get the right result. Departing from these standards for professional setup is like trying to do ballet in a room with an un-level floor. This is the most common problem in all economy violin family instruments, whether acoustic or electric.
These 3 issues are "technique busters". We do not recommend giving a student an instrument that will affect their learning in a negative way. If $500 is more than you have to spend on an electric violin, the money would be better spent in trading in or upgrading the main instrument or bow the student learns on.
If the parent can spend $500 or more for the electric violin, we are pleased to suggest Wood Violins' SV-4 Stingray or SV-5 Stingray as they are light, easy to play and have all the things the lower priced ones don't: great electronics that produce a strong, good quality sound, lightweight design and correct setup for ease of play, and some great package prices for exploring amplified strings. The quality of the SV-4 Stingray Violin and the SV-5 Stingray Violin is why many budget conscious professional players choose to play them.
Feel free to call for more information - or for faster service, e-mail us through our Contact Us page.
