Violin Forum/Message Board

[Chet Bishop]

A few years ago, in Mr. Darnton's class, it was revealed to me that the reason several of my violins "sounded like violas" was that I was arching them incorrectly for a violin...but apparently about right for a viola.

So (at my wife's suggestion) after restringing one of the "worst offenders" (my #5 instrument) as a viola, it turns out that I had accidentally made a pretty fair 14" viola, thinking I was making a violin.

I decided to attempt a repeat, only this time with better workmanship. It is still nowhere near "perfect", but, as my #30 instrument, a good deal better than #5. It plays well, handles like a violin, but still has the viola sound.

The back, neck and sides are big-leaf maple (sorry, Michael), and the belly is quite dense Sitka spruce. The back is spalted (sorry, again, but I like it) maple that was given to me in the form of a 30" diameter log, 30 feet long, so I have lots more. The neck came from my wife's parents' yard, and the sides are from a billet I bought 16 years ago and have been doling out one instrument at a time.

Here are some photos, if anyone is interested:
http://www.bluefiddles.com/2016/10/small-viola-set-up/
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Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[Dave Chandler]

Very pleasing to the eye!! I really like your little saddle, it looks very feminine, maybe petite is better, but a really nice touch. I've found that with the effort put into a nice violin, it really pays to have nice hardware, at lea st a quality bridge and strings.

Looks good. A friend of imine, who is a professional violinist, says the best way to break it in is to play hard, loud, double stops, even if just open strings, and just bow the hell out of it, every moment you have time.

Thanks, by the way, for the phone call with advise on loosening up my warped cello. Its complete, will start varnishing in the next couple days.
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Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[Chet Bishop]

Good to hear! Looking forward to seeing the cello progress.

Double stops is how I play them in, too...but drawing out big, deep "organ notes" for hymns, etc. Then I break out and do waltzes for a while, or whatever...old time fiddle pieces.

Glad you like the saddle. That is how I do all of mine nowadays. it is 36mm long, and 9 mm wide, so not all that little, but the curves make it look smaller, I suppose.

Chet
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Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[Cliff Green]

What Is the difference in the arching between you 14" viola/violin and your arching for a violin? Are you making the ribs deeper for the small viola than those for your violins?
Thanks

[Chet Bishop]

Cliff, yes the ribs are deeper: 35mm all the way around.

Regarding the arching: The "inflection line" (along which the convex curve of the arch changes to the concave curve of the channel) is closer to the purfling, all around, resulting in a somewhat "puffier-looking" arching, both front and back. Not attempting to follow a hypo-cycloid curve, though to the average person, the differences would be insignificant.

Relatively thin plates...fairly robust bass-bar. If I strung it as a violin, people would complain that "it sounds like a viola!" (which is good...)
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Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[Michael Darnton]

I think that the observation I probably made to Chet back then was that a lot of professional violists like old German or German-type violas, the type with an arch that's more flat in the middle, with a sharp curve down to the edge, nearer to the edge, and all around outside of that a virtually identical scoop, as if done with the same gouge. Usually this is called a figure-8 arch. This is the type of arch with a bulge just inside the scoop that's overdone in German factory Stainers. This is exaggerated, but the basic idea: http://old-violin.com/images/1_008.jpg
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[rs]

Nice, Chet. I have made a couple of 15 1/2" but never a 14". Yours looks good.
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Randall Shenefelt

[Chet Bishop]

Thanks, rs!
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Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[Jim Bress]

Hi Chet, To my inexperienced eye the c-bouts look a bit wide (for a violin). Do you think this is a factor in the viola sound? Maybe it's just an optical illusion with the arch coming up from the edge.

-Jim

[Chet Bishop]

Jim,

I am not sure I understand the question.

The outline of this instrument is exactly the same as my version of the GdG "Plowden" violin, so, unless my "Plowden" model is too wide in the c-bouts, I would guess it is an optical illusion. The two molds are identical.

That being said; your phrase, "...with the arch coming up from the edge." is right on the mark-- the viola arch does rise more sharply from the edge, and is not following the hypo-cycloid curve that I tried to maintain on the violin.

Beyond that, the differences lie in depth of ribs, height of bass-bar, etc.

I don't know whether this helps...
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Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[Jim Bress]

Very helpful, thanks! So I guess a correct observation would be that the arching makes the c-bouts appear wider. BTW, very nice looking model.

Cheers,
Jim

[Chet Bishop]

Thank you kindly!
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Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com