New Violin

[Crumbumonkey5]

A quetion for the more proficient violinists in town.
I am going to be getting a new violin. Firstly I play with a 3/4 size one at the moment, i'm 18 (my hands aren't getting much bigger) and I can play it fine: do I need to get a full sized one?

Also I want something that has a really good acoustic sound but can also be plugged in, is this possible without comprimising the acoustic quality?

Help would be much appriciated,
cheers

[Nefarious]

The best way to see if a 3/4 is still right for you is to put the violin to your chin and try to wrap your hand completely around the curl at the top. Your hand should make it around the curl and your arm should be stretched. Then you got the right size.

I'm not sure about amplified violins with accoustic quality. I have a silent violin next to my classical and the sound is pretty good when I plug it in (amp or headphones) but of course you can get a better sound if you're willing to put more money on the table. You can't play silent violins accousticly though, you always have to plug them into something. I am not too sure about whether or not there are violins that can do that. I think they're much like an electrical guitar. You have to amplify to get a sound.

Hope that helped. Good luck on finding a good violin. I'm about to go out and buy myself a new one in the upcoming weeks as well. Hopefuly I will succeed at this task :P.

[Crumbumonkey5]

Cheers.
I was sure you could have ones that do both, like an electro acopustic guitar. they just have some form of PZM or mini condenser mic on them.

[zhyla]

There are bridges with built-in piezo pickups that you can buy. Shouldn't affect acoustic quality too much. I think you can just buy the bridge and drop it in (with some setup work of course).

[Crumbumonkey5]

Or find one that already has one!

Cheers