Violin Forum/Message Board

jonah5 · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:34 am Post subject: 14" viola

Hello. I'm building a 14" viola for my wife and wondering if I need parts different from regular violin parts (ie bridge, fingerboard, etc). I'm planning on building everything same except higher ribs, wider lower bouts. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Chet Bishop · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:20 pm Post subject:

Possibly add:

just my thoughts
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DonLeister · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:49 pm Post subject:

http://www.helenviolinmaker.com/talks_articles.html

Have you looked at these articles?

jonah5 · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:46 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys and thanks for the link to that article! So it's ok to just use violin parts?
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Michael Darnton · Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:06 am Post subject:

You can even use violin strings, moved over one. Then there's a particular C string that works well in that context (the C is always the problem) but I don't remember which one. . . .

Don L.?

You might want to make the board a bit less than 1mm wider than violin, because the total of all the string widths, laid next to each other, will be about 1mm more.
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Chet Bishop · Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 12:39 pm Post subject:

Helicore makes a good 5-string pack, including a decent C string...or you can buy them singly.
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DonLeister · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:44 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure what c string would work best on a 14" viola but I do know that the c on a 5 string violin set has a more violin like character than a short scale viola c string will. In other words , on a 5 string violin, a short scale viola c doesn't sound too good, too dark.