My Linarol viola

[mendicus]

Photos of my Linarol viola if anyone is interested to see it

[Dwight Brown]

Holy Smokes!  Thank You so much for the post and pictures, really special to say the least.

DLB

[jacobsaunders]

What makes you think it’s a Linarol. BTW there is a Gamba of his in the Kunsthistorishen Museum

 

http://www.khm.at/objektdb/detail/84741/?offset=1&lv=list

[Dwight Brown]

Here is one that is pretty well known.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~yzhch/mm/stationery/images/viola/

 

DLB

Looks similar.

I am not qualified to be sure.  

[Ratcliffiddles]

I have to say, I am not a bit convinced. Looks pretty recent to me.

[Dwight Brown]

This one is still a Lira.

http://collections.nmmusd.org/braccio.html

DLB

[caerolle]

Interesting scroll splice...  

[deans]

I was under the assumption that the OP made it. I might also guess someone like Michael Blaurock.

[Smith]

 .

[Ben Hebbert]

55 minutes ago, lawrence furse said:

Looks like the Schotten.  http://www.yizhakschotten.com/

I made a copy of that in 1979 and it worked out very well.  I gave it a dark brown antiqued varish job, it suited it very well.   

It really does, and a bit too much like those photographs, which seem fairly crudely cropped to a clear background... I'm afraid to say a lot of the ugliness of this makes me feel that it's directly inspired by the photos on his website, and may be less like the viola in real life. Having said that, I think its an impressive effort at interpreting something in many respects and have no wish to be rude or unkind about it... but a good look at some real Linarols would be very very very very informative before making a second attempt. 

[mendicus]

Of course it is copy, I finished neck yesterday, it is my first viola(and second instrument), as you said it is copied from those photos from Schotten webpage. And I would very very very very like to see real Linarol before second attempt.

[mendicus]

5 hours ago, Dwight Brown said:

Holy Smokes!  Thank You so much for the post and pictures, really special to say the least.

DLB

It was made thanks to you and your Dilworth's viola.When I first saw photos of it here I thought why he made such ugly f-holes, then I found they are quite exact copies and Linarols became one of my favourite makers

[JacksonMaberry]

That's pretty damn cool, nice job

[mendicus]

here is sound sample  

maybe Violadamore would like to know how does it sound

 

[mendicus]

Storioni violin.

 

[uguntde]

What did you like about Linarol's design? It is not what other people would copy. I guess the Storioni is also one you made.

I like violins and violas that are not Strad and Guarneri copies. I am not sure I would have tried Linarol. These f-holes are definitely on the ugly side. 

[JacksonMaberry]

Converted lira da braccio are pretty coveted as violas among professionals. 

[Bill Merkel]

I wouldn't call the f-holes ugly, maybe ancient, maybe expedient.  It sounds like a nice viola.  If you're going to use it, you'd better be a good player because it would attract attention.  I've heard the same said about red violins.

I like your Storioni too.  The workmanship and wood of the scroll and pegbox especially stands out.  How does it sound?

 

[JacksonMaberry]

6 minutes ago, Bill Merkel said:

If you're going to use it, you'd better be a good player because it would attract attention

Violists need all the help they can get in that department.

[Quadibloc]

5 hours ago, JacksonMaberry said:

Violists need all the help they can get in that department.

Violists tend to suffer from repetitive strain injuries because the viola is too large to play comfortably, but the sound of a viola is compromised because the viola is smaller than it should be for the best sound.

Various approaches have been tried to address this, in some cases resulting in instruments with an unusual appearance.

I don't suppose that the human neck is long enough to allow a violist to comfortably play a viola that has the proportions of a cello, but is only half as large in each direction?

[JacksonMaberry]

5 hours ago, Quadibloc said:

Violists tend to suffer from repetitive strain injuries because the viola is too large to play comfortably, but the sound of a viola is compromised because the viola is smaller than it should be for the best sound.

Various approaches have been tried to address this, in some cases resulting in instruments with an unusual appearance.

I don't suppose that the human neck is long enough to allow a violist to comfortably play a viola that has the proportions of a cello, but is only half as large in each direction?

It was a joke. 

[Bill Merkel]

7 hours ago, Quadibloc said:

 the viola is smaller than it should be for the best sound.

Are these big enough for you?

 

[Quadibloc]

4 hours ago, Bill Merkel said:

Are these big enough for you?

Oh, how cute! And even a fifth string, so that they can fill in for the violins in a pinch!

I take it you're referring to the instruments held on with neck straps - since the music is Bach's, and the instruments have five strings, I'm going to go out on a limb here and accuse those violas of pomposity...

EDIT: No, the viola pomposa is played on the arm, like a regular viola. If those instruments are violas - instead of smaller, portable cellos - then what we are dealing with here is the viola da spalla. Except that the one example I saw had only four strings...

Well, maybe the instrument was a viola pomposa da spalla.

EDIT: While the viola da spalla has four strings, the violoncello da spalla has five, so doubtless those were small cellos and not big violas.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Quadibloc
Further correction

[JacksonMaberry]

Not so fast, fellas. Those are cellos. 

[Quadibloc]

31 minutes ago, JacksonMaberry said:

Not so fast, fellas. Those are cellos. 

Given that, and that the cello is also "too small" for its pitch, but not so much so as the viola - so the violoncello da spalla is even smaller...

if one used different strings on a violoncello da spalla, so that it could be tuned like a viola (perhaps with the extra string lower instead of higher like on a viola pomposa: that is, F, C, G, D, A instead of C, G, D, A, E) would this be a way to finally get a decent-sounding viola that would no longer be the butt of jokes for a change?

EDIT: I see that cellos are not commonly available in sizes smaller than 1/8; it would take a 1/20 cello to approximate the size of a violoncello da spalla.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Quadibloc
Avoiding double post