I bought another viola!!







No... really... here's the thing... I've definitely fallen in love with the viola and really the beginners instrument was driving me demented with everything from the squint, ill-fitted slipping pegs, to the nasty black-painted fingerboard.. it really wasn't going to be worth even replacing the strings! So I dropped Yitamusic a polite email, we had a lovely exchange about different instruments and qualities, and what I really wanted from my playing.. and they offered me a considerable discount on a top range model (and added an upgraded case out of good will!). I just can't fault Yita - they were so polite and honest!

So... I ran off a short print-run of one of my paintings, sold a few prints... and voila la viola!!

Agapanthus vII arrived yesterday!!!

He's a Yita T20, 15.5" viola, with certificate, and the most yummy honey-brown varnish. He arrived with his soundpost down so we've spent the afternoon having him tidied up and fitted out with a new bridge etc.. he sounds magnificent already!! The attention to detail is just beautiful - the pegs move like butter, the varnish is gorgeous, the purfling is perfect, and he's so deep in the belly compared to Aggy I, .. he's just beautifully put-together! And he only took a few minutes to tune.. although I know the strings still need to settle.

My little family is complete now and I'm really looking forward to happy string playing
(I have to say I'm becoming a fan of 'new' instruments because I love hearing them 'develop'; Martha's matured so much in the last year and now Pan will too....)


Here's Agpanthus II (or Pan for short )


.. and here's a close-up of the golden varnish which shows the colour more accurately



Off to practise now!!!

Glad you've found a viola that you really like.

What are you going to do with Agapanthus1? I hope you're not going to abuse him for your art project....

Yay Pan II is beautiful!
Remember... it's all down to me that you play the viola As i started that viola thread and caused you to buy Aggy I I'm quite glad about that

Turns out viola wasn't for me. Seeing as i'm teeny tiny, violin is plenty big enough for me >_< Plus i think my viola is too big... maybe one day in the future i'll buy myself a decent viola, and next time i'll go for a 15 inch like you, rather than 15 and a half!

Yaayyyy thank you ffliwt for the introduction!!

Pan II is 15.5" and I think I need a smaller chinrest on him because he's bigger than Aggy I and I can feel my neck hurt. It's better when I take the shoulder rest off but then he slips off my shoulder

Some teething problems

Ooh very nice
I'm tiny in the sense that i still fit in children's clothes (including my pair of age 4-5 hello kitty leggins o_O) so i think any size viola is too big for me really

Btw remember i was on about the 7/8 violin... i tried my friend's 7/8 violin today in orchestra and haaaated it x_x It's weirdly quiet and muted! The one i'm being offered is much much better than this girl's so maybe it wont be so quiet and such but i was quite surprised I think i might be sticking to full size! I'll feel so terrible turning down this violin though and for that very reason i really, REALLY hope i love it!

If he's slipping off your shoulder but you dont need a shoulder rest you could try one of these? http://www.enterprisingrabbit.com/images_f...popup_barco.htm You can get plain ones, i just chose to show you the dog one seeing as you love dogs

Yay!
so glad you've got a good one!

(another Yita fan...)

MUCH happier now I've changed the chinrest for something really comfy and my intonation is hugely better... feel like we're getting to know each other properly now Although I've played so much today my fingers are now too sore to press the strings any more

Turns out 15.5 isn't too big for me... I tried my friend's 16 inch yesterday and it wasn't a problem. It's just that my viola is rubbish The one i tried was a stentor conservatoire and i was shocked at how nice it was! It looked lovely and sounded great and when i looked in the label i was so shocked to see the word stentor

Go on, get yourself a decent one, you know you want to.....

I wish I'm saving for a new violin Then a new violin bow... and then maybe i can think of good violalalas

oh great!!! becuase i just ordered one of those cheap ones!!! hopefully, if its as bad as you say i'll have to send yita an email also...thanks.

Sorry to go but I've got a bit of a question about this. I've always had a similar problem with my viola (and never with violin) - it hurts my neck after I've been playing a while.

I used to always think that it was an inevitable side-effect of playing a bigger, chunkier instrument than the fiddle, though it did get a bit worrying at times - like the time I had weekend-long orchestral rehearsals in the lead-up to a Monday gig in college some years ago, and by Sunday afternoon I felt something tickling my neck, which turned out to be blood rolling down it from a cut caused by the whole thing

More recently, I tried exactly the same thing as you, Lottie - I took the shoulder rest off and it didn't really work, because then the viola just slipped off my shoulder. There had been a lot of talk on these forums about how you don't necessarily need a shoulder rest and so on, so I thought it would be worth a try.

So then I tried putting the shoulder rest back on and just took the chin rest off instead. Instantly, it was much more comfortable, though still did get uncomfortable after a while, so I think I will need a cloth or something cushioning to put between it and my neck.

So for any of the viola players on the forum who might be able to help, my question (which I've been laboriously working my way towards) is this: is there generally a problem with viola chinrests, especially for smaller players? And would it possible to maybe adapt one of my old violin chinrests or is it better to go and get a new one altogether? Or do I really need one at all?

Sorry for the long post

I think I've mentioned this before, but viola chinrests are normally identical to violin chinrests except for the longer brackets they need on account of the wider ribs on a viola. If your violin chinrest is comfortable, you should be able to get one of more or less identical size and shape for your viola. Or, if you have an old violin chinrest you're happy with, you could probably just swap over the bracket from the viola chinrest you don't like and Voila! (or is it viola?)

Lottie, your viola looks lovely

Fibi - I don't use a shoulder rest at all but my viola does have a chin rest and is very comfortable, I found all violas comfortable like this.

Thanks DiscoPants, I'll give that a go.

Thanks Nicia - I think I'm OK playing with a shoulder rest as the height seems ok. But the chin rest just seems to catch me awkwardly.

Sorry again Lottie for hijacking your thread!

I don't mind - if it's about violins or violas it's always interesting