Electric Violin + Amp Purchase Help

themadman on 17/05/2022 - 10:23

My partner learnt violin for a while when she was younger and has recently decided she wants to get back into it. Her old violin has had a lot of issues with swelling, and she's wanting to get a new electric violin to replace her old acoustic one. She wants an electric mostly because she's pretty self-conscious and wants to be able to play with headphones in.

She's done some research and really wants to get the following:

Violin: Yamaha YEV-104 (~$1000)
Amp: Yamaha THR5a (~$300)
Wireless Receiver: Line 6 G10 Wireless Relay (~$300)

So all up around $1600-$1700.

I'm a little unsure about spending so much on a setup as she has a habit of picking up a hobby for a few months and then just dropping it. We're also both full-time students so not a lot by way of savings. My first thought is to drop the wireless receiver and amp, & just use her current BT headphones with a little BT headphone amp (~$100?).

I'm a little out of my depth, so I'm not sure if anyone has any recommendations here? I'd love to keep the total cost under $800-1000 if we can, but don't want to get anything too cheap and nasty for her. I appreciate that musical instruments are something where you have to be willing to pay if you want something decent, but I'd much rather start with something basic and upgrade if she seems committed to playing it.

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Comments

  • pharkurnell on 17/05/2022 - 10:48

    Buy a cheap used unit until she decides she REALLY wants to do it long term.. then update.

    • themadman on 17/05/2022 - 10:53

      I mean, I don't want to go tooooo cheap, but $1k does seem like a lot to start out on haha. That said, $1k seems to be on the low end for what most people pay for violins?

      • pharkurnell on 17/05/2022 - 11:00

        she has a habit of picking up a hobby for a few months and then just dropping it

  • yk300 on 17/05/2022 - 11:42

    Not a violin player but I think you probably can get a decent quality acoustic violin in that price range (that's the case for guitars at least). Pros and cons to electric vs acoustic but the extra steps to the instrument make a huge difference in terms of practice. I don't see too much appeal for an electric violin. Maybe just low volume for practice at night.

    Never thought about amps for electric violin. I wouldn't get that amp for $300. I recently purchased a guitar micro amp (https://www.mannys.com.au/fender-mustang-micro-personal-guit…) which looks quite versatile. Maybe she can nicely craft some tone with guitar distortion and violin.

    • themadman on 18/05/2022 - 15:43

      So already knows how to play violin (has had an acoustic violin). As I said, main benefit is being able to play with headphones on as she doesn't want anybody to hear her? Seems a bit funny to me but I don't really want to start a fight over it :P

      Some sort of headphone amp was my thought, but I didn't know you could get portable ones like that! Thanks for the tip. :)

  • Quantumcat on 17/05/2022 - 17:53

    Students should rent instruments until they know what they like the sound of and can pick out a good instrument. This also helps if she isn't sure she is going to stick with it.

    My experience with an electric cello is that an electric instrument does not sound that great. Mine made me give up cello for a year due to frustration until I decided to take the plunge and get a decent quality acoustic instrument ($8k). She should rent an instrument until she is sure she wants to stick with playing violin long term. It can be an electric one, that way if it frustrates her like mine did me, she can hand it back. She could then try a different model or give up the violin.

    • themadman on 18/05/2022 - 15:41

      So she's actually played the violin for some time (while she was at school I think?), but her violin has had swelling issues and she hasn't played for the last 5 years as a result. She's not a beginner, but I also wouldn't put her down as a pro. All her past experience has been on acoustic.

      After hearing an electric violin I didn't particularly love the sound tbh. She told me that there's a lot of potential to vary the output to sound however you would like (benefits of electrical instruments I guess?).

      We were looking at renting options, but they're 6 months minimum * $17 / week = $442, which didn't seem worth it for an $1100 violin?

      • Quantumcat on 18/05/2022 - 16:07

        Has she already talked to a luthier about fixing her current instrument?

        There are some music shops that let you put 50% of your rent money towards an instrument with them if you decide to buy - maybe look into those.

        Or get a second hand one, that way if she doesn't keep with it or doesn't like it she can sell it for a similar price to what she bought it for. I don't think it is a good idea to buy new if there's the chance she doesn't stick with it.

        Also one more consideration against getting an electric instrument, if she wants to join an ensemble or orchestra later, finding a place to plug in the amp and put it somewhere where it won't get tripped over or have someone step on or trip over the cord, is quite the pain, plus it is another thing to have to carry. And listening to your intonation is harder as the sound is coming from somewhere else. And electric instruments don't blend sound as well so she would always be sticking out a bit. Unless she is more interested in joining a band in which case it would be a benefit (can plug into whatever sound system they use and adjust the volume perfectly to match others)

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