Description

I made two violas with a similar design made of ‘Texas ebony”. This was the larger of the two at 16 3/4″. The other, a 16 1/2″ viola is what I presently play in  the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. That size instrument is probably a little big for me, but every time I make a smaller instrument it sells. It is hard to turn down an interested client, and I will always make another. Unlike violins, the violas are not standardized as to size. I have probably made violas in every 1/8 inch increment. If one were to build a viola proportional to the best violin it would be very large, so we violists, (the brunt of many bad jokes, and some good ones) play an instrument that is the largest that we can handle.