the new fiddle
I was searching for a new electric fiddle for months -- calling violin stores, researching on the internet. The tricky thing about an electric fiddle is that you can't just walk into your local music store and try them out. So there's a lot of research and blogs and faith involved in the whole process. After looking at violins from all over the world (through cyber space), including Australia, Scotland and California, I decided on the 5-string fiddle by Ned Steinberger. Ned's instruments came highly recommended by everyone who has tried one. He actually began by designing basses and cellos, which I though was cool, because I love to make my fiddle sound like a bass. I went to an online store to order the fiddle, but it was on backorder. So I waited for a week, and then another week, and then began another week of waiting. Now our summer tour was quickly approaching, and I needed that fiddle. Danielle suggested I call the manufacturer directly to find out when they would be shipping the instrument to the store I wanted to buy it from. I figured it was probably a big company and didn't expect to get much info from them, but I called anyway. (For the synchronicity to make sense to you, you have to know that we live in Asheville, NC, and the first show on our tour was to be in Rockland, Maine, where we had lived when divineMAGgees was born.) So I called NS Design and talked with David who answered the phone, who just happens to be half of the company -- Ned the designer being the other half. I had a great conversation with David, which made me even more excited to get the fiddle, and he offered to ship the instrument directly to me, since they had just received them that day after a hold-up in customs from the Czech Republic. And then he tells me that NS Design is located in Damarascotta, Maine -- 30 minutes south of Rockland where our first show was to be the following week! So after all that searching and waiting, I ended up picking up my fiddle in person from the design shop on our way to Rockland, 3 days before the first show on our tour. Crazy! www.nedsteinberger.com
