Vanessa-Mae most often uses one of two types of violins, a Guadagnini acoustic violin or a Zeta Jazz model electric violin. The Guadagnini was made in 1761, and was bought by her parents at an auction for about £150,000. It was stolen in January 1995, but was recovered by the police two months later. She once dropped it and it broke, but it was repaired.
In addition, she uses one of two Zeta Jazz Model electric violins, one of which is white and the other one of which features decals of the U.S. flag. She has also been using a silver-grey Zeta Jazz Model electric violin since 2001. She also owns three Ted Brewer Violins two of which she uses on stage (a Crossbow and a Vivo2 Clear) and in publicity material. In addition to these violins, she sometimes buys violins and resells them later, giving the proceeds to charity.
What are the differences between these two violins?
Guadagnini Acoustic Violin
A Guadagnini Acoustic Violin is a violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (or G. B. Guadagnini; Giambattista Guadagnini). Guadagnini was an emiliano luthier in Italy in the 18th century and was regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. He practiced his craft from about 1729 until his death, and his work is divided into four main periods corresponding to and named after, Piacenza, Milan, Parma and Turin, the four cities in Italy where he lived and worked. The instruments of the latter period, Turin, are generally considered to be his best work, and tend toward higher valuations.
Guadagnini's father, Lorenzo, his son, Giuseppe, and some other members of the Guadagnini family continued in the line of violin making through several generations.
Therefore, any violin made by Guadagnini is considered precious and priceless.
Zeta Jazz Electric Violin
Electric violins have a magnetic or piezoelectric pickup that converts string vibration to an electric signal. A cable or transmitter sends the signal to an amplifier. Electric violins are usually constructed as such, but a pickup can be added to a conventional acoustic violin.
An electric violin with a resonating body that produces listening-level sound independently of the electric elements can be called an electro-acoustic violin. To be effective as an acoustic violin, electro-acoustic violins retain much of the resonating body of the violin, often looking very much like, sometimes even identical to, an acoustic violin or fiddle. They may be finished in bright colours and made from alternative materials to wood. The first specially built electric violins date back to 1928 and were made by Victor Pfeil, Oskar Vierling, George Eisenberg, Benjamin Miessner, George Beauchamp, Hugo Benioff and Fredray Kislingbury.
Since electric violins do not rely on string tension and resonance to amplify their sound they can have more strings. For example five stringed electric violins are available from several manufacturers, and a seven string electric violin (with three lower strings encompassing the cello's range) is available. The majority of the first electric violinists were musicians playing jazz and popular music.
Acoustic violins may be used with an add-on piezoelectric bridge or body pickup, or a magnetic pickup attached to the fingerboard end. Alternatively, a magnetic String pickup can be installed under an acoustic violin's fingerboard avoiding interference with any tone-producing parts of the violin, and so keeping its acoustic resonances and tone intact without feedback problems.
To avoid feedback from the resonances of the hollow body under high amplification on stage, many instruments have a solid body instead. The timbre of a standard unamplified violin is due in large part to these resonances, however, so depending on how the signal is picked up, an electric violin may have a "rawer" or "sharper" sound than an acoustic instrument. This raw sound is often preferred in rock, pop, and some avant-garde genres. Several "semi-hollow" designs exist, containing a sealed but hollow resonating chamber that provides some approximation of acoustic violin sound while reducing susceptibility to feedback.
Solid-body electric violins typically have a non-traditional, minimalistic design to keep weight down. Lately, materials such as kevlar, glass and carbon fibres, are used in the build process.
They are often seen as "experimental" instruments, being less established than electric guitar or bass. Hence, there are many variations on the standard design, such as frets, extra strings, machine heads, "baritone" strings that sound an octave lower than normal, and sympathetic strings.
Electric violin signals usually pass through electronic processing, in the same way as an electric guitar, to achieve a desired sound. This could include delay, reverb, chorus, distortion, or other effects.
The Jazz model is the original Zeta concept on how an electric violin should perform. With improved ergonomic shape and sleek styling, it is the alternative to the traditional violin. The Jazz is highly responsive to all playing styles. By removing the upper bout, thinning the body, and lowering the string action, this instrument facilitates reach to all positions and increased playing speed. Important positional cues such as the headstock heel and third position stop have been retained to ensure familiarity. This violin is made of lightweight basswood, with an ebony fingerboard and tuners. The hex wrench tuners allow the instrument to stay in tune longer than traditional instruments. Fine tuning is handled at the tailpiece. All members of the Quartet Series are MIDI compatible when used with the Zeta Synthony MIDI Controller and Synthesizer. Unleash your creativity with today's modern tools: sequencers, samplers, synthesizers and software programs. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
