| For almost a year I had been simply playing into a | | | | fiddle at her practice, her volume was immediately on |
| microphone to amplify my violin. Before that, I used a | | | | even standing with all the other musicians. That |
| Yamaha Electric Violin and amplifier, or a clip on | | | | included clarinet, saxophone, electric guitar and a |
| microphone positioned over the f-holes. | | | | drum set. |
| The electric violin had an acceptable sound, but it | | | | The next day I had an opportunity to use the |
| was harder to play in tune than an acoustic violin. It | | | | Bradivarius at two concerts. The first was outdoors |
| lacks the helping factor of the resonant body of a | | | | at the St. Petersburg Folk Festival. The other players |
| violin. | | | | were two plugged in guitars and a harmonica going |
| The clip on mike had a very narrow sweet spot on | | | | straight into a microphone. In spite of sound problems |
| the pre amp. On one side was insufficient volume. On | | | | that were beyond our control, the violin could easily |
| the other was a killer feedback squeal. | | | | be heard on stage as well as out in the audience. |
| To eliminate these two problems I had accepted the | | | | Later that day I played indoors with The Crystal |
| problem of not having a strong presence on stage | | | | Beach String Band. There was no difficulty getting a |
| when the other instruments were plugged in direct to | | | | balanced sound with the other plugged in string |
| the sound board. Even using maximum bow pressure | | | | instruments, including guitar, autoharp, mandolin, banjo |
| and getting on top of the mike was not enough | | | | and bass. |
| unless the other musicians backed off, and I | | | | Here is what a colleague, Ken Brooks of wrote in an |
| couldn’t count on that. | | | | e-mail: |
| I got the Bradivarius while looking for a sound | | | | Hey Elan, |
| reinforcement solution for one of my students who | | | | I really enjoyed your playing. I think I learnt new |
| plays with other retirees in a pop/dance type band. | | | | things just watching you. That pick up sounded good. |
| Seeing that the pickup needed to be fitted to a violin | | | | Great job! Ken |
| individually by a luthier, I put it on my violin to test it. | | | | To sum up my experience with the Bradivarius violin |
| I was hoping to solve my problem, too. | | | | pick up, I wholeheartedly recommend it as a simple |
| Initially I tried my new set up at home, plugging in to | | | | and elegant solution to violin sound reinforcement |
| the Yamaha violin amp. It had a good, strong violin | | | | needs. It’s so easy to use and reliable, I just |
| sound across all the strings, even and full. | | | | love it. |
| When my student tried out my Bradivarius equipped | | | | |