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Hi, I play violin for 2 years and my two daughters play violin as well (1/4 and 3/4 size). Since we all play violins, I thought it'd be fun to learn to do some basic setup work. I had my previous violin adjusted a few times by luthiers and it was really interesting to hear the improvements that were made. I have an inexpensive 14" viola that I can use for practice. I don't play it often and it was cheap (Cecilio CVA-500 from Amazon) so if I mess it up, it's not a big loss. I also have my previous violin that I was going to sell, but if I can learn to customize a bridge for it, that would be very interesting too and could help with reselling it, or if I can correct some of its issues it could be interesting for my daughter. I received the StewMac violin setup DVD for Christmas and I really enjoyed it, which increased my desire to try some things myself. The things I'd like to do to my viola are: Make a new bridge Adjust soundpost Fit the pegs - I broke one and had a luthier replace it, the others need to be redone too. Replace the tailpiece with a Whittner with built-in fine tuners (or a tailpiece without fine tuners, I don't have fine tuners on my violin so if the viola pegs are fit properly I don't think I'll need fine tuners on the viola). I've done a lot of googling on the net and searching in these forums and I've learned a lot. But one question I have for which I haven't been able to find an answer is whether a 14" viola would require different parts than a violin? I got the viola in 14" because I still have intonation issues on my violin and I didn't want to be distracted by a larger size viola. So the viola is similar in size to a violin but it's a little bigger and a little taller. When I buy bridge blanks, can I use violin bridge blanks? The bridge that is on it looks similar in size to a violin bridge but it is thicker. I don't know if it needs to be thicker or if it just wasn't fitted properly. Well for the price I'm sure it wasn't customized very well. I also have the same question for the tailpiece, can I use a violin tailpiece? While searching the forums I found someone recommended a pack of 100 bridges from ebay to practice on. So if those will work for the 14" viola I'd like to get them. Here's the link (I hope it's ok to post these, if not the links can be removed): http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-4-100-pcs-violin-bridges-fine-maple-laser-precise-/201134962205?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ed493f61d I wrote to the seller and asked what tools he recommends for the setup work I intend to do and he recommended the following in addition to the bridges: a knife - http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/201303798766 sound post tools - http://www.ebay.com/itm/sound-post-gauge-Setter-retriever-luthier-tools-violin-/181585489641?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4756aee9 a mini-plane - I really don't know what this is used for - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Strong-Brass-Mini-plane-curve-underside-violin-making-tools-6086-/351120166490?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51c0648e5a peg reamer and shaver - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Best-violin-tool-VIOLIN-PEG-HOLE-REAMER-VIOLin-PEG-SHAVE-/181465424465?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a402ea251 And I was also planning on getting: whittner tailpiece - http://www.thomann.de/fr/wittner_tailpiece_violin_44.htm a good bridge when I'm ready for it - http://www.thomann.de/fr/aubert_mirecourt_violin_bridge_4_4.htm I live in France and his prices seem to be very good compared to what I've found in France. My questions are: Can I use 4/4 violin parts for the 14" viola? Are there any books or DVDs that would help me to learn the setup items I'd like to do? I know there are a lot of violin books about making violins but for now I just want to focus on the setup. Do you recommend the tools I listed above? Would you recommend any better alternatives? Thank you very much for reading and I look forward to getting some feedback and sharing my progress in this adventure.
