SLS Electric Violin
- As a Christmas gift for my younger brother, Daniel, who is an avid musician in my hometown’s high school orchestra.
- As a cost-effective alternative to traditional violins. The 3rd Generation of the violin is roughly $60 to build (without pickups), while an electric equivalent is roughly $140. I hope this will make music more accessible to students in the future!
Printables.com Link
Violin Full File Repository
4th Generation (SLS Version + Upgraded)
Upgraded Bill of Materials:
- Printed Parts - ~$1000 (rough quote, but free in this instance thanks to the sponsorship of Texas Inventionworks)
- Steel Rods - $6.63
- D’Addario Steel Strings - $39.98
- Tailpiece, Fine Tunner, Chin Rest Kit - $25.00
- Shoulder Rest - $26.50
- Gold Guitar Tuners - $12.59
- Upgraded Bridge - $12.71 (More expensive than the one I used but comes with grooves)
- Upgraded Violin Pickups (Optional) - $109.90
3rd Generation (Revisions 9 & 10, FDM)
In this generation, the violin is finally playable and has been modified to accept guitar tuners. This version is equipped to be 3D printed in PLA (preferably on a Raise3D Pro 3 Plus) and has all areas dedicated to the bridge, tailpiece, chin rest, and shoulder rest fully defined. This is the violin that will be gifted to my younger brother this Christmas (2022) and I recommend this version for students who want to make a very budget-friendly instrument.
A few notes: apparently the bridges I bought online did not have grooves for the strings, so I had to add them manually. For reference, the G and E strings on the bridge are recommended to be 33 - 33.5 mm spaced apart, which comes out to be about 11.08 mm of separation between each groove after doing some short math. Along with this, I recommend that future versions include a longer steel rod, as I used only the 12” one I had on hand, but it did not fit through the entirety of the violin. I would also recommend using a threaded insert for the tailpiece connection rather than a stock wooden plug like the one I used below.
Besides that, it is a wonderfully sounding violin! and can perfectly be tuned with both the geared guitar tuners at the top and the fine tuners at the bottom.
Bill of Materials:
-
Printed Parts - $0 (free at the Texas Inventionworks )
-
Steel Rods - $6.63
-
Tailpiece, Strings, & Chin Rest - $15.04
-
Shoulder Rest - $12.98
-
Guitar Tuners - $9.98
-
Bridge - $11.74 (More expensive than the one I used but comes with grooves)
-
Violin Pickups (Optional) - $80.00
Total: $56.37 (tax and shipping not included)
Total with Pickups: $136.37 (tax and shipping not included)