Advice please. :-)

[ant_girl]

I'm after some advice regarding effects pedals for electric violins... Basically, I'm looking for something pretty basic, little more than an EQ pedal really, but if it did simple effects like reverb and compression that would be a bonus. Are there specific pedals made for violins, or do I need to buy a guitar pedal? And does anybody have any

Comments

[random_notion]

Well there’s allot of stuff you could use and it will have to be guitar pedals since there aren't really any made for violin. First of all what kind of sound are you looking for? EQ and reverb are good tools for making an acoustic sound. Compression is used more to even out a signal with heavier effects like distortion. Also what kind of violin are you using? Do you have an amp? Some amps come with effects built in wich could easily solve the need for reverb and maybe EQ depending on how much EQ you want.

[ant_girl]

My violin is a fender. I'm only really after an acoustic violin sound, nothing fancier, but I generally d/i the violin, so using effects on the amp is not an option. Besides, when I plug it directly into an amp, it sounds horribly scratchy, so I think I need some kind of pre-amp, which I'm told an EQ pedal would be able to provide. The reason I mentioned compression is because I thought it could be used to even out the volume (because at the moment the notes on the higher strings tend to be much louder than those on the lower strings, and I find myself struggling to hear what I'm playing when I'm on stage with the band), but I could be wrong about that.

I'm very new to the whole electric violin thing, although I have played acoustic violin for 20+ years.

[random_notion]

Guitar amps have EQ settings built right in them to boost highs for electric guitars. This can be solved by using an acoustic guitar amp which is basically a small P.A. Sounds like you are also experiencing what is called piezo quack. Fenders and most electric violins use piezo pickups that exaggerate higher frequencies. I don't know the science to it but the quack is created because most effects and amps are made to work with magnetic pickups that put off a different kind of signal (which I won't go into why magnetic pickups don't work for violin) A preamp helps by buffering the signal so that it works better with guitar equipment. I suggest a preamp made specifically for piezo pickups like L.R. Baggs or Fisherman. Pieso quack is also created form the pickup itself so there will still be some quack. Eq can be used to eliminate the remaining quack. Some of the L.R. Baggs and Fisherman preamps have Eq built right into them. I suggest using a parametric EQ for targeting the specific frequencies of a piezo quack. I use the L.R. Baggs

[ant_girl]

Thank you, yes that was very useful. I feel like I have a bit more background knowledge know. I will look into the pre-amps that you suggest. :-)

[doingtheunstuck]

Just to put it out there like I usually do: I'm the resident person who doesn't play a classically stringed instrument. My significant other is the maintainer of this community, however, and my gear related knowledge is pretty decent

[ant_girl]

Thanks for your advice -- and sorry for being slow to respond, I've been to busy to think about it properly. I hope you don't think me too rude.

When it comes to guitar-based multieffects: I think my original plan was to get a Pod or something, but as you say, it'll have a whole bunch of stuff I won't really care about. However, I do also play guitar (although not in the band) so it wouldn't be entirely wasted. I started thinking about getting something more specific due to budget constraints, but now, based on what random_notion says above, I'm thinking I probably need a pre-amp for piezo pickups as he suggests, and then any other effects should be supplementary to that, as and when I can afford them. Would you agree that this is a sensible approach, or do you think I'd just be wasting my money?

[doingtheunstuck]

Not wasting your money at all... In fact, it sounds like a good plan. The preamp will sort out a lot of issues and make the transition to live playing a lot easier, I think.

[celtfiddler]

Some of the guitar-based multi-effects pedals, like for instance the Zoom G2.1U, have user-progammable banks, where you can turn off the overdrive or the amp modeling or whatever, and just leave the effects that you *do* like (such as the compression, reverb, etc.). We've had a number of people buy that particular model (also quite popular because the expression pedal is built into the unit and it has a USB out to your computer for recording/composing). You can also do some pitch shift/pedal pitch effects (up to two octaves up or down, harmonizing, etc.) with the G2s

[ant_girl]

At the moment I don't use an amp, I just D/I the violin on stage.

I'm feeling a bit mind boggled about the whole thing at the moment! Basically, what I need is something to help it sound a little less screetch(although it tends to be better when D/Ied than when I use an amp anyway) and to even out the volume because the high strings tend to be very much louder than the bass ones (hence my thinking I needed compression). I also have trouble hearing what I am playing on stage as well (I'm used to playing in an orchestra, where you can just put your ear on the soundboard to hear yourself, but you can't do that with an electric violin!) I think if I could get the volume evened out that would help anyway. Reverb would be nice, but not essential, because as somebody pointed out above, most desks have this anyway, so I can get the engineer to do it for me.

Basically, I'm just totally clueless about all the tech stuff, and also suffering a little bit from information overload, hence the failure so far to make any kind of decision!

[celtfiddler]

Sounds like, regardless of what else you do regarding a pre or effects or whatever, you *need* an amp that you can use as a monitor on-stage. As someone recommended above, the Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. should take care of most of the more-immediate sound-quality issues you're having, but not being able to hear yourself on-stage is Not a Good Thing

[celtfiddler]

(who obviously forgot to log in) :)

[nathan_fhtagn]

I have had good success playing electric violin (a Yamaha EV-205) through both a POD 2.0 and a PODxt Live. There are plenty of options available on either one in terms of effects and general tone. Both models have a flat pre-amp model that doesn't color your sound like a guitar amp would and I generally use that option unless I want to play something vulgar or raucous on my violin. I must confess a certain unholy joy at playing my fiddle through a virtual Marshall stack with everything set at 10. :p

[ant_girl]

Thank you for this, and sorry for being slow to reply.

I was originally thinking about getting a POD, especially as I also play a bit of guitar, but was unsure if it was the best option. It seems from what you're saying like it might be quite good though.

Hmm, decisions decisions...

[nathan_fhtagn]

No worries on the slow response. That's what email notification is for. :)

I didn't mention this in my initial post, but I have an A/B switcher pedal between my instruments and the PODxt Live. It's got two lines in and one line out. Each stomp switches which line in is connected to the line out.

What kind of violin do you use?

[ant_girl]

It's a fender.