Ponty has been an avid user of five-string electric violins (with a low C string) since 1978. He sometimes uses a six-string electric violin called the Violectra, with both the low C and low F strings (not to be confused with the "violectra" he played from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s that had the usual four strings but tuned an octave lower). He combined violin with MIDI, distortion boxes, phase shifters, and wah-wah pedals. This resulted in his signature, almost synthesizer-like sound.