Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on January 15, 2014 at 8:12pm

None that I can see.

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on January 15, 2014 at 8:15pm

Heck, some of these look like the bastage offspring of a uke and a violin:

http://www.springersmusic.co.uk/library/Violin%20collection.htm

Permalink Reply by Bear Peterson on January 16, 2014 at 1:37am

That's cool, a couple of those from the 1860s look like that uke's ancestor had an affair with that head design I came up with too, the horns are shorter, but there :)

Permalink Reply by Tim LaFave on January 16, 2014 at 4:14am

No reason. There is even a machine head tuning system designed for the traditional curved pegbox of a violin, but they are costly, and most traditional players would not like what they take away from the visual beautly of the headstock. One could easliy create a guitar-like headstock with tuners for a violin neck it they wanted to. You would have to take into consideration that there would be more weight out there on the end of the neck for your arm to hold up!

Permalink Reply by QGolden on January 16, 2014 at 5:19am

Sur' it would work.  Anything that will anchor the strings and let you tighten them.  Even zither pins would do the job.

Permalink Reply by William H Bonney on January 16, 2014 at 10:11am

Hmmmmmmmmm! give it a shot! Have fun!

Permalink Reply by Bear Peterson on January 16, 2014 at 12:09pm

Looking at those mute (practice) violins in the link John posted above and those piezo rod pickups that go under the bridge that C.B. Gitty carries, and the few examples of electric violins I've ever seen, I'm wondering if I even need a resonator of any kind if it is going to be played through an amp. the acoustic sound right in the ear of the player might even be a problem as it would sound different from the amp output if any effects are used.

Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on January 30, 2014 at 11:20pm

No, if you are playing through an amp all the time, no need for a sound box of any kind. I've seen "practice instruments" that are basically elongated head/neck assemblies with just a piezo pickup and jack... no sound box and they work pretty well. I also have a solid body electric uke which I bought for practicing w/o disturbing others (just use headphones with its built-in pre-amp), and most of the time, it makes enough noise where I fore-go the headphones and pre-amp. I've seen a body-less violin like shown in those pictures at a local music store, so they can be made, but they tie you to an amp.