Novita 3.0 UA 5-Str. Violin RB : Excellent in every way

First of all, this violin just looks beautiful. It is elegant and the natural wood finish looks classy. Also love the open scroll design, very useful if you need to quickly grab it out of your stand (if you have one).

It plays very well like an acoustic violin. The dimensions are the same (only the neck is a bit thicker to accommodate the 5th string), the weight is almost the same (and very well balanced!) and the action is very nice. Once you are used to a 5-string and the slightly tighter string spacing, you don't want to go back.

I love the geared tuning pegs. They are smooth and make absolutely no noise when turning them. The fine tuners are built in these pegs, so you have to turn them quite a bit if you change strings.

I feel the universal adapter for your own shoulder rest is an absolute must-have, and would advise anyone to choose this model over the standard one. The chin rest feels nice and is in height adjustable.

The pick-up gives a very warm and clean sound. Of course, it does have that typical piezo-electric sound to it, so don't expect it to sound like an acoustic violin. This really isn't annoying in any way on stage, but in a studio setting it can sound a bit dull. This is true for all electric violins, even the most expensive ones, so I don't regard this as a con.

You can crank the volume all the way up (not recommended though) without distorting the sound or introducing noise. It's not as bright as a Yamaha YEV, but not as warm an NS Design. It's right in that sweet middle spot. The controls for the lows and highs cross over where you expect it to, and gives you the option to color your sound.

In my opinion it competes very well with electric violins twice it's price. The violin and it's set-up is very well thought out, plays and feels like an acoustic one and looks beautiful.