fiddle amplification
Ben Kenward
I play folk fiddle, but I've recently starting trying to jam with some
friends of mine who like to play psychadelic stuff on their electic guitars.
Now I reckon the fiddle sounds great for this but unsurprisingly enough,
it's far too quiet, and it needs some amplification. Now I understand that
for what I want an electric fiddle is best but I just can't afford one. I
think what I need is some kind of pickup with a pre-amp so I can use a
guitar amp. I see on the net that there is quite a bewildering array of
different kinds available, so I was hoping someone could recommend
something. The key factors for me are cost, and I think perhaps feedback
resistance (I want to play _loud_). Stunning sound quality is not essential.
In fact I want to distort and generally mess about with the sound with
pedals anyway.
Thanks folks,
Ben
Chris Morriss
<benke...@lycosmail.com> writes
just too much pickup in the soundbox. I've wound a four-magnet electric
pickup once for an old friend, but it was never possible to get a
balanced sound from it without an equaliser. What does the affordable
Yamaha electric violin use?
Also, does anyone know if Yamaha do a left-handed version? Looking at
the web site it seems not. We left-handers suffer so much :-(
Chris Morriss
Also at cmor...@lakecomms.com
Cleoma
Not sure when, maybe in the fall.
Suzy Thompson
To reply to this posting, remove "nojunk" from my email address.
Tunzter
> Now I understand that
>for what I want an electric fiddle is best but I just can't afford one.
.....try an inexpensive contact pickup ($50-$100) and place it near the bridge
of the instrument,
.....not as much resonance there....you may be surprised at the
results....you'll find more clarity and be able to crank it up much more than
if placed by the F holes.
2nz
Helen P.
Seriously, I think the preference of folk pros around here is a small mic
that clamps directly onto the bridge of an accoustical fiddle.
-- Helen
Ben Kenward wrote in message <9icr1n$reb$1...@news.ox.ac.uk>...
Angelstorm
A transducer will be far far far less likely to feedback.
Angelstorm
"Ben Kenward" <benke...@lycosmail.com> wrote in message
news:9icr1n$reb$1...@news.ox.ac.uk...
ban...@cix.compulink.co.uk
h...@notonyerlife.com (Angelstorm) wrote:
> Try a transducer on the bridge rather than a bug mic.
>
> A transducer will be far far far less likely to feedback.
>
But I'd guess its more likely to need an EQ box of some sort
to stop it sounding like a bee in a jam-jar.
David Kilpatrick
Not if the finish on the fiddle is fragile or valuable, though, since it
is adhesive. It looks like a bit of silver cellulose tape with a wire at
one end.
David
Graham Dixon
amplifies his fiddle very cheaply but effectively.
He uses one of the old crystal earpieces (you must remember having one with
your portable 'tranny' during the 60s/70s - they resemble National Health
Deaf Aids) bought from Maplins or CPC for under a quid.
He carefully breaks the plastic casing (trying not to damage where the wire
is connected to the crystal) and araldite the crystal to a Violin bridge
(tailpiece side - quarter inch up - three quarters of the wa across [nearest
to the Bass string]) and connects the other end of the wire to a jack socket
which is connected to his chin rest.
I've done the sound for him & his band several time and it's fine - but put
it through a guitar graphic equaliser pedal (which also acts as a pre amp -
[about 20 quid from CPC]) and it sounds really well.
It is inportant to use Araldite or some other sort of hard setting 2 pack
epoxy adhesive - contact adhesive such as bostic really deadens the sound.
--
Regards
Graham Dixon
Too old to Rock & Roll
Too young to die
http://www.btinternet.com/~troubleatmill
Chris Morriss <cr...@oroboros.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:c+QZMGAa...@oroboros.demon.co.uk...
Graham Dixon
amplifies his fiddle very cheaply but effectively.
He uses one of the old crystal earpieces (you must remember having one with
your portable 'tranny' during the 60s/70s - they resemble National Health
Deaf Aids) bought from Maplins or CPC for under a quid.
He carefully breaks the plastic casing (trying not to damage where the wire
is connected to the crystal) and araldite the crystal to a Violin bridge
(tailpiece side - quarter inch up - three quarters of the wa across [nearest
to the Bass string]) and connects the other end of the wire to a jack socket
which is connected to his chin rest.
I've done the sound for him & his band several time and it's fine - but put
it through a guitar graphic equaliser pedal (which also acts as a pre amp -
[about 20 quid from CPC]) and it sounds really well.
It is inportant to use Araldite or some other sort of hard setting 2 pack
epoxy adhesive - contact adhesive such as bostic really deadens the sound.
--
Regards
Graham Dixon
Too old to Rock & Roll
Too young to die
http://www.btinternet.com/~troubleatmill
Chris Morriss <cr...@oroboros.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:c+QZMGAa...@oroboros.demon.co.uk...
Chris Hawes
"Helen P." <le...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Your best bet is a pair of (well insulated!) wire cutters... ;-)
>
> Seriously, I think the preference of folk pros around here is a small mic
> that clamps directly onto the bridge of an accoustical fiddle.
You won't go far wrong with the Microvox . . excellent value . .
And sufficiently directional to maximise resistance to feedback.
G.
wigg__...@lineone.net
I use a guitar pickup fastened with blue tack to the bridge. Easily
removed and leaves no marks. Depends on your amp what it sounds like,
but with my Peavey mixer, it's fine, clear sound with plenty of
volume. I have had less good results with other equipment however.
Using same pickup on the upper surface works too but tends to remove
varnish! Sometimes the sound when played 'au naturel' but with pickup
in place is dull and wooden. I can't seem to find any logic behind it.
David Wigg
soun...@soundout.clara.net
I'm with Carol on this one - for your particular circumstances, you
really need an all-electric fiddle.
But the ones which sound the most natural are the ones with hollow
bodies, eg Oakwood, Bridge, and they are therefore more
feedback-susceptible than solid bodies or skeletal bodies.
There's a cheap(ish) skeletal fiddle called the Straus, made in China,
good build quality but only average sound quality - but you can turn
it up loud, and for your needs it may be just right. They're available
from the Music Room at
www.the-music-room.com
If you want to do this really on the cheap, buy a Chinese acoustic
violin for 60 quid, fill it full of foam to reduce resonance, and put
on an Ashworth Budget Bug for about 25 quid. They sound OK even
without a pre-amp.
All the other more expensive acoustic fiddle pickups will give you
much better sound, but feedback problems - and they need pre-amping.
Best sound of all is a mini-mic system, eg Microvox, but that too will
give even more feedback problems.
Cheers
Alistair Russell
Chris Morriss
soun...@soundout.clara.net writes
>Hello Ben
>I'm with Carol on this one - for your particular circumstances, you
>really need an all-electric fiddle.
>But the ones which sound the most natural are the ones with hollow
>bodies, eg Oakwood, Bridge, and they are therefore more
>feedback-susceptible than solid bodies or skeletal bodies.
>There's a cheap(ish) skeletal fiddle called the Straus, made in China,
>good build quality but only average sound quality - but you can turn
>it up loud, and for your needs it may be just right. They're available
>from the Music Room at
>www.the-music-room.com
>If you want to do this really on the cheap, buy a Chinese acoustic
>violin for 60 quid, fill it full of foam to reduce resonance, and put
>on an Ashworth Budget Bug for about 25 quid. They sound OK even
>without a pre-amp.
>All the other more expensive acoustic fiddle pickups will give you
>much better sound, but feedback problems - and they need pre-amping.
>Best sound of all is a mini-mic system, eg Microvox, but that too will
>give even more feedback problems.
>Cheers
>Alistair Russell
>On Mon, 9 Jul 2001 18:55:19 +0100, "Ben Kenward"
><benke...@lycosmail.com> wrote:
>
I tried the trick of filling the body with that two-pack expanding
polyurethane foam and using a ceramic piezo pick-up, but I never could
get a good sound, and it STILL suffered from feedback at stage levels.
Thanks for the info on the Chinese skeleton fiddle. Do you think it
would take steel strings and an electric (magnetic) pick-up?
I found out that the Yamaha isn't made in a left-handed version.
Ben Kenward
second-hand) an unneeded pickup from a friend. He didn't know what kind it
was but looking at pictures on the web I have tentatively identified it as a
Barcus-Berry clamp-on. I have tested it with a practice amp and it sounds
loads better than I expected, even without a pre-amp. It seems to have quite
good feedback resistance. It sounded good with the amp's built in reverb,
not so good with the distortion but I haven't tried it with a proper
distortion pedal.
I'm going to stick with this for a bit. Sure, I haven't tested it at stage
level's yet, but I can't afford an electric violin anyway. It might have
been fun to build one cheaply but it looks like I won't need to now. Maybe I
can build myself a pre-amp instead. :)
Actually, on that topic, I have just one more question:
Graham Dixon wrote:
>I've done the sound for him & his band several time and it's fine - but put
>it through a guitar graphic equaliser pedal (which also acts as a pre amp -
>[about 20 quid from CPC]) and it sounds really well.
Who is this CPC and do they really sell an equaliser pedal for 20 quid? They
don't have a web presence that I can find...
Cheers all,
Ben
Ben Kenward
> Who is this CPC and do they really sell an equaliser pedal for 20 quid?
They
> don't have a web presence that I can find...
Doh, forget that, I just found them.
David Harris
I have 2 or 3 semi pro friend fiddlers who all swear by this strange item.....
will tell you all about it.
(I have no affiliation.......)
Regards
David
(Bodhran Player)
soun...@soundout.clara.net
<cr...@oroboros.demon.co.uk> wrote:
(big snip)
>>
>
>I tried the trick of filling the body with that two-pack expanding
>polyurethane foam and using a ceramic piezo pick-up, but I never could
>get a good sound, and it STILL suffered from feedback at stage levels.
>
>Thanks for the info on the Chinese skeleton fiddle. Do you think it
>would take steel strings and an electric (magnetic) pick-up?
>
>I found out that the Yamaha isn't made in a left-handed version.
>Chris Morriss
>
>Also at cmor...@lakecomms.com
Hello again Chris and co,
It seems that for really loud applications, a magnetic pickup would be
the only way to go - what kind of strings would you use exactly?
Depending on your string tension, I think the Straus would probably be
OK - it's quite a chunky build. But I've never studied a fiddle with
steel strings and magnetic pickup, so maybe someone else has
experience of such a setup?
Cheers
Alistair
madfiddler
>I'm with Carol on this one - for your particular circumstances, you
>really need an all-electric fiddle.
>But the ones which sound the most natural are the ones with hollow
>bodies, eg Oakwood, Bridge, and they are therefore more
>feedback-susceptible than solid bodies or skeletal bodies.
Totally agreed. Using a fiddle, even one filled with expanding foam,
with a pickup, and effects is a no-no for feedback.
I use a Bridge with heavy distortions etc. and it has NEVER fed back,
not even with a 20k rig.
As for amps, i recommend the SWR California Blonde.... until Bridge
start selling their new range of amps, to go with their violins.
Cheers,
Mark.
mark knight
audio dev / bullfrog / electronic arts
electric violin / k-passa
demonstrator / bridge electric
madfi...@bigfoot.com
http://www.madfiddler.co.uk
icq# 13100677
David Batty
Take a look at http://www.microvox.demon.co.uk who seem to provide
pickups for anything. I use one of their microphones for my accordion
and the sound quality is brilliant with no feedback problems.
David Batty
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Visit Leyland Accordion Club Website at
http://www.accordionclub.co.uk
email da...@accordionclub.co.uk
Our ICQ Number 106787612
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