BAHeaney
Digital Violin
BAHeaney | Digital Violin | |
| MAKERS | BEAUCHAMP | BENIOFF | FENDER |
  | The Fender Violin |
 | VERSION 2N.B. the dark ebony fingerboard, different from version 1.The following comes from a copy of a 1958 advertisment. "The instrument is beautifully made of choice grained woods, finished in Sunburst and fitted with chinrest, fine-tune patent heads and bridge. Leading violinists who have played the new Fender Electric Violin acclaim the advancement in amplified violin qualities represented by this instrument. It is an instrument with beauty of tone, beauty of design and one which will satisfy the most discriminating violinist. It opens an entirely new field and is the answer to every violinist's desire for an instrument possessing the refinements and tone characteristics of violin amplification." Neither version 1 or 2, were commercially successful. Seemingly Leo Fender was very disenchanted by the complaints levelled at these violins. The lasting impression is that these violins were too heavy. He actually seemed to give up on the project. Two orders for 100 violins each, are recorded as accepted but only three or four instruments have ever really been seen since. It isn't known whether all the orders were completed. Speculation as to whether the orders were actually made is raised due to the possibility that unused parts from version 1 and 2 were used in the manufacture of a third version. Rare, unassembled "pick-up" and "control" parts have been found for sale via the Internet. Nonetheless, despite the commercial failure, on 25 October, 1960 Fender was granted a Patent for his electric violin body design. The following year, on 10 October, Fender was also granted a Patent for his electric violin with pickup device. In doing so the Fender electric violin was saved from complete obscurity and was to prove Leo right after all. Todays electric violins - whether the mass marketed Japanese models by Yamada and Yamaha or the more specialist hand-crafted instruments by Zeta or Bridge (amongst many others) all use design features or the technology invented by Leo nearly half a century earlier. |
 | 1969-1976VERSION 3By this point in Leo Fender's life, CBS were now in charge of the Fender name. The company had been sold to CBS for some $13 million (about ?40million in todays monetary terms). Leo had no further hand in the development of what is known today as the Fender Violin. The design was changed slightly, principally the headstock replaced with a more traditional, but a simplified, "backwards" facing scroll, almost identical to Beauchamp's 2nd Electro violin. The instrument came with a one year Warranty and a small instruction booklet.Although this third version sold more units than previously, the life span was brief. It would be more than 20 years before the Fender electric violin appeared again. To date only a few version 3 instruments have come up for sale on the general market. Only eight instruments have been noted for sale via the Internet. They have usually been priced at around ?5-800, depending on condition. No information has been found regarding any design variations to version 3, or any indication as to how many were ever sold. 1976-1999 - Manufacture of Fender Violins stops.During this period CBS sold Fender to a group headed by Bill Shultz (formerly of Yamaha), which incorporated as Fender Musical Instruments Corp. |
  | 1999-VERSION 4The new Fender Company re-launched an electric violin with the FV-1 and FV-3. These appear to be good sellers. They are described in adverts as having all the tone, playability and features that musicians have come to expect from Fender. And as featuring a chambered body, solid spruce or maple top, maple back & sides, ebony fingerboard and special design piezo electric bridge with volume and tone control. Available in Black and Polar White (FV-1) or "flame" (FV-3).Regarding the different versionsWhen Leo Fender sold-up in 1965 to CBS the violin changed. Leo's inventions are referred to being "pre-CBS". Version 3 are known as CBS-Fender violins. Strictly speaking version 4 should be known as post-CBS Fender violins.The current version is a different instrument primarily as the pick-up device has been replaced by a piezo electric ebony bridge. In this sense there can be no direct comparison made between all versions. The original version is an instrument with a great response and the broadest of tonal effects. The harmonics are clear and beautifully soft and the instrument plays uniformly across its range. It has a surprisingly good dynamic when played without electrical amplification, suitable even for a very intimate performance. Modern technological advances have given access to super-small sized components providing on board amplification; the means to register a vibration and effectively shape it. Knowledge of resonant materials, their properties and desire for a naturally amplified sound being a part of what makes a violin governs all types of violins today. Leo is an acclaimed maker. His brilliance is plain and obvious. He aimed to make musical instruments for musicians to make music with, and he did. Leo Fender's original Electric Violin should be seen and understood as the bridge between the earliest experiments (successes and failures) to the rapidly growing market for electric violins today... |
