Yamaha Concert Select Silent Violin SV-110K
by admin on Feb.09, 2010, under News & reviews
What do the bands of Shania Twain, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Kansas, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston have in common? The first three play country music. Could that be it? Well,one thing ALL of these bands have in common is using Yamaha electric violins for live performances.
You don’t need to be a professional violinist or fiddler to jam on one of the best electric violins on the market today. Not only is the Concert Select Silent Violin lightweight, its futuristic look makes it unique and in a class of its own.
Yamaha calls it the Silent Violin because when it’s not plugged into an amp for stage performing, it makes very little sound. But an outstanding feature is that you can plug in headphones for a quiet practice session (excellent to isolate all outside sound and control your volume) or plug into an amp for an electric violin performance. Yamaha’s Concert Select Silent Violin’s sound is output from both the phone jacks for private listening/practice and line out jacks are provided for amplification or recording.
By playing Yamaha’s Concert Select Silent Violin, you can explore a virtual concert hall while playing its rich, vibrant tones (with built-in DSP reverb). Thanks to a specially designed chip, the violin is digitally enhanced which gives it quality sound.
You can also connect CD players or cassette decks to the input jack and play along with pre-recorded music for some great practice sessions.
Killer sound makes this lightweight violin (1.5 pounds without batteries) a head turner! Like driving down the street in a new sports car, everyone wants to know what it is and how much it costs!
Turn the violin around and you’ll find a switch which lets you easily select from Large Hall, Medium Hall or Room Reverb. My daughter, who aspires to play in a professional symphony one day, said that she preferred the Large Hall setting because she could easily see herself performing with the Boston Pops led by Keith Lockhart!
Whether you’re a beginning or experienced player, or if you’ve performed with a high school symphony or a professional one, you’ll love the “silent” features which allow you to practice practically anywhere!
In my experience, it really is a parent’s dream come true! If you have a son or daughter violinist, you’ll appreciate the silent feature which allows kids to practice at almost any time of night without disrupting family routines (like going to bed). As any violinist will admit, there’s never enough time in the day to practice!
The violin we tested was antique brown and similar to the color of most traditional violins. The Concert Select Silent Violin also comes in black, candy apple red, and navy blue.But, don’t let the colors fool you.
This violin’s electric and silent features gives you the best of both worlds! In fact, my daughter admits it is hard going back to playing an acoustic violin after having the luxury of practicing on Yamaha’s Concert Select Silent Violin. She used the Concert Select Silent Violin for various school performances (as a soloist, and performing at school functions–though not while playing with the orchestra), besides hour-long practice sessions at home.
The neck and bridge are made of hard maple, while the body is spruce and the finger board is ebony. Also included is a wonderful Kun shoulder rest which makes the violin extremely comfortable–even if you’re playing for hours and hours.
Similar to an acoustic violin, the Concert Select Silent Violin has pegs along with four fine tuners. When the Silent Violin is shipped from the factory, like most other violins, the bridge is unfitted and you can set the bridge and proceed with tuning. Most music stores will gladly set the bridge up and tune the instrument for beginners.
Unlike a traditional acoustic, the violin does not come with a bow, rosin or hardcase. It does come with an Owner’s Manual, however.
The auxilary volume control, again located on the violin’s back, lets you easily control the volume of any external audio source you may be using. Besides an AC adaptor (an optional accessory), you can also operate the violin on two AA size batteries.
THE REVIEW ZONE WRAP-UP: Yamaha’s Concert Silent Silent Violin drives like a finely-tuned sports car and turns heads. Two thumb’s up!