FoxMitchell

Why is one darker than the other?

This one is for people with more knowledge than I have! I've seen Vuillaumes that just scream 'authentic', but like martin swan said this one seems to have Vuillaume elements but at same time some are missing. Have you been able to look inside of it? Vuillaumes tend to have a variety of stuff inscribed inside.

Looks and sounds beautiful, Don! ...actually watching the video made me want to go practice some! So let's add 'inspiring' to the list of attributes it has!

I like it! What does it sound like?

So beautiful!

I like how clean and effortless the sound is! I've heard so many violas that sound like a constipated violin. This one is definitely not one of them!

I think he means YitaMusic. In which case, yes, I have THREE of their violins. Their 'master' Lord Wilton copy is pretty nice....... after I re-did the entire setup. The box is good. I have a Cremonese one that is nice sounding but on the quiet side. Also re-did the entire setup. And I have one of their Il Cannone copies, which is the worst of the bunch. ...it's not bad as a student instrument (a luthier here actually said it was well matched with the stuff in their 'rental fleet'), but has plenty of idiosyncrasies that make it too quirky in my opinion. Oh and yes, I had to re-do the setup on it. Problems with the setup that I have encountered have been that the soundposts have been invariably too long, wedged in there by force. Let's not talk about the strings that come with the violins, I'd rather them not send me any strings so I don't have to throw them away. And the tailpieces were all crap. The pegs actually worked pretty smooth on all three I have! The bridges are acceptably cut but I question the authenticity on their name-brand ones, and otherwise they are basically the lowest grade you get. Oh and they seem incapable of drilling a straight end-pin hole. ...oh and the 'ebony' crown on the Lord Wilton's heel is painted, not an actual crown. The Lord Wilton is their 'master' model and I don't really see a difference between their M/T20 Cremonese model as far as craftsmanship/finish quality goes. ...which is actually pretty good, the box and neck and scroll are very well done! The Cannone is a M/T19 and there is a noticeable drop in the quality of the wood, but the craftsmanship is still impressive for what it is (I got that one when I was learning to work on violins and I wanted a cheap one that I wouldn't feel sorry if I ruined it - this was before I discovered old German Dutzendarbeit stock - but it is a nice enough violin that I didn't have the heart to take it apart).

If you could get a hold of it I would love to see scans of the 'Lord Wilton' Guarneri!

As someone who works with metals, I'm insulted by the crude craftsmanship on the edges and welds! That kind of finish would be absolutely unacceptable in my workshop!

That is pretty neat! ...but I'm with kyproset, I wanna see the Vuillaume too!

If I could play that instrument there, I would take up playing the viola! It's looking amazing!

That is some good looking varnish there!

http://www.violinforensic.com/

...that would explain why the label is so crooked in there! Thanks! Cheap or not, it's still nice to know who had their hands on it. And I'm pretty sure it was re-varnished at some point, and it seems to have had a lot of other work done in the past. ...you make it sound like it has the Plague or something! Since it actually has no open seams, I'll make it a bridge and set it up and see what it sounds like. Maybe that wobbly bassbar can help my lower strings vibrato or something!

Nah, I've made nice sounding fiddles out of much worse junk, this one can't be that bad! (besides, that's the viola joke )