I did a little online shopping yesterday

Now 'Pan' is strung with a full set of Obligato viola strings and what an amazing difference it has made to the sound - Yita must send out these instruments strung with metal dental floss!!! They are thicker than the strings that were already on but have taken away that horrid metal, nasal sound. I loved the sound so much I couldn't stop playing this afternoon and now my fingers are really quite sore!

For anyone who's interested I priced Obligato sets and they varied from £67 to £79 I bought a set for £67 from www.stringmail.co.uk I ordered them yesterday afternoon and they arrived this morning! Excellent service.

I also bought a Kun collapsible viola shoulder rest because I only had a borrowed one and I honestly can't cope without one.

Now I'm seriously hankering after a really good CF bow (and a professional set up and new case ).. but will have to save up

Oh, and here's the photo of the back of Pan - especially for Rosfrog. Rather pretty I think .. but I am biased

So pretty !

Lucky you!

Sound clips now, please!

Ooooo I love the back of your viola I like to see a pattern in the wood!!

How do Obligato strings compare with Dominant?

How do Obligato strings compare with Dominant?
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My over bright violin came with Dominants fitted and I swapped to Obligatos and its still bright but has a much warmer sound.

Pan is lovely, I love stripey backs, great terminology eh

I'm glad you like your new strings.

Pan's front and back are lovely.

What are his ribs like? You haven't shown us them yet...

Doh... I forgot to photograph the ribs!!!!!

So, which string gauge did you go for in the end?

I bought the 'hard' ones. They were so easy to put on but I still need to get the pegs checked out for proper fit. My new book of viola studies arrived today (Rowsby Wolf: Thirty studies of moderate difficulty) so some serious shifting work will start soon Ooohhhh 'half' position!

My new shoulder rest also arrived today. I bought a Kun collapsible one because it is fully adjustable and has folding legs. It fits beautifully and doesn't fall off like my borrowed one. And it is so comfortable. With the new strings improving the sound and the comfortable shoulder and chin rests I now feel like I'm getting to know my viola. I've decided to put my violin away for a few weeks so I can concentrate on learning the alto clef properly too.

I'll never be a great (or even just good) fiddle player by a long shot, on either instrument, but I am having fun



I don't really know unless the viola arrived with Dominants on it in which case I don't like them and found them metallic and nasal (but maybe those were just cheap chinese strings). I did try Dominants on a violin once and didn't like them at all. I have Obligatos on both the violin and viola now and am very happy with them; they're comfortable to play and I think they sound rich without being to loud under my ear.

The Euro is so much stronger now, hence the sudden price hike on strings. Most of them are made in Europe. For those shopping for strings made in the US, prices are similarly high owing the increased strength of the dollar.

Slightly off-topic, but there have been suggestions by various dealers that since musical instruments are a global market and the Euro and Dollar have strengthened, we should be increasing the insurance cover on more valuable instruments by as much as 15%.

That's really interesting. Would you need a higher official valuation (certificate?) or can you insure instruments for as much as you like. Martha would cost a lot more to replace than I paid for her so to me the receipt I have doesn't express her real value.