The Making of a FrankenViolin - Concept and Challenge 

My goal for this summer was to build a custom electric violin and make a bold artistic expression.

 

I’ve been playing the violin since I was little, and inspired by other artists online such as Lindsey Sterling, I’ve always wanted to try an electric violin. Another inspiration was my dad, who likes to build and tinker with his electric and acoustic guitars. Last year, he rebuilt one of his old guitars, and painted it to look like Van Halen’s famous striped guitar. Thinking it sounded like a fun way to spend the rest of my summer, I decided to tackle the challenge of building my own electric violin.

 

One of my favorite parts of electric violins is that they can have unique shapes and designs without affecting the sound quality. This would allow me to both have a violin that not only sounds cool, but I could go as wild with the design as I wanted. 

 

I spent some time online researching electric violin kits without much success, though I did find parts to build traditional violins and fiddles. I was off to a disappointing start, until I got the idea of taking traditional violin parts and adding the electronic components on my own. After doing more research, I discovered electronic replacement parts available for electric violins. I now had all the right components for my project.

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My challenge was to construct a violin, electrify it, and decorate it with a memorable design.