New electric body design

It has taken me quite some time to decide on a design of the electric violin.

For me an acoustic violin has a certain beauty that is just classic. I did however not want to just take a Stradivarius or Guarneri model a fit a pickup - that would make an acoustic-electric violin.

In my design I have stayed on a conservative line though, keeping the same dimensions of an acoustic violin with the same key elements.

At the moment I am finalizing pickup testing. I have been through different bridge and body pickups and am trying to strike a balance between best sound and being able to play loud.

I am also doing a bit of experimenting with the placement of the output jack. Left or right side of the lower bout or maybe on the bottom or in the chinrest?

New electric violin

I have been very busy for the last months.

Teaching at the music school, playing concerts, doing workshops, working with music politics.

I have also been working on my own electric violin design.
This process is nearly finished, resulting in an instrument with similar shape and hollow body and in exact violin proportions, but without f-holes and sound post.

Stay tuned for more pics and info on this instrument.

Remic v5200 lb - live

This summer I have been testing the Remic v5200-lb microphone on a couple of live gigs.

My band consists of 2 guitarist, a double bass player, a drummer and me playing the fiddle. We always play amplified with wedge monitors on every musician.
The fiddle is the main instrument in this setup, and it can be difficult to get at good monitor sound without feedback occuring.

The Remic proves to be very feedback resistant, maybe the most feedback resistant microphone I have ever tried.

I have had talks with Remic about making me a wireless system to give me even more free room on stage.

EQ for fiddle

Here is comment from my friend and expert sound engineer Peter Simonsen.
Peter is a versatile recording engineer and did the recordings for my first album. He also builds high-end microphone preamps and more.

Here is his comment on choosing a hardware EQ unit for live/stage use:

Fishman Aura Spectrum DI - part I

Here is the first part of my tests with the AURA spectrum DI.

A couple of years ago Fishman released the first preamp with the Aura technology inside. It enabled musicians playing acoustic instruments to improve on their amplified tone with the help of digital modeling.

The Aura Spectrum DI is the next generation of this technology in the shape of a versatile preamp and DI.

Take a look at the Fishman Aura Spectrum DI test part II

Bridge pickups

I have just had three different bridge pickups fitted to my Hengsheng violin.


A Schatten V-02, a inexpensive Singular pickup and the Bradivarius bridge pickup.

Well it turns out that the only pickup now in function is the Bradivarius, neither the Schatten og the Singular worked when fitted and mounted.

The Fiddle Mic

The Fiddle Mic is designed by Bruce Bartlett.

It is a miniature omnidirectional condenser microphone, with a frequency response tailored specially for violin and viola.

Bartlett sells The Fiddle Mic in two versions: One with a long permanently attached cable, and one with an inline jack so the mic can be left on the instrument.