Realist RV5 Pro
How quickly could you be gigging amplified? It’s not as difficult or time consuming as you might think to go electric, especially if you give us a call for guidance to get you started. Nor do you have to necessarily dive into a flashy solid body instrument. Sometimes acoustic fiddlers just want a simple, reliable way to plug in and be heard, without a lot of hassle. If this is you, consider the Realist series acoustic-electric violins by David Gage String Instruments.
Electric Violin Shop customer Rick May sent along the following message and video about his recent Realist violin purchase. His experience reinforces what we know about the Realist — that it is a plug and play solution for amplified strings that sounds great and, unlike many pickups an clip-on mics, requires no difficult installation or expertise whatsoever to use. A Realist shipped with a careful EVS setup can go from out of the box and onto the stage in no time flat! Here’s what Rick had to say:
“Hi–
I hope Chris sees this, because he helped make it all possible.
Today, 3:15 p.m.: The UPS man delivers my new Realist RV-5 acoustic-electric violin.
Tonight, 7:00 p.m.: I’m playing my new violin to an audience of more than 100 people. Here’s a clip:
(Technical notes: The RV-5 is plugged into a Boss GEB-7 pedal for preamp and a touch of EQ; that signal runs to a Roland CM-30 cube monitor, and out the CM-30′s headphone jack to a pair of JBL Eon Power10 speakers. No tube preamp, no added reverb. There is a Shure SM57 in the shot, but I’m mostly backed away from it. The sound in the video clip is recorded by the pinhole mic of a Sony Cyber-shot camera.)
Yep, I think the new fiddle is a keeper.
Thanks, guys. You rock!
–Rick May”
That’s right — no complicated pickup installation, no microphone placements. Realist violins are truly plug and play! But just because they are simple to use doesn’t make them any less great sounding. Adam DeGraff and Russell Fallstad of The Dueling Fiddlers, a touring professional rock violin duo, chose the Realist RV Pro violins they got through Electric Violin Shop for both the acoustic and amplified characteristics of their tone.
The Realist violin incorporates the renowned Realist transducer discreetly into the body of a well built, good sounding and attractive acoustic violin. A 1/4-inch jack is well hidden on the back and a wooden volume knob blends into the ribs making so that you can fool you audience (or orchestra conductor!) into thinking you’re just an old-fashioned fiddler who plays really loudly!
The Realist RV-series violins are available in 4 or 5 strings and two levels: standard and ‘Pro.’ The Pro models have the same electronics and feature set, yet have a nicer acoustic body with more lively tone. Both the standard and Pro are bold sounding amplified fiddles that leave neither you nor your audience anything to desire in terms of tone. I guess that’s why they call it ‘Realist’!
Note to educators — Please contact Electric Violin Shop if you’re interested in purchasing one or more Realist violins or Realist and SoundClip pickups for yourself or your program. We offer special academic pricing on these models.
My son seconds everything said above…. he got his 5 string in August, and has been blazing away since. His RV5 is actually bigger sounding than his student viola [and thanks to Susie for picking out the biggest sounding one on hand!] when played acoustic, and plays well through the variety of amps we have around here, even handling tube amps at a good volume. It has basically shelved the solid body violins/violas we have in the house with it’s rich acoustic tone….