Yamaha YEV-105 NT Electric Violin

This is my first experience of playing an electric instrument.
I chose Yamaha YEV-105 NT Electric Violin not only for it's elegant design, but because of 5th string and well known Yamaha quality.

Sounds very quiet of course when not connected to an amplifier, but is enough to tune and even practice if you don't want to wake up your neighbors, for example.

Of course it won't replace an acoustic instrument, because as much as I love the variety of sound options, I don't realy like that I cannot control the strength of a sound only with a pressure of my bow. I think now that it would be very usefull to have a volume pedal.

The time is needed to ajust to the strings level and number, but it's much less confusing, then when one starts to play the viola after playing violin. It's light and comfortable and a 5th string is a great feature.

In total I am very satisfied with my choice, it's not the cheepest one, but I believe it's totaly worth it.

The most important thing to be aware of when buying this instrument is not to expect that it will sound like real violin. But, if you know how regular violin sounds on PA when using piezo pick-up, then this is it.
So, if that kind of sound is acceptable to you, go ahead!

Quality is excellent which is something that is expected from Yamaha. Big plus is that there is no preamp, therefore you don't have to worry about batteries.
Extended range is another big plus, of course if you need it. If you've never played 5-string violin before, don't be afraid, it's not so hard to get used to fifth string, although it will take some time depending on the repertoire you play.

I got this Violin because I wanted to experiment with using the low C string and modifying the sound and I gotta say, so far so good. If you pair this with a decent amplifier or even an amp modeler for guitars it can be quite entertaining to play with the settings to get some weird sounds. Its also rather comfortable for an electric violin which from my experience is a factor other manufacturers don't take into account.
So in conclusion, I'd say this is the best choice if you want to get a first electric violin.