Andrea Guarnieri – Custom Viola

Back: Baltic Maple
Top: Italian Spruce
Neck: Baltic Maple

Antiqued oil varnish

Body length: 418 (16.5 -“)
Bouts: 196, 137, 242
Ribs: 35 at top block, 38 at lower
String length: 379
Stop: 224

This viola was made for Alysio de Mattos, professor of viola at  Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.  The basic pattern for the viola is Andrea Guarnieri, but Alysio wanted some specific features on his instrument.  The body length and string length were to match his other violas so as to make switching between them easier. To get the string length that he wanted, I slid the f holes down the body by a couple of millimeters.  To ensure ample clearance for the bow hand the the C-bout was made slightly larger by sending the lower corner south. For the concern over hand clearance the corners were kept short and point more outwards than inwards, towards the C-bout.  The fingerboard is slightly shorter than normal so as to trim a little weight off the instrument.