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Actually guitar is my first instrument, 45 years, and fiddle/voilin, among other strings, about 25 years. I heard about this website, and forums, when I saw Pierre`s U-tube review of the Cicilio electric violins. On that review I bought one, and am overall very pleased.
However the caveat there is that I do have luthier experience and was able to fix a couple of small time issues. The one thing I would absolutely change is the tailpiece. Mine was not really usable in that it had almost no travel in the adjustment, so I quickly swapped it out for one of my integrated fine tuner tailpieces. Very nice, and if I ran the cost numbers correctly, Cicilio could use an integrated fine tuner tailpiece for about the same cost, maybe a tad less.
I also changed the strings, more as a personal preference, I like the synthetics, and did not test the stock strings. I also had to rework the nut as the strings were spaced very close, more like for a childs hands. But beyond that it`s a solid instrument with decent electronics.
I`ve done some multi-track recording and a video in the 3 weeks since I got it. Below is a link to my version of Morepeth Rant. It`s a hybrid multi-track/video deal with one of the primary fiddle tracks being video recorded while I recorded the audio track into the pc. And as you might imagine I`m a big fan of traditional celtic fiddle. Among my favorites are Kevin Burke, Alistair Fraser, Natalie McMaster, Alison Krauss, to name a few.
Anyway many thanks to Pierre for the website and forums!
Dan
Morepeth Rant, I couldn`t seem to embed the vid so here`s the link.
feature=plcp&context=C3b88f9fUDOEgsToPDskL8LVDpScoZzbRaF7fkFsNf
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I guess I could embed it! 
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Excellent! Glad to have someone else with some experience here since most of us are beginners. 
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Great work
Anyway. I have nothing to add as far as violin goes. I am no mentor when it comes to mastering either... So all I can say is good work!
P.S. You wear that violin well^^ And your bowing technique is interesting ^^,
"Art, as far as it is able, follows nature, as a pupil imitates his master; thus your art must be, as it were, God's grandchild."
Welcome! Great video and great tune! Am sure there is more to come, can't wait to hear more 
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Oliver said
I could listen endlessly
Also McMaster fan.
Thanks Oliver!
Yes Natalie is amazing. What is she like 5'1" 100 lbs? And just dances around like a pogo stick while she makes that bow dance on the strings!
Here`s one I`ve been listening to endlessly of late........Kevin Burke and Cal Scott
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sdsalyer said
Excellent! Glad to have someone else with some experience here since most of us are beginners.
Hey thanks for look sdsalyer!
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Aleive said
Great work
Anyway. I have nothing to add as far as violin goes. I am no mentor when it comes to mastering either... So all I can say is good work!
P.S. You wear that violin well^^ And your bowing technique is interesting ^^,
Thanks Aleive!
Are there actually words to Morepeth Rant? That would be interesting!
Indeed my bow technique is somewhat unorthodox.........I don`t "choke up" on the bow with all songs, just with more up tempo material.
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SirRyu said
Welcome! Great video and great tune! Am sure there is more to come, can't wait to hear more
Thanks for the nice welcome SirRyu!
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Welcome, Dan. That was fun! I hope you'll make more videos! Very nice.
I've learned so much from my mistakes that I've decided to make some more.
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Gail said
Welcome, Dan. That was fun! I hope you'll make more videos! Very nice.
Thank you Gail, great that your getting back into it after so long! ........ in truth I hadn`t played much over the last 4-5 years either, til I got the electric 3 weeks ago. I`ve wanted to record but didn`t have a good enough mic to record my acoustic fiddle. But these Cicilios sound fairly nice, and digitally you can EQ them quite well even beyond the onboard tone adjustment.
Dan, you had the same problems with your violin as I had. The tailpiece was made wrong leaving no room for the fine tuners. I just flied mine down and then it worked fine. I changed the strings and had to replace the nut and also lowered the bridge a little. but for the money it was worth it. The bow, well that's another story, I use my carbon fiber bow.
Nice to have you here Dan
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Thanks Dan! That was very nice to listen to after an hour of newbie practice scratchings lol. Does your bow hold contribute to your unique sound?
"This above all: to thine ownself be true,…"
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Kevin M. said
Dan, you had the same problems with your violin as I had. The tailpiece was made wrong leaving no room for the fine tuners. I just flied mine down and then it worked fine. I changed the strings and had to replace the nut and also lowered the bridge a little. but for the money it was worth it. The bow, well that's another story, I use my carbon fiber bow.
Nice to have you here Dan
Hi Kevin, thats good to know that can be fixed easily enough. I`ve always had a preference for the integrated units, and had one to use. You reminded me that I also lowered the bridge, and changed the taper a bit.
Your correct about the bow, if you have a another better one you`ll definately want to use it, but I didn`t find the stock to be too bad.
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CJ said
Thanks Dan! That was very nice to listen to after an hour of newbie practice scratchings lol. Does your bow hold contribute to your unique sound?
Thank you CJ ...... and as far as beginners and "practice scratching" my former housemate back around 1982 when I was first learning would say kiddingly, "hey McShane stop torturing that pig".
But about 5 years down the road I was playing in a band with him!
As for my bowing I don`t know.....I never really considered it. Most instructors would probably have me always using the full length of the bow....but beyond that, beats me....:-)
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Great post Dan,
Welcome to the forum. If you like to share some details about the effects and how you did the recording I think many here would appreciate it.
Looking forward to more posts like this one 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Fiddlerman said
Great post Dan,
Welcome to the forum. If you like to share some details about the effects and how you did the recording I think many here would appreciate it.
Looking forward to more posts like this one
Thanks so much Pierre! I`ll post some info on the recording technique and equipment later today, or tuesday.
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Welcome Dan, what a fantastic first post. I also just got an electric Cecilio, I also changed the tail piece and strings. Although not having any luthier experience my self I was lucky that Pierre was kind enough to sort it out for me first before posting it.
I love folk fiddle, it is the reason I decided to take up a musical instrument after 30 years of claiming musical ineptitude!
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!
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Originally there are no lyrics. But the Norwegian book and songwriter Torbjørn Egner wrote a song called "The parrot from America" with the exact same melody
Jeg er en papegøye fra Amerika.
Der ble jeg født for veldig lenge siden.
Jeg snakket ikke da, men papegøye-mamma sa:
Han lærer nok å snakke litt med tiden.
Og det kan jeg - å falleri å fallera,
hvis noen spør meg hvor jeg kommer fra,
jeg svarer falleri å fallera -
jeg er en papegøye fra Amerika.
I skogen bodde jeg til jeg var åtte år.
Da ble jeg fanget av en fugle-fanger.
Han lærte meg å snakke slik at alle folk forstår,
og lærte meg en masse fine sanger.
og det kan jeg - å falleri å fallera.
Hvis noen spør hvem jeg har lært dem a',
jeg svarer: Falleri å fallera -
av fuglefangermannen i Amerika.
En dag kom det en skippermann og kjøpte meg,
og jeg fikk plass i skipperns store lomme.
Vi seilte over havet, men til slutt så rømte jeg,
og siden kom jeg hit til Kardemomme.
Og her er jeg - å falleri å fallera,
og her i byen liker jeg meg bra.
Og alle vet - å falleri å fallera -
at jeg er papegøyen fra Amerika.
This is a parrot saying he is from America :3 It is really cute, truth be told. And while the melody isn't precisely the same. It is a fact that it was based on this tune
"Art, as far as it is able, follows nature, as a pupil imitates his master; thus your art must be, as it were, God's grandchild."
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