This is one of my favourite viola models; I've made it many times and a number of my earlier versions are now playing full-time in orchestras including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia. It's based on a tenor viola that is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which I scaled down to a more manageable size. Its maker, Gasparo da Salo, was one of the principal makers of the early school at Brescia in Northern Italy, and was known … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2020
319: 16 5/8 inch (42.3cm) viola based on Gasparo da Salo
I've had a break of several weeks from the workbench: I had to move out of the workshop to work temporarily in the house in mid-January, as the workshop was suffering water ingress and had to be stripped out and tanked. Fortunately the builders finished just before the UK's Covid-19 lockdown, and my wonderful brother arrived to help with the repainting and refitting. Even more fortunately we were able to get paint! Moving back into the workshop has almost coincided with the 40th anniversary of … [Read more...]
A violin reborn in its centenary year, part 2
I've had an interesting time varnishing this violin, and matching up the new wood and the old. First the violin had some time tanning in the ultra-violet cupboard, which brought the ribs up closer to the old wood. Then the whole instrument had a coat of coloured primer which again helped even the tones. For the varnish, I used an oil varnish with lake pigments that I made myself, a lovely warm caramel brown colour. I put one less coat on the dark cedar front and the very dark scroll, and it has … [Read more...]
