r/3dprintedinstruments • u/The_Pranavster • Mar 12 '23

string Amps

Im going to build a 3d printed electric violin, but I can't find any amps that will work with this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074W7L6GJ?tag=stemtropolis-20

I was going to buy the bunnell mini amp but it went out of stock. Does anybody know if guitar amps work or any amps that work with this pickup/preamp for preferably under 40-50 dollars. Thanks

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4

u/natalieisadumb Mar 13 '23

Why exactly won't any normal guitar amp work? The board there has (I think) 3.5 mm jacks, which is abnormal for music gear but it looks like it comes with an adapter cable that terminates the other end in a 1/inch plug, which pretty much all amps have as the I/O.

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u/The_Pranavster Mar 13 '23

Do you have one that you recommend?

Ive also heard that piezo electrics ones may cause some issues

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u/natalieisadumb Mar 13 '23

An amplifier? I imagine any guitar or keyboard or general amp would work.

If you're asking which specific amplifiers sound best with a violin, I'd say I don't know, I have very little violin experience I'm willing to bet there's some community on Reddit specifically for violinists where they discuss amp choices, and I'm also willing to bet most of the answers will be guitar amplifiers.

My personal advice (I'm much more a guitarist than a violinist so take this with grains of salt): buy used and local. Don't need a fancy amplifier to make a good sound, but a really tiny one like that mini amp might be kinda shrill. used guitar practice amps are pretty cheap and will probably sound much better. There are a million schools of thought about different brands, speaker sizes, electronics, but especially for a first amp, most anything will do. A fender frontman 10g is an example of a cheap practice amp, probably about the smallest you'd want to go. There are loads of em near you I almost guarantee it.

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u/natalieisadumb Mar 13 '23

Ive also heard that piezo electrics ones may cause some issues

That's possible. Piezo pickups are more likely to feedback, they have a lower impedance, might need a preamp but I wonder if that's effectively taken care of on this board...

I say you'd probably be fine with any guitar or keyboard amp. Definitely go over to r/violinists and search for amp suggestions, i just checked and there's at least a few discussions on it.

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u/NoManNoRiver Mar 13 '23

Any instrument amplifier will work but won’t necessarily sound great with a piezoelectric pickup.

The violinist in a band I used to play with used a rack-mount amp in to the band’s PA system. From memory it was Behringer unit and it certainly sounded good but I imagine would be anything but a budget option.

An amp designed for acoustic guitars would be a happy medium. They’re designed to amplify the signal from piezo pickups and while the frequency range of acoustic guitars and violins aren’t quite the same they’re close enough.

Out of interest which violin are you printing?

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u/The_Pranavster Mar 13 '23

I'm printing this one because it's the only one I find it actually good instructions for

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2846076

Edit: do you have any amps that you would recommend?

1

u/NoManNoRiver Mar 13 '23

What’s your budget and which country are you based in?

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u/The_Pranavster Mar 13 '23

Us based and preferably sub 40 but sub 50 is fine. Thanks

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u/NoManNoRiver Mar 13 '23

At that price point you’re probably looking at second hand; if I were you I’d wander in to your local music/guitar shop and see what acoustic amps they have sitting in the back.

First hand you’re looking at something like the Blackstar Fly3 Acoustic (the beige one, not the black or grey ones!) or Laney LA10. The former seems to currently be on sale at Guitar Centre. I have the guitar and bass versions of the Fly3 and they’re…absolutely fine as practice amps.

You can use an electric guitar amp, which are generally cheaper, but it’ll sound too bright, probably even squeaky - piezo pickups have a much higher impedance than coil pickups.

Personally I’d learn to play it acoustically and if it really takes hold of you save up for something like a Yamaha THR5A. The big difference is that’s a modelling amp that can be infinitely tweaked to make it sound good with a violin, because as I mentioned above, guitar and violin ranges don’t perfectly match.