In our Accessories 2024 supplement, the Dutch Gypsy Jazz violinist shares his go-to tech accessories

Tim Kliphuis pc Simon van Boxtel;

Photo: Simon van Boxtel

Discover more Featured Stories like this in The Strad Playing Hub

I was given a Zeta Strados electric violin (zetaviolins.com), the fingerboard of which was inlaid with a cool drawing of a running violinist that my daughter Lucy made. To give it the sound I wanted live, I have added the following pedals, which I put on a rack: MXR six band EQ (jimdunlop.com) for tweaking the basic sound. It takes out some frequencies I don’t like, but this also depends on the venue. Next is the Whammy foot pedal (digitech.com). It adds harmonies in pre-composed melody parts and sometimes on improvised bits too. It sounds like two or three fiddles at the same time.

tim

The Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus, Zeta Strados electric violin and Lil’ RAT distortion pedal

Then the Lil’ RAT distortion unit (ratdistortion.com), which makes it sound really cool. Otherwise you may as well play a miked-up regular violin! Finally, the Hall of Fame 2 mini (tcelectronic.com) for reverb, which is needed for a non-acoustic instrument wherever you play – a no-brainer.

All of these pedals are powered by the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus (voodoolab.com). My choices were inspired by tips from experienced electric players (mostly non-violinists) and also my own ears, by trying stuff out in a shop the old-fashioned way.

Subscribers to The Strad receive the 2024 Accessories supplement free with their copy of the June 2024 issue

Read: ‘Dream big and give yourself time to try things out’ - violinist Tim Kliphuis’s life lessons

Read: Masterclass: Tim Kliphuis on Stéphane Grappelli’s Tournesol

Discover more Featured Stories like this in The Strad Playing Hub

Available on The Strad Shop

The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.

Playing

Best of Technique

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Teaching

Masterclass

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.

Find more on The Strad Shop