I have a real soft spot for this model, the first of Stradivari’s violas. It’s an outlier amongst his output in a number of ways; the model is a little broader than the later violas, the back is poplar rather than the more usual maple. The original is played by Antoine Tamestit, and in his hands the sound quality is immediately arresting and compelling.
It’s been in my mind for a while that it could be an interesting project to reduce the viola from its original 16 1/4 inches to a smaller size. I’m often asked for 15 1/2 inch violas, so that seemed a sensible option. As the customers for my next commissioned instruments weren’t ready to go ahead just yet, I thought that this would be an ideal project.
So here we are. First up is making the mould. It’s a treat of recent years to use walnut, as indeed did Stradivari, instead of modern plywood. Walnut is very stable and a lot nicer to work with, plus looks beautiful. Indeed I have to stop myself seeing the mould as the end product, not just a step on the way to the finished instrument. I’ve then bent the ribs and glued them around the mould. The final stage is to glue in the linings which reinforce the eventual gluing area against the back and front. I use these cheerful gold cramps for that task.
While working on the ribs, I’ve made the scroll. The original Stradivari scroll has cello-like shoulders which I don’t like for viola players; they can feel a little bulky and get in the way of the left hand. So I had already redrawn and slightly reduced the scroll when I made the viola before. For this viola I’ve reduced the size even more and I’m very happy with the result, which has to my eye a little more delicacy.
