I had a very pleasant surprise the other day when Kombo SUK Pahang head honcho/arranger/keyboardist/violinist and all-round nice guy Tok Waled Da'eng dropped by with bass player Jack Firdaus in tow. As it turned out, Tok Waled's Indonesian-made "Noor Dazzle" electric violin needed to be fixed pronto as he was in the middle of rehearsals for an upcoming performance.
The violin was producing no sound, he lamented. It was a rather interesting instrument, I must say: fire-engine red finish, mahogany neck and body, ironwood fretboard; "Pick and Play" passive piezo pickup system embedded into the bridge. The cable from the pickup system was connected to a 500K mini volume pot and barrel output jack socket.
Closer examination of the electronics revealed that the resistive track of the volume pot was damaged beyond repair. To compound matters, there was no time to look for a replacement mini pot. Such being the case, we bypassed the pot; but there was still no sound. Then we located the root problem --- the negative (ground) lead of the pickup cable had somehow snapped off. The hot (positive) lead was still intact, however.
Yes, boys and girls, it was time for some emergency pickup surgery! The two halves of bridge had to be carefully pried apart with a razor blade in order to get at the piezo pickup. The piezo element was encased in heat-shrink tubing, and this had to be cut away so that I could clean the solder tabs and solder on a new cable.
Once this had been done, the bridge/pickup combo was reglued, reinstalled; and the leads soldered directly to the output jack. The faulty pot was retained, though; as removing it would have left an unsightly hole on the violin's top. And guess what? The Pick and Play pickup did come back to life after surgery; thank goodness!
Now, as it would be plugged into an amp, I do believe controlling the output of the violin would not pose much of a problem. However, I expect that one day Tok Waled will feel the need for an "onboard" volume control; and I'll be spending some more quality time with the Noor Dazzle.
Tok Waled Da'eng was kind enough to share three videos of himself playing this violin, two on his own; and one during a combined practice session with the guys and girls of Kombo MPK. I've posted the links below for your viewing/listening pleasure. Do check them out.
Noor Dazzle Electric Violin - Demo One
Noor Dazzle Electric Violin - Demo Two
Kombo SUK and MPK Joint Practice Session
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