Baltimore Recorders.org

About the Electric Violin

Let us begin with a brief overview of the history of electronic musical instruments. It begins in the mid 18th century, during a time of exploration of electricity and the discovery of a way to store electrical charge. As with the early documentation of any new field, details can be scarce. This is the case with what is regarded as the first electric musical instrument, the denis d'or, or golden dionysius, a many stringed keyboard instrument. It was invented and built by Vaclac Prokop Divis (1698-1765). Records indicate that he was doctor of theology, served as a pastor to a parish in Primetice Moravia, and at another time a prior of the Premonstratensian abbey in Louka. Part of his duties in the parish included managing farmland. It was during this time that he became interested in the study of plant growth, and the use of electricity as a therapeutic method. He also became interested in devices that could control the weather. He created a device which he believed could prevent storms on the basis of extracting electricity from the atmosphere. As we know, such a device will not influence the weather, but it is an early example of a lightning rod. His interest in electricity was more than passing, and he applied to to yet another endeavor, the denis d'or. Histories of the denis d'or from the late 19th and early 20th centuries given by Sachs and Mendel state he invented the instrument in the 1730s. However, that date may not be accurate. A first hand account of the instrument was made by Johann Ludwig Fricker in 1756. Fricker commented that it used electricity to enhance the sound quality of its sound. Other accounts indicate electricity was used as a prank to shock the performer. The instrument is reported to have more than 790 strings and was approximately six feet long by three feet wide. Although the instrument may sound sizable, it is relatively small to hold anywhere near that number of strings. Descriptions of the sound indicate that it could imitate the sounds of many different types of instruments, including both wind and string instruments. Thus, it would certainly not be surprising if it had a large number of strings. However, many crucial things about the instrument remain a mystery. We do not know how it excited the strings. Did it use tangents like a clavichord, plectra like a harpsichord, or wheels like a hurdy gurdy? It is also unknown how it employed electricity. It is thought that the denis d'or was purchased by Georg Lambeck, Prelate of Bruck. It has not survived.

There is considerably more information about the second electric musical instrument, the clavicin electrique. It was invented in 1759 by Jean-Baptiste Delaborde of France. It is derivative of an early alarm bell, which used electricity to negatively charge a metal bell, which in turn would attract a clapper. The instrument was essentially a carillon of such devices. There was a keyboard, encompassing the range of the bells, only a few octaves. Depressing a key negatively charged a bell. A clavicin electrique survives in the national library of France. It looks like a large wooden frame, something like a loom, with strings connecting the keys to the electrical mechanism. The keyboard is one end, and the bells are suspended on the far upper end of the structure. Accounts of the instrument indicate that if it is played in the dark, one could see sparks when the clappers came into contact with the bells. Such a display was novel and notable.

As was noted it is not known how the denis d'or employed electricity. Moreover, it was not known how electricity was generated for the instrument. It may have used some form of friction device to generate a charge. The clavicin electrique made use of a Leyden jar, an early form of capacitor, and stored electrical charge. They were invented on October 11 of 1745 by Ewald Georg von Kleist, a German cleric. The invention had previously been credited to Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden. They bear the name of that city, Leyden. They were an important invention, as they were the first device that allowed electric charge to be accumulated and stored in large quantities, and also discharged at will.

Over the course of the next century, advances in electrical musical instruments were slow. Most efforts replaced or augmented mechanical systems with electric ones. An example of this is the electro-pneumatic action on organs that replaced purely pneumatic ones or the mechanical tracker action.

During the late 19th century, the great inventive age of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, the foundational technology that makes modern electronic music possible was being developed. The loudspeaker was invented by Bell in 1876. That same year the carbon microphone was invented by Emile Berliner and Edison, who was later awarded the patent. A year later Ernst Werner von Seimens invented the moving-coil microphone. Other major figures began combining new technology for musical purposes. One such person was Elisha Gray. Although he may not be a household name like Edison, he was an important scientist. He was the co-founder of Western Electric, and was working on inventing the telephone as the same time as Bell. In 1875, Elisha Gray was granted a United States patent on a telegraph to transmit musical tones. It is regarded as the first synthesizer. I mention it here, in this document on the electric violin, as its patent mentions that an acoustic violin can be used to amplify the sound produced by the telegraph. Like many inventions of the time it was very forward thinking. He was more than a century ahead of his time in terms of networked musical performance. It, like many revolutionary devices, also suffered from its radical departure from tradition. It was not a musical instrument in the traditional sense.

The introduction of electric systems into musical instruments continued into the early 20th century. Electric blowers in organs supplanted water powered ones. However, the process of adapting these technologies to music took decades. Electronics were not only used to create sound, they were also applied to play instruments. Around the turn of the 20th century, Henry K. Sandell invented an electric machine to play the violin. In 1906, Mills Novelty Co. filed for a patent on the device on his behalf. Patent US30317206A was granted one year later. Such inventions follow in the footsteps of mechanical devices, such as music boxes and player pianos. Foundational electronic devices were also invented. The vacuum tube was invented by John Ambrose Fleming in 1904. These acted as rectifiers, only allowing electricity to flow in one direction through the device. This made it possible to convert alternating current to direct current. It was also used in extracting modulation from radio signals.

The 1920s and 1930s were very active in the development of electronics in musical instruments. This mirrored advances in the development of microphones, and radio at that time. These advances were not limited to replacing parts of existing acoustic instruments, entirely new electronic instruments were created. A famous example of this is the theremin. It was invented in 1920 by Russian physicist Lev Termen. In the West he was known as Leon Theremin, and the instrument bears that name. It consists of two metal antennae. One is used to control the frequency of the sound, and the other controls the amplitude. The performer's hand acts as the ground plate in a capacitor that is part of a resonant circuit. The closer the performer's hand is to the antenna, the less dielectric (air) there is between the 'plates'. Thus the capacitance is decreased. I have not examined the circuit, but I believe that the capacitor is acting like a low pass filter, such as occurs when you have a resistor and then a capacitor in series, as opposed to it being integral to the circuit and having charge built up on alternating sides of the capacitor. As a performer moves their hand closer to the antenna, the frequency produced increases. Similarly, the volume is increased the farther their hand is from the antenna. With the theremin we see the complete adoption of electronics in an instrument. There are no mechanical parts at all. The electric elements are made to 'sense' the performer, synthesize the signal, and produce the sound. Today when we refer to an electric instrument, we usually mean one that does not have acoustic means of amplifying its sound.

Electric versions of many traditional instruments were also created. By the mid 1930s, electric instruments really began to take off. Hammond had released its famous electric organs, and electric guitars had been in use for several years.

It is abundantly clear that electronics were used in musical instruments, however this fact does not answer the question of why they were used. Some of these reasons are very specific to their application. Organs in the 19th century became larger, containing more and larger pipes. Physically connecting the keyboard to the pipes became more of a challenge. Pneumatic solutions did not work very well. Electric ones allowed the organ console to be located further away from the pipes. There are however more general reasons for creating electric instruments. One reason to use electronic instruments is that they are less expensive than their acoustic counterparts. Another is that they are smaller or lighter / more portable than acoustic ones. Electric organs are both far less expensive and smaller than pipe organs, and accounts for their popularity. Changes to the size of the instrument can make electric instruments much more ergonomic than an acoustic one. Electric instruments can be more durable acoustic ones and be created with no moving parts. Acoustic instruments by their very nature produce sound. In certain circumstances it can be desirable to mute the instruments. Physical mutes have their limitations, and a certain amount of sound is still produced. Electric instruments on the other hand can produce very little or no sound. They can be played through headphones, and can be used for practice without disturbing others. In these post COVID times, with many of us at home, it is useful to be able to play quietly. In addition to competing with a particular acoustic instrument, electric instruments can produce novel sounds. They can also produce a wide variety of sounds which would be difficult for a single acoustic instrument to create. (Organs have been known as the queen of instruments. One reason for this is their ability to create a large variety of sounds. Electronic instruments open this wide range of sounds to other instruments.) All in all electric instruments can have many advantages over their acoustic counterparts.

Let us take a little detour, and consider some aspects of the history of electronics in music in a more general sense. In the early 20th century there was a need for louder instruments. For example, motion pictures became popular and large theaters were created. It was not necessarily economical to have an ensemble perform during a movie. The traditional solution would have been to have a piano, like in a saloon. However, a piano was simply not loud enough. Organs ended up being used in most cases. But as we know, organs take up a lot of room, and are expensive. Indeed, amplification is one of the major reasons that electronics are used in music in a general sense. Such uses do not necessarily involve the integration of electronics in the instrument itself. They can be completely separate, as is the case with an external microphone. The microphones can be integrated into the instrument, and are known as acoustic-electric instruments. Selective electronic amplification makes novel pairings of instruments possible. For example, drums can be quite loud and overpower many instruments. By amplifying a guitar it can produce enough sound to compete with the drums. The problem is how to amplify the guitar without amplifying the drums. One answer is to use a hypercardioid or shotgun microphone. This is not ideal as it could restrict the movement of the guitarist and the sounds from the drums could still be picked up. A second solution is to use a contact microphone. A third is to use an electromagnetic pickup. Another reason that selective amplification or recording is important is when playing in a noisy environment. Many of us are at home during the COVID pandemic. Our houses are not necessarily quiet places. By selectively recording our instruments we eliminate the extraneous sound. Electronic instruments inherently solve the problems associated with selective amplification and recording. We do not need to think about microphone placement, etc.

Now that we have some grounding in the history of electronics in music, let us turn our attention to the history of the electric violin. The idea of amplifying the sound of the violin was in the air during the turn of the 20th century. In 1899, John Matthias Agustus Stroh created a violin that was amplified by a horn, rather than the traditional violin body. Stroh violins, as they are known, look like traditional violins that are missing their body, with the exception of the right side of the upper bought. It remained, like a rib, to serve to orient the player when their hand reached the now absent body of the instrument. The body was replaced with a horn, that looks like it comes from an early record player or a trumpet. The horn is made from metal and its length is roughly half the size of the violin. Stroh violins never achieved much popularity.

The electric violin as we know it would have to wait until the 1930s to be invented. That decade was a golden age for electric instruments. George Beauchamp was involved in creating a variety of electric instruments including the first electric guitar. Beauchamp partnered with Adolph Rickenbacher (of the rickenbacher guitar fame) to form the Electro String Corporation. In 1936 Beauchamp and the company filed a patent for a 'stringed musical instrument'. He was granted US patent 2,130,174 in 1938. The instrument was put into production and called the Electro Violin. It looks something like a field hockey stick, the integrated chinrest forming the head which is used to hit the ball. Like the Stroh violin, it lacks the acoustic part of the violin body, but retains the curved upper bought. Unlike a traditional violin its tuning pegs have been moved down near the chinrest. As is evidenced from the patent, many aspects of the instrument were considered in its design. It specifically mentions its weight, and center of gravity. It has integrated fine tuners on all four strings. Various materials were considered for the body including metal and synthetic ones. The patent mentions the desirable material as being made from the chemical condensation of phenol and formaldehyde. I do not know the material that were actually used to create the violin. I have heard that bakelite was used, and it is a resin that is created from phenol and formaldehyde. The electro violin uses an electromagnetic pickup. The strings are surrounded by two roughly u shaped permanent magnets. These impart a magnetic field in the string. There are metal coils that are placed between the string and the magnet. When the strings vibrate with stationary ferrous metals in the magnetic field, a current is produced in the coils through the process of magnetic induction. One failing of the design is the placement of the pickups in relation to the bridge. The instrument does not have a tailpiece. The sounding portion of the strings run almost the entire length of the instrument. When you first see the instrument, the pickups are placed approximately where you would expect the bridge to be placed. The issue with this is that the pickups can interfere with where you can bow the instrument. There is not a great deal of room to bow between the pickup and the bridge. If you bow behind the pickup you are a fair distance from the bridge. In 1940 Beauchamp filed a patent for an improved electric violin. In 1943 he was granted patent US2,310,199. The new instrument had numerous design changes. The body was now made from aluminum. The bridge was placed near the pickups. The tuning pegs were moved back to their traditional place at the end of the neck.

Electric violins did not have nearly as much success as electric guitars, or organs. In 1958 Fender, of the guitar fame, filed a patent for an electric violin. It was granted in 1961. Surprisingly there is not a large amount of information about the actual production of the instrument. The Fender violin also used a magnetic pickup. However, the pickup did not respond to movement of metal strings and thus iron core strings were not required. The strings rested on a somewhat traditional bridge. Below the bridge there was a metal plate, and it was the vibration of that plate that created the signal. Seemingly very few of the Fender violins were ever produced. There are reports some were made as late as the 1970s. Even with support from major manufacturers such as Fender, the instrument did not make much headway.

It was not until the 1980s that the fortune of the electric violin would begin to change. That decade saw the popularity of synthesized music skyrocket. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface, MIDI, standard was invented. New companies such as ZETA music began making a new breed of electric violin. These instruments had contact microphone pickups, which are also known as piezoelectric pickups. Contact mics respond to the vibration of a solid object to which they are attached. They will pick up very little sound from the ambient air. Many electric violins have a single pickup which is usually placed below the bridge. Others have multiple pickups placed in the bridge. The Starfish pickup is an example of this. The most advanced pickups have multiple pickups on different axes for each string. An example of such a pickup is made by Barbera Transducer Systems.

Here endeth the history lesson. The defining characteristic of electric violins is that they lack the a body that is used to physically amplify the sound of the strings. Instead, a pickup is used to capture the vibrations of the string and transform it into electrical impulses. Although electric violins do not have an acoustic amplification system, the acoustic properties of the body of the instrument influence its sound. The mass, rigidity, and resonance of the body are important in electric violins. Some instruments have hollow areas in the body to enhance their acoustics. Some of you may be thinking that this is rubbish. For example, many scientists do not believe that the acoustic properties of the body of electric guitars effects their sound. However, electric violins physically pick up the sound from the body. This allows its acoustic properties to influence the sound.

One advantage of an electric violin is that it can make use of more strings than its acoustic counterpart. Although acoustic violins can have 5 or more strings, their bodies cannot properly amplify the range of sounds that are produced. Electric violins do not have this problem, and can also withstand the stress of having a large number of strings. Thus it is not uncommon to find electric violins with five, six, and even seven strings.

Most electric violins can use any strings that are used on an acoustic violin. However, some string makers have begun to make strings marketed for electric violins. The D'Addario NS series is an example of this. For instruments with five or more strings, it is important to obtain the appropriate strings for your instrument. The low C string is not normally used on the violin. If you purchase a string intended for a full size viola, it will be too large for the violin. Typically people buy low strings that are designed for 3/4 scale violas, or ones that have a 12-14" body.

Some electric violins have frets. If you want to get an instrument with frets because you do not want to develop the skill needed to place your fingers to play in tune, then I would advise AGAINST getting frets. Violins are small. Even with the frets it is still possible to play out of tune. From my perspective frets have two purposes: 1) to create a purer, more freely ringing tone than if the string is stopped by the finger; and 2) to facilitate playing chords. I view frets are being most useful on instruments with many strings so that chords can more easily be played. Thus, they would make much more sense on a six or seven string electric violin.

Unlike an acoustic instrument, an electric violin cannot produce a musical sound on its own. Its electrical signal needs to be amplified, and eventually sent to its destination, such as a speaker. Traditionally electric violins are plugged into a guitar amp, which is a combination of an amplifier, equalizer, and heavy duty speaker. However, there are a large number of ways that an electric violin can be connected to other devices. The are four main devices that serve as the final destination of signal chain:

Guitar, Keyboard, or Violin Amp
Mixer, Amp, and PA System
Audio Interface
Headphone Amp for Musical Instruments

Before we discuss these in detail, it is important to understand the signal that comes from an electric violin. Although it does not have a lot of amplification, it still can contain a very 'loud' / hot signal. This can potentially damage commercial speakers and electronic equipment. Thus, it is not advisable to connect the violin to the 3.5 mm audio input port on your computer, or stereo amplifier. They are not designed to handle such signals, unlike guitar amps. Similarly it is not advisable to connect a pair of headphones with a 1/4" jack directly to the violin.

The signal from the electric violin is known as an unbalanced signal. One wire carries the A/C signal. A second wire, surrounds the first, and is grounded. The signal also has a high impedance. When such a signal runs through a long distance of cabling, the higher frequencies in the signal are filtered / attenuated and it is prone to pick up electromagnetic interference. (Cables that are close to one another, such as unbalanced cables, act as a capacitor. It is known as parasitic capacitance. The cable that carries the signal is one 'plate' and the ground cable is the other. The dielectric is the insulator between the cables. The longer the cable is run the higher its capacitance. A high impedance signal in combination with the capacitor forms a low pass filter. The higher the capacitance and the higher the impedance the lower the upper bound on the frequencies that pass through it. Regarding the electromagnetic interference, we known from Ohm's law that voltage is equal to the impedance times the current. Thus, when an electromagnetic force acts on a wire, the higher the impedance the higher the voltage that will be induced in the wire.) Some other devices produce what are called balanced signals. These are carried by three wires. The first is the original signal, the second is the ground. The third carries an inversion of the signal, the polarity of the original signal is reversed. When the signal reaches its source the inverted signal can be combined with the original signal. This should result in the signal being canceled out. Any deviation from this can be used to remove the noise from the interference. For cable runs longer than 25 feet, it is highly advisable to convert unbalanced signals to balanced signals. Thus, if you are not near the amplifier, the first device to which the violin is connected is usually a direct inject/input (DI) box. These lower the impedance of the signal and also convert it to a balanced signal. They can also have other functions, such as adding effects to the sound.

The signal can then go to the amp / speaker combo, or other roughly equivalent devices. Guitar amps are plentiful and are available at a range of prices. It is also easy to find used gear. (If you want to purchase a used amp it is imperative to insure that the speaker is not blown.) The downside of guitar amps is that they are not designed to accurately reproduce the frequencies produced by an electric violin. Other speaker systems, such as keyboard / digital piano amps, and PA speakers generally do not have this issue. However, such systems can have their own issues. Keyboard / synth amps tend to be larger in size, and are thus not as portable. One alternative to the amp/speaker combination is a mixer, amp and PA speakers. Some PA speakers are powered, and thus eliminate the need for an amp. In most instances such systems are even more unwieldy than keyboard amps. However, there are exceptions such as the Bose S1 PA system, which is a small all in one unit, which even has battery power. One advantage of PA speakers is that they are generally designed so that they can be mounted on stands. This allows the sound to radiate above peoples' heads. Without such placement the sound tends to get blasted at the front row and be absorbed by them. If you crank up the volume, it will be too loud for the people near by, and even then the sound may not carry.

If the ultimate destination of the signal is a computer, the signal is usually sent to an audio interface, which again usually have preamplifiers. Some audio interfaces are designed to connect to cellphones and other devices. This is sometimes accomplished through bluetooth, as opposed to using a wired connection.

If you want to listen on headphones, most amps, mixers, and audio interfaces have such outputs. However, there are also small amps designed for musical instruments that only connect to headphones. These are different than traditional HI-FI headphone amps. Although a traditional Hi-FI amp could probably handle the signal, your beautiful pair of Magnepan headphones may be ruined by the signal coming from such an amp.

I do not have much experience playing the electric violin through amps, so I will not comment on the musical quality of amplifiers. I will note, when auditioning an amp, you want to be aware of its power. Low wattage amps in the 5 to 10 watt range, are usually used for practicing at home. Amps in the 30 watt range can be used for small performance venues. Larger amps are used for large venues. As a general rule, smaller speakers can more accurately produce higher frequencies than larger speakers. However, smaller speakers are poor at producing lower frequencies or loud sounds. Most guitar amps do not have particularly small speakers, and thus lack a certain amount of fidelity. If the amp has a single speaker, or only several of a single size, you have to determine if its sonic qualities are desirable. 6-8 inch have a certain amount of treble. 12 inch and up tend to lack some of the high frequencies that are typical of the violin. 4 inch and smaller speakers do not have much bass for the lower tones. Few inexpensive guitar amps have a tweeter (a small speaker) in addition to a larger speaker.

I am only aware of a single amplifier that is designed for the electric violin, it is made by Wood and is called the WVA-10D. They have been making electric violins for decades and are very dedicated to the instrument. The WVA-10D has a two band equalizer, delay, and distortion. It is important to know the limits of the device. It has low wattage, having only 10 watts of power. Thus, it is not suitable for performing for large crowds, as it simply does not produce enough sound. If you wanted to use it in such circumstances you could mic the amplifier, as they sometimes do with guitar amps. You could also connect the violin to a larger PA system.

It is common for electronic instruments to use extensive effects and sound processing. Some performers prefer to have this performed by a computer program. Others use dedicated pieces of hardware. Some processors are made to mimic the sound of certain types of instruments. Thus, they take the raw electric violin sound and transform it so that it sounds like a specific violin. Two technologies that are used to create this are convolution and impulse response (IR). The latter has existed for more than 75 years. It was applied to speaker technology in the 1970s. However, it was only more recently applied to sound signal processing and cross synthesis. Impulse response systems use an audio recording of an instrument or room in processing an input signal (IS). Said recording is not of the instrument playing a sustained tone. Rather it is a recording of how the instrument responds acoustically to an impulse, such as when it is exposed to a very brief but loud sine wave. Convolution is used in combining the IR and the IS. This can involve extensive calculation. Even with modern computers, the complete calculation is normally avoided. In practice, a quick and dirty method called fast convolution is usually employed. A fast Fourier transform is used to obtain the spectra of the IR and IS. Then they are multiplied together.

Vsound 2 is a pedal that is made by Signal Wizard Systems. It is designed specifically to process the sound of an electric violin. It has 10 preset IRs, from Stradivarius, Guarneri, Tononi, and Catenari violins. Its results are very impressive. There are also many other pieces of hardware that process sounds with IR. None of the others is specifically for electric violin, and some are more limited that others. Most are intended to reproduce the sound of specific types of electric guitar amplifiers. Other IR processing devices or ones that use convolution include:

Helix by Line 6
Kemper Profiler
Axe-FX III
Quad Cortex by Neural DSP
Aura by Fishman
Tonedexter by Audio Sprokets
EPSi by Lodigy
Radar by Mooer

More modern systems make use of machine learning. An example is the Tone Transfer software by Google. It records your playing, and then transforms the sound to that of a different instrument. It differs from the above mentioned devices in that it does not translate the sound in real time.

Up to this point we have discussed 'traditional' electric violins. Their defining characteristic is that they lack the a body that is used to physically amplify the sound of the strings. Instead, a pickup is used to capture the vibrations of the string and transform it into electrical impulses. There is also a hybrid instrument, the acoustic-electric violins. They consist of a traditional acoustic violin that has a microphone pickup incorporated into the body. Its placement varies. It is sometimes placed on the bridge, although underneath the fingerboard, or on the inside of the top plate are also common locations. Acoustic-electric violins are not widely adopted in classical circles. The latter tend to use microphones that are not attached to the instrument, or ones that can be removed, such as ones that clip on the side of the instrument. They are more commonly used in bluegrass or country music where they want an acoustic sound, but also something amplified and new.

I have spoken a great deal about electric violins but have not said a word about modern and relatively modern models. The following is a list of makers of electric violins.

3DVarius
Aurora
Brewer
Bridge
Cantini
Elvari
Fender
Fidelius
Fourness
GEWA
Guscott
Jordan
MSI
Neolin
NS Designs
Vector Instruments
Violectra
Wood
Yamaha
ZETA

I will very briefly discuss each of them in no particular order.

Wood is one of the major manufacturers of electric violins. The company was founded by Mark Wood, one of the instrument's notable virtuosi. He has a true passion for the instrument. As a child he was not only a talented string player, but also a wood worker. He made his first electric violin before he was 13. He went on to attend Julliard, and is a founding member of the Transsiberian Orchestra. In 2025 the reigns of Wood Violins were transferred to Kent Dockus. Wood makes three main models of violins:

The Stingray, an entry level instrument
The Saber, with its references to the guitars
The Viper, their top of the line model which was inspired by the flying V guitar

They previously made The Concert Standard, their acoustic electric model

The Viper is notable for many reasons. Foremost among these is its patented shoulder strap. It is designed so that its 'wings' rest on your chest, and the body is supported by a strap. The chin is not used at all to support the instrument, and allows a great deal of freedom while playing.

6 String Fretted Viper Electric Violin by Wood Violins in custom hardshell BAM Case

ZETA is another of the more established makers of electric violins. Their history goes back to the 1970s when the company was founded by Keith McMillen and Richard McClish. Their instruments have been played by notable violinists, such as Jean Luc Ponty. The company was acquired by notable luthier Steve Carlson around 2012. Its current offerings include the Strados, and Jazz Fusion. They are also making electric mandolins.

Malony Stringed Instruments make the MSI electric violin. Their instruments are hand crafted by Dan Malony. He began making instruments in 1979 and was the head luthier at ZETA for 16 years. He is now based in El Sobrante California. The MSI electric violin is made of solid tone wood. It has an arched top, like an acoustic instrument. The back of the violin is cut out to reduce its weight.

Chris Fourness is a luthier and industrial designer who has been making instruments for more than 20 years. He used to work at as the lead luthier at ZETA Music Systems. He now has created his own company, Fourness Musical Instruments, and makes the Fuse violin. The instruments typically feature beautiful flamed or quilted maple. Some instruments have midi out ports. They are very highly regarded.

John Jordan opened his first shop in 1981. At the time he was mostly creating guitars. Over the years he has made all sorts of instruments including viola da gambas and harps. In 1987 he began making electric violins. His instruments have been featured on the TV show GLEE. The Jordan Electric Violin features finely geared machine tuners, eliminating the need for traditional tuning pegs.

3DVarius is a company based in France that specializes in producing electric violins. They currently offer four models:

Line
Prism
Equinox
3dVarius

The 3DVarius is their flagship model. It was conceived in 2012 by Laurent Bernadac who is a violinist and engineer. He had a prototype made of translucent polycarbonate in 2013. This instrument was too heavy. He then began to explore 3D printing. His second prototype was printed in 2015. He then created a kickstarter in 2016 which led to the first production models. The family of violins then grew with the introduction of the Line and Equinox models which were made of wood.

NS Designs was founded by Ned Steinberger in 1990. They produce a wide range of electric stringed instruments. They have 3 different electric violin models.

WAV, their entry level model
NXTa
CR

These instruments feature a unique tuning mechanism, which is placed near the chin of the instrument. They are somewhat a kin to fine tuners. The instruments also have a custom designed shoulder rest that can be molded to the body and is highly adjustable.

Bridge instruments was founded by Paul Bridgewater and Ceris Jones in the mid 1990s. They are graduates from the Newark violin making school. Their current offerings include the Aquila four string violin, and the Lyra five string model. Some aspects of these instruments are very traditional, they have traditional tail pieces, chinrests, maple necks, and ebony tuning pegs. They also have some hybrid elements such as a hollow body. They make use of new materials such as a polycarbonate/kevlar body. In all they are a blend of new of traditional elements.

Aurora was founded by Mauricio Brazolin and his brother Gilberto of Brazil. Maruicio began work on his instruments in 1997. He began to produce the instruments professionally in 2009. Aurora produces three types of electric violins:

Classic
Silhouette
Wood

They are known for incorporating LEDs in the violins.

Carolo Cantini began work on electric violins in 1997. Over the years he produced several models including the X-Series MIDI violin, and the Sonplus model. Multi-instrumentalist and engineer Stefano Dall'ora has been designing instruments for many years. They currently produce the Cantini Earphonic Electric Violin.

Elvari violins are the result of a partnership of two lutheirs: Jens Elfving and Sten Styrelius. Styrelius, of Stolkholm Sweeden, created his first electric violin in 1997, in a collaboration with a jazz musician. Elfving began work on an electric violin while studying at the Royal Dutch Academy of Music in 2012. In 2013 Styrelius and and Elfving began collaborating on a new electric violin design. The result is the Elvari violin. It looks rather traditional, and has a spruce tone plate. It picks up the signal from a plate on the sound plate, as opposed to from the bridge. It is a fairly light instrument, weighing only 500 grams.

Guscott X10 is one of the more unique electric violins. It has two necks and two bodies. Rather than have the necks side by side, as on typical double necked guitars, the necks and bodies are placed back to back. Thus, switching from one to the other involves flipping the instrument over. As with double necked guitars, the sounds produced on the necks are very different. On the X10, one instrument sounds like a violin, while the other is tuned an octave and a fifth lower, and sounds like a cello. It is the creation of luthier David Guscott of Australia.

GEWA is an old German company that was founded by in the 1920s. They make a wide variety of student acoustic string instruments. The headquarters of their United States division is nearby us, in Gaithersburg Maryland. Their sole electronic violin is the Novita 3.0. It is an entry level model.

The Violectra is made by luthier David Bruce Johnson, in Birmingham England. He has been making instruments for more than 27 years. It uses machine heads rather than traditional pegs, and these are placed near the players chin rather than at the traditional end of the instrument. Its body has a skeletal shape and is made from wood.

The Neolin is made by luthier Bodo Vosshenrich of Toulouse France. It is an acoustic electric instrument. Each instrument is hand made and he offer many options including frets, a guitar head stock, machine heads, and urushi lacquer. The instrument has an interesting asymmetrical shape in which one side of the instrument is shifted lower than the other. He also makes the ZEF which is a carbon fiber acoustic electric violin.

Ted Brewer of Linconshire England makes the VIVO2, or VIVO squared. He has been making instruments since 1993. The VIVO2 is made from acrylic and has LEDs that illuminate it during a performance. It features custom electronics, TBV audio, which amplifies the pickup. The volume and tone can be adjusted by buttons on the side of the instrument.

Nicholas M. Tipney of Vector Instruments has been making instruments since 1983. His early efforts included citterns. He then moved on to produce bowed string instruments. From his shop in Nova Scotia, he produces a full range of electric stringed instruments including two violins:

Omega
Prodigy

They are made of select hard woods, such as maple. The Omega uses a bridge pickup from Barbara Transducer Systems. He provides options for an integrated EMG preamp. The Omega 3 model has 'winged' upper bouts, whereas the original Omega model does not have any bouts.

The Prodigy is more minimalistic that the Omega. It lacks a body. Its absence contributes to its low weight of only 14 oz, just under 400 grams. It uses a Schatten Transducer Bridge. He offers a Prodigy pro model with an option for a Barbara Transducer Systems bridge.

Yamaha has been making electric violins for several decades now. They currently make two types of models: YEV and YSV. The silent violin models are designed solely for practicing. The YEV 104 is their current entry level instrument. It has a truly beautiful design. The body of the instrument is formed from a strip of wood and twists, reminding me of a Mobius strip.

Fidelius is made by Ulrich Schwabe of Germany. It is a hand crafted instrument. The body of the instrument is stick-like. Attached to the stick is a haloesque outer rim that takes the traditional figure eight shape. Unfortunately, his website seems to be down at the moment.

In the early 2000s, Fender began to produce electric violins again. Two models were made, the FV-1 and FV-3. They were nearly identical except for their finish. The FV-3 has a tobacco sunburst finish, bindings. They feature a semi-hollow body and use a contact pickup, unlike the Fender EV from the 60s. They were both entry level instruments. The FV-3 retailed for less than $700. Neither model is currently in production.

NS Designs five stringed WAV electric violin