Maxi Werker is a multi-talented musician and luthier based in Nashville who has spent the past few years working on a unique hybrid instrument combining a Telecaster and electric violin, dubbed the Tella-Fiddle.
Recently, she shared her latest take on the concept on Instagram and it caught the attention of YouTuber Tyler Larson, who invited Werker for an interview on his channel Music Is Win.
In the new clip, the two players kick things off with an exhilarating cover of Dropkick Murphys' rabble-rousing folk-punk jam, Shipping Up To Boston, showcasing the Tella-Fiddle’s scything electric violin tones in the process.
In the clip, Werker also explains the origins of the idea, which she has been working on for several years now.
“My dad and I had seen Junior Brown play with his guit-steel [a hybrid instrument of an electric guitar and lap steel],” says Werker. “I play fiddle and guitar and we got to talking and we were like, ‘This would be kind of cool…’
“So we took a Strat and an electric fiddle and we literally screwed the fiddle on top to the Strat and that was the Strata-fiddle – that was number one. [Then] a couple years ago I decided to build a Tele-fiddle and so that was my first build [of a T-style].”
Werker hails from Wyoming but recently moved to Nashville for luthier school. The shift pushed her to create her second Tella-fiddle – the one she demos in the clip. It’s only a few weeks old and, as such, she says she’s not done “pimping it out” just yet and still intends to fill out some of the joins and add a paisley pickguard.
While the first Telecaster/violin build was a Butterscotch solidbody, the new Blonde Tella-Fiddle has a Thinline body with an aged finish and a separate output for the fiddle.
On Instagram, Werker says she’s used Lindy Fralin Blues Special pickups in both guitars. However, finding a fiddle pickup that she likes “has been a long search”. She says she’s finally found it in the form of a Barbera transducer bridge pickup. A final notable feature is a bone nut that she crafted from elk antler.
While it might be easy to dismiss it as such, this is not another YouTube stunt build to be filed alongside Jared Dines’ 20-string Mountain Dew meme guitar. Werker is a luthier building an instrument that does what she needs – and it certainly helps that she can play the neck off both sides of the Telle-Fiddle.
Watch the full Music Is Win clip above and keep an eye on Maxi Werker’s Instagram for more Tella-Fiddle updates.
