Violin Collar (patent pending) Vs Violin Shoulder Rest

I remember some poor Reviewer complaining that the Fender FV-3 Electric Violin was so heavy that he could not hold it in place. It would not keep still and it took so much Left Hand effort to steady it, that the Hand was seriously distracted from work of actually playing the violin.

So I didn’t get the Fender FV-3. I got the NS Design WAV 4 Violin in stead.

And I found it so heavy… Well, it was the same problem.

But you can’t just toss these things in the Dust Bin, can one? So I thought and thought and thought, and an inspiration came to me. Hang the darn thing from one’s neck from a kind of collar that connects up to either the Shoulder Rest mount, or from the Bridge Nut Mount, as on a standard acoustic Violin. You see, the Center of Gravity of an Electric Violin, and even a standard acoustic violin is very far down, close to the chin rest. If all that weight is hanging from one’s neck, on a short chocker collar, then there is little weight left to bother one’s left hand.

After a few weeks of trying various forms of collar and fasteners (cotton rope and key rings and spring loaded clips) I got it about right for both my electric and my ordinary violins. I really don’t even have to use the chin rests anymore. Keeping the shoulder rest does help orientate the violin correctly. And I can play and play and play and never have to worry about adjusting the violin’s position.

Oh, and the bonus of using a collar… one does not need to put the violin down all the time… to rosin one’s bow or select new music or whatever. One simply lets go and the relatively small violins simply drop down on the chest unobtrusively. If one is a Bar Room Musician, then one no longer has to worry about one of the clients grabbing your violin and racing out the door with it.

Oh, I was told to patent the thing, so, sure, I’ll patent it. But if anybody just wants to make one at home, or put together something of a dog collar to do the same thing, feel free. I just don’t want to see them for sale anywhere unless it is I doing the selling.