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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | I met a busker today who is touring Ireland by bicycle with his fiddle in a backpack: which I 've been meaning to do, with harmonicas or maybe my mandolin.
He was a great player and it looked and sounded like a nice fiddle. Knowing what I know about Ireland, cycling and stringed instruments, my first thought that there's always moisture and I thought 'he needs a lyracord fiddle'. Surely someone must have tried it, starting from a mandolin body?
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Actually, wouldn't a ukulele body be a better body shape, to begin with? Probably would need a carbon-fibre soundboard & neck for the moisture issues. And, you can have my share of carving or molding that arched top. I don't have the tools or technical knowledge, so I guess I have to pass. Interesting scenario, though.
Edited by seesquare 2021-06-18 8:59 AM
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Go with a silent fiddle (electric) and a 12 volt amp...
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | There are quite a few non-wooden violins available. Here's just one example over at fiddlershop.
https://fiddlershop.com/products/glasser-carbon-composite-violin |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Very helpful suggestions! I would be careful with the electric scenario, due to weight issues. On a bicycle, every ounce will count- how much will the amplification system weigh? Ready-made, carbon fibre instrument @ $600.00 USD. OK, hit the road! Now, if the fabrication & construction is the challenge, well, you're in the right baliwick here. I would love to see photos of the proposed adventure, busking the Irish countryside! |
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Joined:
July 2019
Posts: 106
Location: northern Georgia | Another possibility would be one of the plastic violins that Mario Maccaferri made in the early 1990s
http://collections.nmmusd.org/Violins/Maccaferri/13503/MaccaferriVi...
I ran across a mention of this when I was scanning my old ASIA Guitarmaker magazines from the 90s. Yes, this is the same Maccaferri that designed the first Selmer guitars that Django Rheinhart played. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4043
Location: Utah | I tried to talk my violinist son into dabbling with an Adamas construction violin. I think it could be superior in tone to an all carbon fiber violin. Alas he has no interest in anything too radical. |
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Ovation fiddle
