STAT-V Electrostatic Transducer for Violin and Viola with STAT-Preamplifier

Best violin pickup I have used with least the amount of feedback. I played with a Jazz band and was placed in front of the overhead PA speakers. No feedback and loud enough to compete with saxophone and trumpet. Good clarity on all strings.

5 stars for Djangobooks service, had an issue with USPS and they went above and beyond to make things right. 3 stars for the actual product. Installation is fairly easy, the sound is very good. In loud situations, it is more resistant to feedback than most pickups. The proprietary connections are clunky at best, not very user friendly. There is a very small short wire that comes from the actual pickup where it connects with the main cord/cable that will be plugged into the preamp. That connection is supposed to be attached to the tailpiece of the violin with a small bracket/clasp they provide. Like others have noted, it didn't secure well to the tailpiece, and even if it did, my chin would have been rubbing up against it, which would have been very uncomfortable. The cable that is supplied is proprietary, if it fails you need to get a replacement from Schertler. It's thin, and mine came with a lot of kinks. It's also very short, you will not be able to move more than 2 or 3 feet from your playing position. My only long term option is to do what was suggested by another person who wrote a review a few years ago, have the connection just after the pickup modified to connect to a standard, side mounted carpenter jack that accepts a 1/4" cable. When I contacted Schertler about suggesting a place in the NYC region that would be familiar with Schertler products for a modification, the rep seemed more interested to make sure I knew that it would be at my expense (I didn't ask, and of course would not expect them to pay for a modification that I wanted), and he had zero suggestions other than Jacksonville FL. I'm going to try and get a few years out of this pickup, but I have a feeling I'll eventually be returning to Eric Aceto. I had his bridge pickup for almost 10 years before the bridge eventually warped, and had zero issues and very good sound.

This is, hands down, the best way to amplify a violin if you want excellent tone and no feedback. I've been actively playing violin for 24 years, and many genres, including classical orchestra, a progressive Celtic band, and rock style modern worship. I've used a piezoelectric pickup(K&K), a clip on mic (meyer's feather), and now the Stat V.The piezo was great in loud rock settings when feedback was an issue, but even with an impedance matching preamp, the tone was frustratingly nasal. And the little discs under the bridge muted my natural tone.The Feather mic was amazing. I got emotional when I heard it reproduce my violin's true tone for the first time. But it created endless feedback on a loud stage with other musicians.I can't describe the relief I felt when I plugged in with the Stat V for the first time. Gorgeous tone! Rich, warm, full! And I stood right in front of my amp, cranked it high, and.... no feedback! YAAAAS! I also loved how little it changed the weight and structure of my violin. The mic fits into the kidney of my bridge, and the cord sits lightly on the tail peice.The only improvement I would make is with the cord. It's proprietary to Schertler, and wasn't long enough for me to move around much on stage. And wasn't short enough to use with the preamp on my hip. I ended up shelling out dough for the 6 meter cable, which was SO expensive! Hence the 4 stars.And, of course, service at the electric violin shop was amazing! This wasn't the first and won't be the last time I've enjoyed working with Chris, who got my order out right away, and solved several problems with UPS incompetence oon his own time. I'm definitely a loyal patron.

I've played every pickup on the market professionally and this is THE BEST PICK UP ON THE MARKET! Some friends of mine, Ryan Joseph, Billie McClaren, and Justin Williamson did a pick up shoot out with this in Nashville a few years ago. Our favorite combo when going direct was this pick up with a radial J48 direct box. However, when you're wireless, like we are most of the time, you end up having three belt packs. You have your wireless transmitter pack, the Stat-Pre (with a belt clip), and your in-ear receiver pack. I almost look like a cop or a scuba diver. It's worth all of the extra weight on my waist because even without the DI in line, the pick up is warm, even, and transparent. The FOH engineers I deal with do very little on EQ besides the expected low end roll off.A concern I had was the fact that it was a contact transducer and there might be feedback problems. Feedback has NEVER been an issue. Regardless of a small room or a full on arena. The biggest issues I have with this pick up are personal preference issues. These are subjective to the environments in which you perform regularly. They are as follows;1. The pick up MUST be powered by the pre-amp. When compared to other pick ups like the Baggs or Fishman, a pre-amp is not required before going direct or into an amp. Going into a Schertler amp is one way to avoid the pre-amp because it has a 10v power supply built specifically for the pick up. However, this is not a big deal to me. I'll explain in a second.2. Proprietary connector is like a mini xlr. Not only is this connector proprietary, but the connection is very tight. This is great for a good connection, but bad if you or someone else trips over the cable. Additionally, the mount that connects the connector to the instrument itself only fits on a certain style of tail piece.3. Instrument cable is thin, proprietary, AND really expensive to replace. At the tune of $50 or more for a 25 foot cable. So, I opted to have the US distributor modify the pick up end and change it over to a 1/4" Carpenter Jack. If my instrument cable goes bad, most people have a 1/4" cable hanging around. Or, it's easy to get quickly. And, I don't have to have a specific tail piece that fits mount.Despite my small complaints with the system, the modifications I've done have made it very useful for me. I'm a very satisfied user. I highly recommend this product. If you have more questions about this product, please visit my website LearnFiddle.com OR visit my company Facebook page at Facebook.com/LearnFiddleOnline and send me questions. I'm happy to answer them!-Patrick