Yamaha Electric Violin

This article is about the Yamaha, electric violin.  An electric violin can be any violin engineered with an electronic mechanism for sound.  According to this definition the traditional violin can be equipped with an electronic pickup of some sort to amplify its sound.

Since the 1920s electric violins have steadily been used by various artists.  Stuff Smith was amongst the first jazz and blues artists to use an electric violin.  Several instrument companies got into the business of selling electric violins, starting in the 1930s and 1940s.  Very few electric violins were actually sold during the subsequent decades.  In the early 1980s the first solid body violins were made by Wood Violins Company.  The success of solid body violins lead to large scale production.

Because of their weight, Solid-body Electric violins usually have a non-traditional design.  The electric violin will also usually have a sharper or more of a raw sound than its traditional counterpart.  This sound is often preferred in specific genres such as pop and rock.  Recently such materials as carbon fiber, glass, and Kevlar have been used in the building process.

To achieve a desired sound, electric violin signals pass through Electric signal processing similar to standard electric guitars.  The sounds include distortion, chorus, delay, reverb, or various other effects.

The Yamaha Electric violin is a frontrunner in electric violin circles.  Engineers and designers from Yamaha work together with leading musicians.  Their goal was to create a style of electric violins that inspire great performances.  Yamaha believes it has been very successful in meeting that goal. 

Yamaha conceptualized the silent violin.  When playing the violin in silent mode, normal conversation can be carried on in the same room.  This allows a great deal of freedom and flexibility in practicing.  Imagine being able to practice whenever and wherever you want without disrupting or interrupting those around you.  The silent violin delivers phenomenal sound and features through headphones.  When using this feature the violinist is the only one participating in the full range of the instrument’s capabilities.

A single piece of solid maple is used to craft the Yamaha Electric violins body.  The powerful sound of the violin comes from its resonant yet extremely stable body.  This is the same concept used in high quality electric guitars.  The soundboard extends from the neck to the chin rest and is made of a single piece of maple.  Simulating the top of an acoustic violin, the bridge sits on the soundboard.  This adds by causing the body and the soundboard to resonate.

The bridge of the Yamaha Electric violin is specially designed with individual sensors for each string.  A pendulum encompasses each sensor and this system generates a huge signal.  No pre-amp is needed to boost the output.  You simply plug directly into a guitar amp and immediately get a powerful electric tone.

The Yamaha Electric violin is an incredible standalone instrument that can be used in an extremely wide array of settings.  From its silent violin features to its concert hall filling sounds the Yamaha Electric violin is a great choice especially if you want to learn how to play an out of the ordinary violin.