Built a lot of violins, never a viola. Am influenced by Manfio and da Salo, with input from Morel's observations. Morel likes 375 mm scale length, but that gives me a rather large viola. Manfio finding 16" / 406 mm most popular. Dalton Potter is doing 400 mm / 15 3/4". Could use advice / preferences.

I'm taking into consideration a conversation from Maestronet: " the viola I liked perhaps the most was the small Guadagnini. The Guad. definetly had a more alto sound but, that was what filled the hall. I listened to a few other Bresian violas and found my ear didn't reallu like them out of a small room. This gave me the courage to try and make a small Guad. model 15 3/4" and I love it. So easy to play, and such a clean sound. I noticed that the soloists that could pop over the orchestra tended to play smaller alto sounding violas and the large tenor violas tended to wash out in the solo setting. Most violists I know want the big tenor sound, but I see a change occuring as many players have discovered the playability and popping sound of a smaller viola."

That's really giving me pause. I need not copy anything as to style, although I rather like the Brescians and intend to build on the back with harmonic proportions (influenced by Daniel Hoffman's multi-size Brescian models).

Here's what Morel had to say:

"We designed an instrument based more on Gasparo than Stradivari. The

result was a success in terms of playability and evenness of sound. From

that model Bill constructed many violas – 16 1/2 inches, 17 inches and

17 1/2 inches – all with the same string length.

- Length of viola body: 16-17 1/2 inches (408-445 mm)

- Diapason or stop (top of edge to centre of bridge): 8 3/4 inches (223

mm)

- Neck length (top of edge to below top nut): 5 7/8 inches (150 mm)

- String length: 14 3/4 inches (375 mm). This will vary slightly

according to the arching. A few millimetres will not hurt, but not more

than two one way or the other.

If we consider the violas we have to hand, we see that the old Brescians have

practically no waist; they are mostly large with full arching. The back

is made of maple cut on the slab, which is much softer than that of

quartered maple. This is the best choice for viola voice."

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Manfio suggests 408 with upper no more than 190 and lower of 255, in a Guadagnini model.

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So I'm in a bit of a tizzy. 400 mm body is very tractable, but reaching out to a 255 lower bout really pushes the boundaries, and getting away from harmonic proportions makes me feel not as good.

What do people like? As for me, I like this 1590 da Salo very much, but am overwhelmed by the size: Tchaïkovski : Valse Sentimentale, par Gérard Caussé - YouTube I can really see the arching and how it is working, certainly the wood isn't too thin. Many details remain a bit obscure, but will work that out via my usual methods.

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Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. This first viola will likely be for me (I haven't played viola before, but no big deal really). But if someone wanted it, I'd certainly let it go, and if I like the process and it passes muster at a few shops and with players I'll do more. Planning on building on the back, no or small corner blocks, simple ornamentation (e.g., single purfling, maybe with a flourish somewhere), Bresican influence in geometry, arching, general feel, loose and free carving) but will let my mood and feel for the wood guide overall style, probably make the scroll without patterns, just compass, ruler, and proportional dividers (some of my best scrolls were carved this way).