This is my detailed review on a very special gift I received last Christmas.
Cecilio 4/4 CEVN-2NA Electric / Silent Violin (Full Size)
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My Cecilio Violin is the Mahogany/ Metallic Style 2 version. Keep in mind, I am still a novice player. I started in May of 2018 – about 9 months. My observations are purely from a learner’s point of view.
The Case
PRO – A very nice lightweight hard case. The inside is lined with a nice blue velvet fabric and has a separate matching cover for the violin itself. I really like this idea – I’m actually going to use this cover as a template for making a cover for my other acoustic violins.
CON – When you remove the violin from the case, it becomes top heavy. This is a small detail that I wish more lightweight cases addressed. My advice is not to place this case where the top will not have support, if not, it will topple over every time you remove your violin from the case.
The Accessories
This outfit comes complete with a standard brazil wood bow, a very good quality rosin, a pair of headphones, and a quarter inch auxilary cable that you can use to connect to an amp.
The bow is good as a starter bow, eventually you may want to switch to a lighter bow such as the carbon fiber bow that I am currently using.
I’m also not using the included headphones. This violin is compatible to all headphones, so I’m using a pair of very comfortable headphones I already own. These will end up in my storage bin. I also recommend that you purchase a headphone cable that comes with an L shaped connector. That way the cable stays out of the way when you’re playing. The aux cable also has that type of connector as well.
The Violin
PRO – The mahogany metallic finish has very nice semi-gloss shimmery finish and it is very easy to clean. It also has a very nice inlay detail on all the pegs, the tailpiece, and the bow. I really like that.
CON – Also, the chinrest is not easy to switch out. The original chinrest is a nice standard GUARNERI style that is a center mounted. Throughout my playing, I have found that I am not compatible with any chin rest that has a center mount metal bracket. It hits my collar bone and causes a lot of irritation. I decided to switch out the chin rest and found that the body of the Cecilio silent violin is thinner than your standard acoustic violin. So a standard bracket will not fit.
Fortunately, I was able to remove the bracket from the Cecilio chin rest and apply it to my alternate chin rest. But it wasn’t easy, the Cecilio bracket is more narrow than a standard bracket. I had no choice but to drill an extra hole into my alternate chin rest to accommodate the new bracket.
In the end, it all worked out and now I have a comfortable chin rest that works with this violin.
The Strings
PRO – In my opinion, the strings do not need to be replaced. They are pretty decent, easy to play, and very easy on the fingers. I have not had any trouble getting a good sound out of them. It has been very easy to tune, and the pegs do not unravel as most new violins typically do at first. It has maintained it’s tune fairly well, I’ve used the metal fine tuners to get a precise pitch every time.
I’m very impressed at how nice the strings actually are. Usually outfits that are around the 100 dollar range have low quality strings and need to be replaced. This is not the case with this violin.
Behind the Violin
- The aux connection
- Headphone jack
- The volume and tone knob – I leave the tone knob in the middle – I honestly can’t tell the difference too much.
- On/Off switch
- Battery compartment that take one 9 volt battery.
Using the violin
PRO – Currently I’m just using my headphones and when I want to hear the violin, I use a small speaker. Of course you will get a bigger sound from a regular amp. This violin has a good low volume when it’s not connected to anything – which makes it ideal if you want to keep it low. I have practiced many times without headphones or a speaker and the volume is soft but loud enough to hear a good sound.
CON – The bridge is not very curved. I tend to hit the G and E string when playing either the D string or the A string. So perhaps in the near future I will have the bridge modified. In the meantime, I’ve been adjusting my playing so that I don hit the other strings on accident.
My Conclusion
Overall, I do recommend this silent violin to any beginner that wants to experiment with this type of instrument. It’s a lot of fun to play and I can’t wait to get some additional gear to experiment with audio effects.
My overall rating for this one would be 4 out of 5 stars. Only because of the very minor modifications that need to be done to make it comfortable. For the cost, which is around the $120.00 range, the value is extremely good.
