Ithaca Stringed Instruments

Description

Eric Aceto, longtime luthier and developer of pickups for acoustic instruments, is offering a new version of his Aceto/Violect violin pickup featuring an onboard, chin rest–mounted volume control and improved placement of the pickup elements. On the new version, twin piezo crystals are mounted in a two-piece bridge. The top portion of the bridge is made from Aubert Mirecourt “Luxe” or “Deluxe” blanks that can be shaped to suit the violin.The lower section, where the piezo pickup crystal is placed, is high-quality Bosnian bridge wood. “The reason for the two-piece construction is so I can place the pickup exactly where I want it in relation to the feet, giving the best response and most open tone while still holding up acoustically,” Aceto says. He offers three versions: one wired to a 1/4-inch jack with ebony bracket; a slightly pricier model with an RCA connector unobtrusively mounted in a Guarneri chin rest; and the top-of-the-line model with 1/4-inch, chin rest–mounted jack and new easy-to-reach volume control on the treble side of the chin rest—very handy for giving a volume boost when it is time to solo. Aceto says that the update is “in response to my customers, who loved the amplified sound of my standard pickup, asking for a system that had negligible effect on the instrument acoustically and was unobtrusive.” This new model gives a more natural sound than any of the piezo violin pickups that I have tried, without that annoying bow-attack “thunk.” Highly recommended. Aceto also offers custom fittings for players with particular demands. Bridges should be installed professionally. Aceto/Violect Violin Pickup, $250–$375. ithacastring.com . Stacy Phillips From Strings Magazine September/October 1998 In this article, Darol reviews the NV violin. These days, there's an embarrassment of riches in the multifarious and whimsical shapes available that can be played like a violin. Just about any form that can be fitted under the chin and bowed is now available to the adventurous fiddler. And the sound of these instruments is improving. The Zeta Strados, Tucker Barrett's four-, five-, and six-string Luma and KoaLuma models, and Rich Barbera's newest five string Acoustic-Electrics, to name a few, have taken electric-violin tone to impressive new levels. But here's a tip about a new instrument that, tonally, is as far beyond other electric violins as a $40,000 modern instrument is beyond the factory fiddle you played in high school. Eric Aceto's NV five-string electric violin, while at the high end of the price spread at about $5,000, is a must for the regularly performing professional violinist who absolutely has to play amplified and for whom tonal nuance is critical. Its builders have departed from conventional wisdom about amplified tone by envisioning the pickup and body as a dynamic unit, and by making changes in the body to modify the pickup's sound. It is capable of tonal colors and a dynamic range much closer to an acoustic violin than any other electric I've ever tried. I believe it constitutes a quantum leap forward in electric-violin tone.

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