Wisconsin violinist receives 'iconic' custom electric violin after delays

She ordered a custom violin to match her favorite pair of shoes. Fourteen months after it was supposed to arrive, she wrote to Contact Six, Jenna Sachs, with what happened next. Ashley Revelinsky isn't your typical violinist. She not only performs in weddings, but on pedestals, in caves, even in graveyards. This unique artist wanted an equally distinctive instrument. Ashley found inspiration in a pair of Jimmy Choo's. I saw this pair of shoes. They were pink and sparkly and I thought not only do I like those shoes, but that's exactly what I want the Viper to look like. A Viper is an electric violin with a distinctive, futuristic design. But getting Ashley's hands on her custom instrument took several beats longer than anticipated. There were rumors circulating online that the wait time had increased to four years. And my heart sank. Ashley ordered her sparkly hot pink Viper in 2023. The deposit was $2,400. The wait time, two years. Which at this point, we are well after the two-year mark. We're after the three-year mark. Ashley has emails back and forth with the seller, Electric Violin Shop, about delays with the violin maker, Wood Violins. In July 2026, the deadline for her Viper was extended again. Weeks before Ashley played the instrument for us, she'd filed a complaint with Contact Six after a run-in with Fox 6 meteorologist Tom Wachs at a nature center. And he's like, here's the link, you should absolutely submit for it. So I said, okay. And I think it was within 24 hours that there was... Like, actually, like, a clear path moving forward. The electric violin shop tells Contact 6 it offers custom violins from numerous violin makers but has no control of delivery timelines. It says Wood Violins experienced a growing and severe backlog after its shop foreman's cancer diagnosis and death. Wood Violins entered a buyout agreement, then relocated, adding to its wait times. The new CEO of Wood Violins says in less than a year they've completed every Viper in the backlog, including orders dating back more than four years. We want every customer who has waited so patiently to receive the instrument they envisioned. They sent a picture update and they said if we had to put a definitive date on it, it would be September 20th. Ashley's Viper arrived September 14th. I opened it up, I first saw the color and it exceeded my expectations. That means now you might spot Ashley and her hot pink electric violin at venues all across Milwaukee. Ashley is confident that Contact 6 helped to get a status update on her Viper and speed up its delivery. That said, this is a highly customized instrument and not something you can put a rush order on, so we don't really know how much we sped things up. The most important thing is Ashley has her violin and is extremely happy with it. I'm Jenna Sachs, Contact 6. That is a very cool violin.