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I am looking at buying the Cecilio e-violin and have never played violin/fiddle before, but I have many years of experience on guitar and keyboards. Is this a good starter fiddle? I noticed the price is way less than some of the violins in Musician's Friend. Is it any good?
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I know several who have purchased that Electric Violin. Many are happy with it. Have you been playing violin long? After three years of playing I bought an electric violin.. not that one but an inexpensive one and I have a blast with it.
Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your purchase and don't forget to show us what you got.
Toni
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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Welcome to the family of players or fiddlers or violinists or whatever the majority call themselves now a days. You're gonna love it here, and there's so much cool fun stuff going on. Projects, play-alongs and so forth... oh you'll to get to that part soon enough.
Now a small word of advice if I may... I currently have 8 violins. 3 are 5 string electrics, the others are acoustics, some very old. I have played on all of them. I started learning on my first very old acoustic about 4 yrs ago and haven't missed more than a couple days at most per any given week of practice! That is so important, even if you only practice 15 min a day, it's far more productive than trying to cram it all in on a Sunday afternoon. I started playing the electric(s) about a year ago.
Now I play the electric 5 string I built exclusively although when my violin partner pressures me I do and can play the acoustic...oh did I say that my electrics are all fretted? Yes, fretted fingerboards on a 5 string electric violin. Well... learning the fundamentals and the necessary skills is very important starting out and if you begin on an acoustic and stay with it for the first year or two before plunging into the electric you'll be far ahead of the game.
If you'd like to see what I make, here's the link to the thread on fretting your violin I have been working on here.
https://fiddlerman.com/forum/f.....ur-violin/
The dynamics of playing an acoustic are far more difficult to achieve than an electric, in other words, an electric is far easier to get the same sound from than an acoustic, and I don't mean by just turning up the volume on the amp. The electric lends itself to playing quietly if the area you live in has that kind of a limitation on your practicing...as headphones make a solid body silent electric violin quite hidden from nearby ears.
So if you can, try to start your learning with an acoustic and in no time ata ll you'll be more than ready to start on the electric, also gives you time to collect the other electronic goodies, like looper box, pre-amp, mixer panel, cords, microphone, and stuff you'll no doubt be needing to put on your first streetjelly show or video to post here.
Enjoy your violin travels, it's a fun ride...
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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I can't give you detailed advice on that but if you have to play in an environment where disturbing your family, friends, neighbors is a factor, then learning on a solid body violin is a great option. Also allows you to play freely without concern or what others will think.
I do however believe it would be more fun with an acoustic violin but you can get that later. 🙂
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I started on an acoustic. I am glad... but in hindsight with the acoustic and people living with the first year or so, I now know that I could have benefitted from having a quieter.. electric in my room to play more. Thinking back on my first year, I definitely played less due to people being around. House is much emptier now so I play in my room or out in the living room. Acoustics in both places.
My dog had been a jerk about my playing lately....even if I play the EV with headphones he gets mad... (jerk).
🙂
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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LMAO Toni ! ( at yer dawwwg! )
I had a kind of "round-about-way" of getting "here" - I had a horrible acoustic that drifted within 10 minutes - regardless of what I did... it was awful ( and, it WAS the fiddle, not me, and is now fixed, but that's another story entirely ) - but - I gave that up as a bad cause - and got myself an EV. Cheap. But rock-solid. No problem whatsoever (other than a minor "manufacturing fault" which was fixed by a spot of epoxy-resin on a couple of loose/unused pins on the line-jack-socket which was causing an annoying "rattle noise" thru the amp)
So - strangely - I came in to "real playing" on the EV - and - because it is quite a "sterile sound" ( no body, and little inter-string resonances to speak of ) - for me - it really helped me work on intonation, and "get it sounding-right to my ear". Although - as @cdennyb mentions - once you have that little devil amped up and with FX - it can be awesome !
But - I just wanted an acoustic, better than the original one I had, and had failed to make any progress with - then I found this site - and I am now the proud owner of a (1) FiddlerMan Concert, (2) my EV ( it is from Thomann ), and (3) the now re-strung-as-a-viola devil-instrument I started with LOL. Once I have the necessary cash,I am looking for another up-market violin to add to the collection LOL
I cannot give you any specific answer to your question - but - to be honest - most "cheap" ( and I don't mean that in a bad way ) EV's will most likely sound absolutely fine, but as with any "off the shelf relatively cheap instrument" - you may well want to change strings ( well, mostly the top E, which has a tendency to "squeal" at times with the "cheese-wire-strings" as supplied - unless you have learned to "control it" - and NO - I haven't )
Best wishes for your progress - it will unfold over a lifetime - there is always more to learn !!!
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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madbill Yes.. the dog got a little angry over the years.. Maybe because I got better... then better violins and my violins are LOUD. VERY loud.
The EV. I want to kick myself for not doing more with it. I did buy it, the amp, the Effects, headphones... spend some cash for sure that month. I want to learn to do more with my EV. When I go to sites... and some of the groups I am in, many times it is too complicated. I don't run programs or run it through my computer. I just plug it all in and play.
It seems that many of the EV groups and site work on stuff that is not basic enough for me. I am EV challenged in that sense. But I have it all now and it should last me a while.. you know until I get that Skyinbow EV that I have wanted for years. 🙂
And thanks to you Bill, I can play smoke on the water.. .well that one little section. Do you have any other well known rocks songs for me to jam on the EV? I am sure you do. LOL.
Anyway... story of my life... stuck at the office with three beautiful violins at home and I am itching to play.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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coolpinkone said
....And thanks to you Bill, I can play smoke on the water.. .well that one little section. Do you have any other well known rocks songs for me to jam on the EV? I am sure you do. LOL.
I'll find some baaad rock fer ya Toni... rely on it...
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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