Our (Vanessa-Mae's and my) violins from ZETA (update!)

[foreverred]

So I received my new Jazz Fusion 5-string violin from Zeta last week...
It is of a lightweight basswood construction with a maple top, and the entirety of the instrument (including the neck) is finished in translucent red. There's a picture on my website, http://www.omarlopezmusic.com/gear.html

I used to have a Jazz Standard 5-string - that is the 5-string version of what VM used to use, except mine was solid red and hers was solid white, with the strange allen wrench tuners on the modern headstock.

In the past couple of years, Zeta relocated to Arizona from Oakland, California, and redesigned the internal electronics used inside the Jazz Fusion (the new version of the Jazz Standard violin, with a more traditional headstock and tuners).

Just by plugging it in and hearing it and remembering the Jazz Standard, I realize why VM has a new Zeta of her own - it is the Jazz Fusion 4-string in Metallic Grey. The Fusion is lighter (the Standard was heavy!) and the internal preamp and wiring is of a higher grade, making the sound output clearer and punchier. I like this instrument so much more! I still have my Jazz Acoustic Pro as well.

This explains why she rarely (if ever) used her Ted Brewer at TRULY live performances - she mostly did mimed performances at promotional concerts and television with it if anything, but the new Zeta Jazz Fusion violin is definitely a step up from the TB or the Jazz Standard.

For anyone who has heard VM live at her Choreography or Tour for Change concerts with the new gray Zeta, can anyone tell a difference in the sound between it and the acoustic, miked violin?

-Omar