This is the largest viola I normally make. I drew up the design some years ago, based on the Gasparo da Salo tenor viola in the Ashmolean Museum. That's a very large instrument, so I redrew it to what is a more comfortable size. This one is a commission from a pupil at Chetham's School of Music. He's been hiring a Maurice Bouette viola from me for the last year, and is excited that he'll be having his own custom-made viola soon. As ever, I've started by making the ribs, strips of maple … [Read more...]