hey all, great forum!
I want to start viola soon, and I was wondering what model you had and if you liked it.

16" Shen VA 800. Love it!

hey nox! this is `omega` on the `stringworks` forum! small world! (who am i kidding, we`re violists!)

*waves* It`s fun to see who all frequents the different forums!

And yes, very small world indeed!

Gliga.

Liz

Palatino. 15" Really loud instrument. Great!

I have a 16` Sofia, "Amadeus" Model, 1996 no. 22 by Miroslov Tsonev. My luthier is 1 out of 11 who work for this company. I love my instrument but I need to find some strings that will project on it (currently with Dominants). It is a little pricey though. I payed about $3,000 for mine. They have 4 or 5 levels of quality but all of there instruments are handcarved and are only distributed by 14 stores in the U.S. and 9 other places else where around the world. Mostly this is because the luthiers get to make there instruments at home if they chose, I think. I`m lucky I have one because the only distrubutor in the South-East is BERNHARDT HOUSE OF VIOLINS which is the city right beside mine in South Carolina. Very good quality and I wish I could have bought my Violin (played for 3 1/2 years before Viola) from there. The site is at www.sofia-violins.com. They also make Violins and Cellos. Make sure you put in the hyphen or the site won`t work.

Also be sure to try every viola you can because you don`t want to be stuck with something you don`t like. My teacher told me one time to go by sound first, and look at price later. If your first pick is to high, go to your second. Also try www.Stringworks.com. They have some FINE looking instruments and their support is fantastic!!! I am also a member of their Forum.

Sorry I`m not through, but I also was a beginner Violist when I bought my instrumnet. I was 1 month into my freshman year when I got it. Out of 6 people in my freshman class, I was the most committed. (No Lie!) So if you plan to be in your school orchestra from Middle to High School buy a cheap, but good, instrument and when you get to High School think about if you would like to continue with your Viola lessons. Always think with the end in mind. If you`re not a student in school, then I`ve made a real Jackrabbit of my self telling you this stuff, but always look at your options and don`t let anyone force you to make a decision. Remember, you`re going to be playing this instrumnet, not someone else. But also remember who is going to pay for it. I had to do a lot of work and sucking up to my mom to get my instrument. Congratulations on picking the Viola for your choice of instrument to play. You will be criticized at one point, and you will be respected at one point, but always stay true to who you are. I guess I`m done because my eyes are really starting to get tired.

Well, when I started playing viola about three years back, I only rented it from a music place and that lasted for two years, but last year, the computers there crashed and they lost all records of my viola and as far as I know it was the only one that was completely earased from thier database. Since I was planning on buying it anyway and we had already figured on a price, we let them know but they never got back to us. We`ve tried a couple of times but they are always hiring new people so no one ever remebers us, so right now I have a free viola and I could ask for a better sounding one I feel a little bad for it but they know (or at least knew)about it and they never got back to us, so it`s not like we didn`t try. I don`t know a whole lot of the different makes of viola`s but as far as I can tell, mine is a Suzuki that was made in 1974, my teacher (who is a vioinist but teaches vioin, viola and cello) even agrees and almost ever lesson she takes it to "show" me how its done, but she even admits that she loves playing it and has even borrowed it for a couple of gigs

I Play The 14 inch Shen S800 and i love it. Im always getting compliments from my teacher about how nice it sounds especially when all the othe kids in the orchestra are playin crap.

I play on a 17.5 Genial viola. I`ll probably upgrade to a Gliga in a few years. Congratulations on choosing viola, it`s the best.

I`ve recently taken delivery on a David Rivinus "Pellagrina" viola. It`s unbelievable...I`ll probably never play another viola again as long as I live.

Hi Zayne,

17.5" is really big. How is it? Did you play a smaller one before? Are you tall? How tall? What is your wingspan?

I have a 17" and really like it. (I have very long arms). I also liked a number of 16.5" instruments and it was a close call between them. There was even a 16" that I liked. There is a big difference in feel going from 16 to 16.5 but seemed less so going up to 17. (The 16" had significantly shorter strings). My vibrating string length (bridge to nut) is 15.25". How long is it on your 17.5" instrument?

(My instruemnt happens to be supplied by the same company that yours was supplied by--mine is a "Gama" model).
Regards,

Bill

hey everyone,
if you live in Australia and are looking for a good quality viola within the $3000-$5000 price range, try Vivaldi`s in Sydney. Im not sure of the phone number or address or anything, it should be in a phone book. I have a viola handmade by john Wu that was sold to me through Vivaldi`s and it is beautiful. One of my violist friends, when i asked him how much he thought it cos, estimated about $5000-$6000 but it cost me $4000. There are also some great violins and cellos.