G'day 'Troupe,

Most of the 5-stringers I've seen have been built for amplification. One old friend has, for years, played a Barcus-Berry 'bugged' 5-string fiddle ... and it can work well, in a quite location, without amplification ... but it was designed to play through the BB 'bug' and a whopping big amplifier.

Once you are in 'electronic fiddle' territory, it isn't far to such weight-saving heresies as 'chin-cellos' ... violins with the stringing and pickup set up to play through an octave divider ... and come out the speaker in cello range! (Much throwing up of the hands in horror ... but I've heard them work well, with players that understand what they are doing!)

Regards,

Bob