Electric Strings Monthly
Ask Andy:
All About Amplifiers
Editorial:
Andy
Design&Production:
Andy
Administration:
Andy
Finance:
Little
Advertising:
This is it
Marketing:
Please tell someone
Correspondence:
20 Brewers Wharf, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24
1ET, U.K.
Telephone:
(44)(0)1636 677416
If you would like to contribute to this newsletter with details about new products, new music or just news, then please send me an email.
Although this newsletter is light-hearted in it's style
please note that the content is copyrighted and remains the property of Andy Holliman,
Achieve Instruments. No part of the contents may be reproduced, in print or electronically
(except for your own personal use) or stored in an information retrieval system or
workshop or bathroom without the prior permission of the author.
In Previous Ask Andys:
#1-Do I need a
Preamp?
#2-What wood is best?
#3-LR Baggs Para DI Box
#4-Strings fitting & Octave
#5-Bow Bugs
#6-Anti Virus Software
#7-All about Midi and Zeta
#8-Amplifiers
As you will know I make my own electric violins and I also sell Zeta instruments here in the U.K. So it will be true to say that I cannot be completely unbiased in some of my views. However it is my endeavour to be completely fair in the things that I write or tell you from these pages. This month's Ask Andy is all about Amplifiers. I have been asked many times for information on how to choose an amplifier, what should it have, what is best etc. I will attempt to answer these questions for you.
If you would like me to publish details about any of your equipment or products then please send me some information.
When I sent out last month's notice of the newsletter I had about 20 emails bounced back to me because the names do not exist anymore. With so many Internet Service Providers around, offering 'great deals', many of you are changing your email names and then forgetting to let people know. If you are going to change your email address please let me know the new one so I can keep in touch with you.
Web Site Changes
In conjunction with
my article on Amplifiers I have added a page showing the three amplifiers
that I personally recommend for electric bowed stringed instruments. Of course there are
many others and if you are happy with yours then great. If you feel that there are other
amps available that are particularly suitable for electric violin etc then please let me
know.
I have added further products available from Ashworth to the 'General
Price List' including Double Bass and 'Cello pickups.
I have also added a new page in the Related Links section that is a bit unusual. The link is to Tim Phillips' new web page. Tim is a kindred spirit in that he dares to be different - and succeeds! Tim makes acoustic 4 and 5 string violins, violas and infidels, that are very popular with UK folk musicians. His designs are not only refreshingly interesting but also sound superb. I have included details of Tim's instruments first because he is a very likeable chap who I have worked with over the years and secondly because I occasionally fit pickups to Tim's instruments. If you want an unusual instrument or an unusual instrument with a pickup, do give his web site a visit.
I came across a very interesting site from the University of New South Wales in Australia. It has some very readable discussions on violin acoustics. I realise that these do not address electric instruments but as most of us also play acoustic instruments the information is still relevant. I have added a link to the site in the Related Links section.
New Pictures
This month I have
added new pictures from: Bob Gollihur an electric bass maker. Daniel
LaFontaine, Chris Olsen and EVL.
I was sent details of a new instrument called a 'Botar'. It is an electric guitar that is played with a bow! The fingerboard is curved to allow the strings to be bowed and the pickups are arranged in a matching curve. I have added the picture of the instrument to the gallery along with the web site address for those of you who may be interested in crossing over to guitar or if you know of a guitarist who wants to try their hand at bowing.
New Links
I have added links
to the new makers that are mentioned in the new pictures list above. The Italian company, Cantini
have changed their web site and email address. I have updated the pages and also noted
that they sell their pickup separately, should you be interested. Electric
Violin Lutherie also have a new web site address. I have corrected the location
of Giffin who are not in Sweden but are in the USA.
I have received details of a French electric Double Bass maker from Brittany called Erwan Le Roux. I have added his email name to the lists but I believe he does not have a web site as yet.
The Electric Violin
Book
I may have found a
distributor for the Electric Violin book in the States. As soon as the deal is done I will
let you know. In the mean time if you wish to see a review of the book click here and if you would like to order a
copy, click here.
New Music
I will use this
section to inform you of new music that I have been introduced to that features electric
violin. So if you have something to contribute to this column, please let me know the
details.
I heard from,
Mary Lou Newmark ( http://www.greenangelmusic.com/
) and
Stuart Wyatt (http://www.solostring.com/)
who were both pleased to have their CD's and web sites
mentioned in last month's newsletter and so see their site traffic increased.
Alex Papadiamantis (http//www.geocities.com/almant2) emailed me from Greece with
details of his site and where you can hear his superb music MP3
downloads at: (http//artists.mp3s.com/artists/87/alexander_papadiamandis.html).
Alex plays one of my Griffin electric violins
fitted with an Ashworth AJ411 pickup.
For Sale
I have been
contacted by Lisa Rollin, a top session player from London, who has
played with bands such as Boyzone, Babybird, Conner Reeves, Robert
Miles, 911 etc. on shows such as 'Top Of The Pops', 'The National
Lottery Show' and 'Good Morning'. She would like to sell her Zeta Strados 4
string, Red violin to a suitable loving fiddler for £1250 o.n.o. It is in superb
condition complete with case. If you are interested, send me an email or give me a call
and I will put you in touch with her.
Ask Andy
This month I have
been asked to pass on some information about Amplifiers for electric bowed stringed
instruments. So here goes...
Whatever amplifier you use it must match the pickup that you are plugging into
it. Every pickup will have a certain 'impedance' and the amplifier's circuitry must be
able to handle this impedance correctly. Most if not all electric bowed stringed
instruments use piezo electric transducers which have a very high impedance. (There are other types of pickups that do not
use Piezo electrics but the majority do). The rule that needs to be followed is that
whatever you plug into must have a higher impedance that the sending device. So as piezo
electric pickups tend to be of the order of 1 to 1.5 Meg ohms impedance, the amplifier
must be designed to handle this value. To find out the capability of your amplifier you
may need to check the manual specification or contact the supplier. The specification you
need to look for will look similar to the following:
Technical Data
Inputs:
Ch1: Line: unbalanced., 2.2 MEG
High/Low: -10 dbV
Ch2: Line: unbalanced., 1MEG
Mic: balanced., 600 Ohm
What happens if the impedance is too low? The sound you make will be thin, it
may sound distorted, it may not be even across the strings. It could be better. It will
still work as an amplifier but the sound will not be as good as it should be.
Many PA systems will have 2 inputs per channel, one marked low impedance and the
other high impedance (sometimes called Low Z and High Z). Certainly you must use the high
impedance input but is it high enough? PA systems are usually concerned with microphone
sockets and microphones are not usually very high impedance devices so the high Z input
may not be high enough for a transducer to work at it's best.
What can you do if your amplifier's impedance is incorrect? What you need is an 'impedance matching' device. There are units available for this purpose but as most effect pedals have such a circuit in them you may find that by plugging in your instrument into an effect pedal first before you go into the amplifier your problems are solved. In my view the best pedal to get is an EQ pedal as these have an impedance matching circuit within them. I wrote about EQ pedals in Newsletter #1 so if you are unsure about their usefulness read this article. Pre-amplifiers also will have the required circuitry to match impedance so using one of these will help as well.
Having got the impedance correct, what else should you look at or check out? Most amplifiers are guitar amplifiers and as such are designed to handle guitar frequencies and create guitar sounds. The guitar has a frequency range from 82 Hertz up to 698 Hertz whereas a violin has a range from 196 Hertz up to around 2093 Hertz.
Frequency ranges of the Guitar and bowed string instruments against a piano
keyboard.
(Red is Guitar, Blue is Violin, Green is Viola, Yellow is Cello, Brown is
Bass.
The yellow key on the keyboard is middle C)
The tone controls on the amplifier control these frequencies. But if the amplifier has low, middle and high tone controls, what frequencies are they controlling and how do they relate to the violin? Most of the controls will effect the lower end of the violin and do little for the higher end. This is why most violin/amplifier problems relate to controlling the brightness of the sound. A good EQ pedal can therefore be used to control the frequencies better to your liking. Guitar amplifiers will also be designed for the likes of guitarists ! They may have a 'thick' setting, 'overdrive', 'distortion' and the like. If this is what you need then great but if you do not want these settings then they are a pain and electric luggage you do not want to carry around and manage. If your amplifier (or effects pedal/unit) has an EQ section it is often best to turn it off or put it at a neutral setting and do all of your controls with the EQ pedal.
There are some amplifiers that are called 'acoustic amplifiers'. These often will have a very good EQ section and enable you to create a more natural sound. But nearly any amplifier with a good EQ pedal will do the same.
So where are we? An amplifier for an electric bowed stringed instrument using a piezo electric pickup must have:
a) The correct input impedance - 1.5 to 2Meg ohms
b) Have tone controls that can handle the frequencies of your instrument
c) Do not have unnecessary circuitry that you will not use
Other specifications for your amplifier must be down to personal choice. The power of the amplifier, whether it has line out and other output controls, whether it has any built-in effects (reverb is useful), the weight, size and colour are all down to you to choose what suits you best.
You can choose amplifiers that are designed for peizo pickups. Zeta make one
called the AE-12
(http://www.zetamusic.com/products/display.asp?id=27).
It has the following specifications:
"INPUT" SECTION
| CHANNEL 1 HIGH | This is a "passive" instrument input. |
| CHANNEL 2 LOW | This is a "padded" input (10db) for use with instruments that have active electronics |
LOW |
Equalization control that adjusts the amount of boost or cut in the low frequency range (100Hz). |
MID 1 |
Equalization control that adjusts the amount of boost or cut in the low middle frequency range (600Hz). |
MID 2 |
Equalization control that adjusts the amount of boost or cut in the high middle frequency range (2KHz). |
HIGH |
Equalization control that adjusts the amount of boost or cut in the high frequency range (6KHz). |
But there are other makers and many many different amplifiers out there. (Shipping costs for amplifiers, because they are heavy, can be high so you may have to look around in your own country for a suitable supplier).
Another very good amplifier is made by AER in Germany
(http://www.aer-amps.de/)
with the following input specifications:
Ch1: Line: unbalanced., 2.2 MEG High/Low: -10 dbV
Ch2: Line: unbalanced., 1MEG
Mic: balanced., 600 Ohm
Trace Elliot are well known for good acoustic guitar amplifiers but they are
also suitable for bowed stringed instruments. (http://www.trace-elliot.com/acoustic/acoustic.html)
The Trace Elliot has an Input specification that includes:
Piezo/Lo-Level - Impedence 10Meg Ohms/Sensitivity 100mV to 8V peak to
peak
Happy new year to you all and lets get out there and make some music!
I would appreciate ideas for
future 'Ask Andy' questions - product reviews, technical discussions, making
items???
Let me know what you would like to
know.
I hope this has helped you.
Any suggestions for future discussions, Click to Email me
I am not sure if I have created a monster with this page! Will I be able to keep it up and create a full newsletter each and every month? Will you help me by sending in details of CD's, instruments, suggestions? We will have to see and you will have to come back again to check it out.
Bye for now,
Andy
Holliman
Achieve Instruments:
Chief Designer, Paint Sprayer, Varnish
Consultant, Marketing Manager, Receptionist, Secretary, Web Designer, Tea Boy and
Newsletter Editor.
See the amazing CETUS Violin and other new
instruments in the Picture Gallery
Links from around the World
The Electric Violin Book
The Only book on Electric Bowed Stringed Instruments in the World
Alex Papadiamantist
Lisa Rollin
Zeta E Series Amplifier specifically designed
for piezo pickups
The AER Compact 60 amplifier
Trace Elliot