Jordan Electric Violas

             JORDAN ELECTRIC VIOLAS are designed and built by JOHN JORDAN, a recognized violin maker.
Jordan Electric Violas achieve superior balance and ergonomic function.

• Eliminating unnecessary mass from the body and scroll places the remaining weight as close to the support of the chin and shoulder as possible.
• Relocating the tuning pegs behind the bridge takes weight off the neck, making the instrument seem lighter and giving a sleek appearance.
• Using precision geared tuning machines makes fine tuners unnecessary.
• Rigid termination at both ends of the string provides maximum pitch stability, tone, and output to the transducer system.
• Maintaining standard violin geometry and proportion allows any viola pickup system to be used and the semi-solid body design ensures no feedback even at stage volume.
The concepts and design of the JORDAN ELECTRIC VIOLIN are protected under U.S. PATENT #5191159. Foreign patents pending.
 

FEATURES

All models feature carved wood neck thru body, ebony fingerboard and nut, ebony button Schaller tuners, ebony Kaufman chinrest and firmly attached Kun shoulder rest. Individually preferred chinrest and/or shoulder rest may be substituted at no additional charge. I’ve done several electric violas over the years including this 16 ½” five string viola for Alexander Mishnaevski (the principal Violist with the Detroit Symphony) (see above image of this viola shown with five string violin for size comparison).  Some electric makers offer only one size of electric viola. Since viola sizes are not standardized, my approach is to make violas to order to match the sizes of people’s existing violas. This involves more work than making violins where one adult size really does basically fit everyone. For the extra work of getting the needed measurements, making a plan based on each viola, and then building the instrument based on that plan there is an extra charge of $710 over the base price of the violins I make. Since there is only one case pricing option for
all the violas I make, I include the price of the case with the viola. Other than that, the pricing of the violin options are directly applicable to a viola.

The JORDAN ELECTRIC VIOLA standard four string model features maple neck thru body finished in a solid opaque color of your choice and choice of Ashworth or Barbera Standard transducer bridge. It is custom made and sized to match your personal viola and includes a deluxe oblong case.                             $2,980.                                                                                       
See options below to determine the price of an instrument with options as preferred.

WOOD AND FINISH UPGRADES

Pearlescent or metallic finishes - add $80
Lightly flamed maple with transparent finish - add $140
Heavily flamed maple with transparent finish - add $280
Exotic hardwood body - add $280 & up
Holoflash, or other custom finish - add $280 & up
Harlequin color shifting finishes - add $400
Gold plated metal hardware - add $130
Custom Inlays - quoted individually
 


OTHER TRANSDUCER OPTIONS

Barbera Hybrid Standard transducer bridge - add $80
Barbera Stereo Twin transducer bridge(Standard or Hybrid design) - add $210
StringAmp  transducer system - quoted individually
Other transducer options including: Barcus-Berry, Bowtronics, Fishman, L.R. Baggs, Schaller, Shadow, and Zeta Strados-(limited availability).
Internal or external preamplifiers. - quoted individually

OTHER UPGRADES

Detachable upper bout - add $280
Five string instrument - add $280
Six string instrument - add $750
Seven string instrument - add $1230
Fretted Violas - add $540
 
CASE

 Included in the price of the viola is a Deluxe Oblong Case with: Cordura cover, velvet interior, matching blanket, and four bow holders
 

There are many excellent choices of amplifiers that work well with electric viola. Most of the best choices are designed as acoustic instrument amplifiers as these have ultra-high impedance inputs that match ideally with the types of transducers used to sense the string vibrations, and they are designed for accurate sound reproduction. We have tried all of the major manufacturer's products and have chosen to be a USA dealer for the Headway Shire King 120 and Shire King 60 We haven't heard anything yet we like better than these.  There are far too many brands and models to list all the other possibilities, but here are some of the other popular choices: AER (many models to choose from including Alpha and AcoustCube IIa), Fishman Loudbox 100 and Loudbox Performer, SWR California Blonde, and Trace Acoustic TA-50R and TA-100R.

BOWS

Any conventional bow can be used with our electric instruments.  For those players who are thinking of a modern bow to match with their new electric viola, we offer the full CodaBow line of graphite-fiber bows including the CodaBow Electric, the first bow designed with electric violists in mind. These fine bows are available at special prices when purchased with our violas.

Read a Product Review of Jordan Electric Violins from STRINGS Magazine

Design your own violin (five string only) in our Virtual Workshop where
you can see 3-D samples of woods, finishes, and hardware options.

Visit the JORDAN ELECTRIC VIOLA Photo Gallery
Visit the Wood Gallery to see examples of beautiful woods we use.

AUTHORIZED DEALERS FOR JORDAN ELECTRIC VIOLAS

Currently, there are no dealers stocking our electric violas. The dealers below could accept orders on a special order basis. If there is no dealer in your area, you may purchase directly from Jordan Electric Violins.


INTERNATIONAL DEALERS

Maison TASSET sprl   Bd. Piercot, 31-b
4000 Liege BELGIUM Tel.# (00 32) (0) 4 223 43 47
Email: info@tasset.com (for Belgian customers, and any other French speaking or continental European customers)   

U.S.A. DEALERS

Electric Violin Shop   5314 Highway 55, Suite 102   Durham, NC 27713   (866) 900-8400 Email: info@ElectricViolinShop.com
Elderly Instruments   1100 N. Washington    Lansing, MI 48906   (517) 372-7890
Fiddle Center   300 East Main St. (Rt 9)   East Brookfield, MA 01515   (866) 490-0054 Email: info@fiddlecenter.com
Fiddles and Sticks   669 North Ave.  Winder, GA 30680    (770) 867-5228 Email: bhurley@mindspring.com
Groth Music  8056 Nicollet Ave. So.   Bloomington, MN 55420 (800) 969-4772  Email: strings@grothmusic.com
Gryphon Stringed Instruments   211 Lambert Ave.   Palo Alto, CA 94306  (888) 493-2131
Long Island Violin Shop   8 Elm St. Huntington, NY 11743 (631) 427-3569  Email: music@liviolinshop.com
Phillip Injeian Violin Shop  905 Penn Ave.   Pittsburgh, PA 15222  (800)553-8742 Email: pinjeian@fyi.net
REW Music  12006 87th St. Pkwy  Lenexa, KS 66215  (913)894-4349 Email: rewinv@sbcglobal.net
REW Music  1080 W. Santa Fe  Olathe, KS 66061  (913)780-4426 Email: rewinv@sbcglobal.net
Singing Strings Music   49 Shaker Road    Belmont, NH 03220   (603) 267-7186  Email: llleeellleee1@yahoo.com
Thomas Metzler Violin Shop   604 S. Central Ave.  Glendale, CA 91204  (818) 246-0278