Vitar violins

Advertised as being designed "by a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology", it incorporated very advanced onboard electronics with active volume control for each string, a 'mute-tone' control and a built-in distortion called the "DynaFUZZ".

The bridge is a solid piece of acrylic and the magnetic pickups are built into fingerboard, allowing for the individual volume controls.

The Vi-tar is listed on many album credits, but by far the most well known player was John Franklin "Ellington" Blair.

John Blair was an improvisational jazz violinist who primarily used a Vi-tar violin throughout his career.

He released 4 albums of his own, but also played on many others with artists such as Leon Thomas, Richie Havens and Lalo Schifrin.