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PeppaViolinist - Posted - 08/20/2017: 10:39:26
Hello Guys!
I am new to the site. Even though I am always following the forums and discussions I never joined.
Well, I anted to see if there are any more people with the same "problem" as me.
I have 2 electric violins, a Yamaha SV250 and a Bridge Aquila (The Dragon Model).
I absolutely love my Yamaha, it has a warm and well rounded sound. My Bridge however has extremelly weak on the high positions, specially on the E String from position 4. When I play high notes on the E String my amplified sound almot entirely dissapears.
I did sent it back to Bridge to have it looked at however they returned it saying it worked fine during their tests.
Since then I have used my Dragon very little as I cannot perform high notes without losing considerable volume.
Does anyone out there have the same problem? Is the loss of sound expected from Bridge Violins when performed at higher positions?
My Yamaha sounds absolutely stunning throughout the entire istrument and the loss of sound in the higher positions is minimal.
Mojohand40 - Posted - 08/20/2017: 17:47:48
Hello and welcome. Don't have an answer for you. I play a Yamaha SV-130 which is all the fiddle I will ever really need electric wise...but I ever upgade, i would probably get the Yamaha SV250. They seem to really be made to have the most "acoustic violin" like sound of any of the solid body electrics. The two pickups in it are what makes it special.
I'm surprised about the Bridge Aquila, I've never tried one, but they have a good reputation and some folks swear by them online.
Anyway, like I said, welcome, and keep posting as it's hard to get lot of info on electric violins. 
amwildman - Posted - 08/20/2017: 18:54:38
I would ask over at fiddleforum.com. Lots more electric players there, including some Bridge owners.
(personally, I would guess you might not be using a proper preamp or whatever with the Bridge, but I don't know much about amplified fiddles)
dmonserud - Posted - 08/21/2017: 07:46:20
It's odd that Bridge Violins says everything checks out yet you are having a different experience. In that case it could have something to do with your amplification gear or it could simply be subjective. Note that the Bridge is a somewhat darker sounding instrument than the Yamaha SV-250 and take that into consideration when comparing the two as the Bridge has a little less treble and more mid-range.
Just troubleshooting here, so forgive me if these are seem too obvious or you've already tried them...
- Check the position of the tone knob. If treble is rolled off completely that would give the impression of lower output on E string. If the tone knob *is* the the fully on position (all the way clockwise), then experiment with turning it down and up while plugged in and bowing to see if any tone difference occurs. If not then you may have a bad potentiometer, although I'm pretty sure Bridge would have diagnosed that if it were the case.
- The Bridge Dragon uses *two* coin cell batteries. One or both of them might be running low on charge. I'd swap them both out for new and see if that helps. Observe their orientation (+/- up vs. down) before removing so you can put the new ones in correctly, unless of course THESE batteries aren't oriented correctly, which could also be the issue.
You could also shoot a quick video playing the Bridge and send it to Electric Violin Shop. Be sure to include a shot of any preamps, EQ settings, effects and your amp. We'd be happy to try to assist in diagnosing the issue. The Bridge Dragon is such a fantastic instrument, it would be a shame if you felt you couldn't use it!
Best,
Duncan Monserud
Electric Violin Shop
pete_fiddle - Posted - 08/21/2017: 12:18:16
i just sold my bridge aquilla, they are a well designed fiddle to hold and play, and i liked it at first, but the pick ups sound just like any normal piezzo (paper and comb), but with an on board volume and tone.....quiet loud, bassy trebley..... nothing special, i tried all sorts of pre amps and combo's with it but i haven't tried any other electric fiddles and not likely to either.. but it didn't feed back at stupidly loud volumes with digi delay and stuff on.... good for rock music and all that sort of stuff .... dont believe the hype they are just a leccy fiddle with a piezzo pickup on imo, and you need loads of equipment to plug em into if you want em to sound like anything else
btw i had the same issues with the E string as well, just ringing all the time..
ChickenMan - Posted - 08/22/2017: 05:09:22
Not sure how the pickups work on that, but I have a buddy with an electric uke that had a similar issue. We took the strings off and under the bridge we found the peizo pickup was not positioned under the 1st string at all. For him, the solution was to move the tiny peizo strip towards the treble side.
pete_fiddle - Posted - 08/22/2017: 06:23:38
the piezzo is built into the bridge and a little wire comes out of the foot of the bridge into the pre amp, it takes a coin cell (CR2032? or something)... no way to adjust anything at all, they even tell you what strings you have to have on the thing, they are almost indestructible though, being made out of Kevlar and all, and are really well set up from the factory...all piezzo's are extremely sensitive to any minute pressure changes in any way at all, so i would imagine that's why they tell you what strings to use, and i reckon if you wanted any changes to the bridge arch etc it would have to go back to the factory to do it, where they have the test equipment and knowledge to adjust them.. suppose that's why they are so expensive, each one is set up individually for different players (if they want anything other than their standard set up) at the factory (or thats what was happening when i bought mine)
