Baritone Violins

Electric Violin (Series 2) Conceptual Design by Don Rickert

This electric violin design experiment has a chambered (mostly hollowed out) body with a carved

spruce top without soundholes. The design of the Les Paul guitar had more than a small inspirational influence on the body design. It uses a Shadow Twin stereo pickup system. It has on-board active electronics (Fishman mini guitar internal preamp) and two output jacks, one a 1/4" jack and a small one for headphones, intended primarily for on-stage monitoring purposes rather than silent practice. The back is simply screwed onto the instrument for easy removal and access to the electronics and damper mechanism, desribed below.

A unique feature of the this design is that it has an internal damper for the top, which can be adjusted from zero damping to a lot of damping. This allows the player to have a top with lots of acoustic resonance or an acoustically "dead" top like a solid body electric (an asset for electric violins in some playing situations). Adjusting the damper with the small knob, which can be seen in a few of the photos, makes a dramatic difference in the sound, as well as propensity for feedback in high-volume amplified situations.

We have two YouTube videos (see next posting), one video with no damping and no after effects and one that is completely damped and using an external "exciter" effects box...note that this instrument is set up as a baritone, tuned an octave lower than a regular violin.

Click on any of the thumbnails below for a larger view.

 

The first video of this Don Rickert experimental baritone (octave) violin has the damper off (i.e. live top) and an "exciter" effects box is being used. The player is Darci Jones. We will post the second video as soon as it is found and uploaded to YouTube.

Electric Violin (Series 1) Conceptual Design by Don Rickert

The instrument pictured below was design experiment for a minimalist electric violin with a formed spruce top and on-board active pre-amp. It used a David Gage Realist(tm) under-the-bridge pickup. The top was made into a rounded using an old technique used by guitar makers to put a little bit of arching in a flat-top guitar top. It involves wetting ONE SIDE of the finished top and going at it with a heat gun. This shrinks the wet side, causing the top to arch slightly. That worked pretty well; however, the top was simply too "live" for the type of pickup we were using and the instrument was a feedback nightmare when amplified. This project was set aside for further development at a future time. The future time may have arrived, as this design is being considered as the basis for the new Violin Synthesizer / MIDI Control Surface on which Dr. Don Rickert of Don Rickert Research & Design is now working.

Click on any of the thumbnail images below for a full-size view.