Most likely you’ve been trained on an acoustic stringed instrument. If you’re thinking about making the leap to an electric violin, viola, cello, or bass, you’ll find that going electric requires a few considerations. Here are a few basic tips to help you before you make the leap to plugged-in playing:

1. Loud does not equal electric. A loud acoustic violin is not an electric violin. When you start to think about electric strings, don’t think that by simply putting a pickup on an acoustic instrument it automatically turns it into an “electric” instrument. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Eddie Van Halen could never have done the great electric work for which they are famous on an acoustic guitar with a pickup! The body of an acoustic instrument is made to absorb the bridge vibrations so that the acoustic box “amplifies” the signal from the vibrating bridge. Because of this, the major problem with an acoustic violin equipped with a pickup is that the electronics attached to the bridge or body are receiving only a small percentage of the instrument’s vibration. That’s because the acoustic body is absorbing a lot of the sound, which means that while you might be putting a lot in, a smaller portion is coming out. The use of amplifiers and pedals is also compromised with this set up because the input signal is neither the highest fidelity nor the strongest possible. A solid-body electric is made for the most efficient and strongest output of sound.

2. Find a good solid-body electric instrument. The pickup should sit on a stable source—wood or acrylic—that has very few absorbing properties. There are excellent instruments available for $1,000 to $2,000. This new area of your music exploration should not be looked at as a novelty experience. Have confidence in your creativity!

3. Get strung up. Be adventurous with the number of strings you want to have when you plug in. Why buy a cool electric instrument just so it can imitate your current four-string acoustic? An electric stringed instrument should inspire you to look outside your “comfort zone.” Imagine having an electric violin with five strings and playing viola parts. Imagine having a six-string violin and playing cello and even guitar riffs. Or, really get adventurous and try a seven-string violin that is bass, cello, viola, and violin all wrapped up in one instrument. Think of all the possibilities.

4. Toys will rock you out. A good electric instrument can most definitely simulate a beautiful acoustic sound, but it’s so much more fun and cool to experiment with sounds only an electric instrument can give you. Special effects pedals, ranging from echo, looping, distortion, and wah-wah, can mutilate your sound to the point of no return.

5. Be mindful of your tone. Buy an amplifier that can process a transducer-type pickup; not a magnetic pickup, like a guitar. Crate and Blond amps, for instance, are excellent. I’ve also found that a good keyboard amp gives me a rich, clean sound, and then I can kick in my distortion and effects, jumping around easily without sacrificing tone. If you use electric-guitar amps, the rule of thumb is turn down the treble knob. Screechy tones define the cliché beginner electric tone. So, turn down the treble! Listen to and record yourself so you can listen back to not only your playing, but also your tone. Listen to professional electric violin players as much as possible to develop a good sense of the varieties of tone. And, remember if your “clean” sound is beautiful, then any effects pedal will sound that much better.

Mark Wood is an educator, recording and performing artist, and violin manufacturer.