NS Design CR5-VN-AM Electric Violin

This violin sounds great and has a very original and appealing design.
NS designs have been introducing less expensive series (NXT and WAV) but the CR remain the top of the range, with active electronics and solid maple body and neck.
The dual mode preamp allows you to choose between a thinner (supposedly more acoustic?...) sound, and a more full bodied one.
The Polar pickup system has two positions, one for playing with bow, the other for pizzicato. The pizzicato option is great, with the sound on the lower strings resembling that of a fretless bass.
The height of the strings can be adjusted and the tuning stability is remarkable.
While you can adjust the shoulder rest to your comfort, the chinrest is not adjustable.
It took me a while to get comfortable with the violin, it is a bit heavy, like most electric violins, but not too much. I don't find it suitable to play standard repertoire (it was not designed for that), but it is great for improvised music, rock/folk/jazz etc. Run it through some pedals and a nice amp and you are likely to get incredible results.