Why Remix or Upgrade Your Modular Fiddle?

The Modular Fiddle is a modular string instrument platform that allows easy changes to the instrument. What does this mean for you, the player? Well, you can remix and upgrade your Modular Fiddle however you like! But what does that look like in reality, especially if you don’t have access to a 3D printer? Let’s walk through a few different use-cases for the modularity of the Modular Fiddle.

Fine-Tune Your Setup

A violin is such an intimate instrument. We all have different preferences in terms of neck shape and size, string spacing, action, and other ergonomics. And if you add a fifth string this gets even more complex and important!

If you bought a Modular Fiddle from me or from a dealer (like the Electric Violin Shop) you can request customized parts for your instrument. To do this, get in touch with me, tell me what fiddle you have, and tell me a bit about what you’d like to be different. We’ll have a conversation to see what’s possible.

Swap out Acoustic-Electric and Solid-Body Electric

Let’s say you have an acoustic-electric Modular Fiddle, and you would really like to get a totally feedback-free instrument for your increasingly loud and distorted gigs. Or maybe you’d like a quieter instrument for apartment practice. No matter the reason, swapping out bodies is the easiest way to remix your Modular Fiddle. Simply get in touch with me, tell me what your current setup is, and I can either ship you the body to swap yourself or you can send the instrument to me.

You can also swap the other direction — if you’d like to get more acoustic volume from your instrument you can swap your solid-body for an acoustic-electric. No other parts need to change!

Upgrade your Modular Fiddle Body for a New Style or Color

So let’s say you have a solid-body electric. I have grand plans for making bodies in a variety of styles. Probably the first would be something with rounder curves, maybe a bit like the one in red here:

When I finally make this awesome new style you can use this new body on your existing instrument! The same goes for a new color option if you’d like to simply switch up your colors. Once you get comfortable with it, you can change the body of the instrument in about 15 minutes.

Change your 4-String to a 5-String

Are you 5-string curious? You can make your 4-string Modular Fiddle into a 5-string by replacing the pegbox, neck, bridge, and tailpiece. This remix involves changing more parts than a simple body swap, so I might encourage you instead to buy a 5-string. But if you’re on a budget, swapping the parts may be the way to go.

You can also go the other direction. Violist Rizwan Jagani purchased a 5-string viola from me in 2021, but he found that he didn’t feel super comfortable on the 5-string. We met up when he was playing a gig in Portland and he played one of my 4-string instruments. Rizwan loved the feel of the 4-string, so I swapped parts on his fiddle to go from 5-string viola to 4-string viola. I also happened to have some cool new color options…

Here are Rizwan’s fiddles, before and after:

Upgrade Your Modular Fiddle Tuners

The basic tuners I offer are ukelele geared machine tuners. They are super reliable and easy to install, but very heavy. Perhaps you bought a Modular Fiddle on a budget, and now that you realize you love it you’d like to upgrade your Modular Fiddle’s tuners. Easy-peasy. You just need to swap out the pegbox for a new one that’s fit to the different tuner. Perfection pegs are my favorites right now for top shelf performance and weight.

Upgrade Your Modular Fiddle with New Materials and Improved Designs

3D printing materials and methods are constantly improving. Check out these transition filaments, which were introduced to the market a couple years ago.

As the Modular Fiddle project grows, new designs and materials will become available. Your fiddle is upgradeable, so you will be able to take advantage of these improvements and see how they change your sound and your playing.

You Just Want Something Different

I am constantly changing things out on my personal instruments. Maybe I can’t leave well enough alone, but it is super fun to just try new things!

Whether it’s just color changes, or if I’m tweaking a design, I love the flexibility that the Modular Fiddle offers. If you’re feeling a bit ho-hum with your build and want to spice it up, you can do that!

Get Updates for New Designs, Options, Upgrades

You have a few ways to stay up-to-date with the latest parts and possible upgrades.

The first, and maybe the best, follow me on Instagram where I’ll post all my latest work. See something you like and wonder if it would work with your instrument? Shoot me a DM.

Sign up for my email list. I send out updates about new designs to the list.

Join the Discord server. It’s mostly conversation between folks building their own fiddles, but I also post updates and design changes.