mf | solo Viola 16.5 inch

Acoustically selected. Tested for solo work. Built in Germany.

The mf | solo viola in 16.5 inch is not a series instrument. Only about one in twenty bodies we build reaches the acoustic properties this line requires. Availability cannot be planned.

100% carbon fiberMade in GermanyAcoustically selected16.5 inch

Selection

Carbon has its own version of what violin makers call a golden sample in wood: instruments that stand out acoustically because of minute variations in the material structure. We identify them early in the process and move them into a line of their own. Three stages decide:

• Audiometric analysis: frequency spectrum, volume, overtone behavior
• Four-ear principle: two independent professional players test the instrument blind and must agree unanimously
• Finish inspection: only when tone and surface are both flawless does the instrument go on to finishing

Tone

Depth in the body, a C string that speaks at once, and color right down into the low register. The instrument does not saturate even under heavy bow pressure and carries through large halls, in ensemble and as a solo instrument.

Why 16.5 inch

The classic viola format, for players who want the maximum in volume and depth. The larger body unfolds the full resonance of the C and G strings. Combined with acoustic selection, this is the most powerful viola we build.

Specification

• Sound post: Anima Nova carbon, height adjustable
• Bridge: Milo Stamm Royal, hand carved
• Strings: Pirastro Perpetual
• Pegs: Wittner fine tuning pegs with Swarovski crystals
• Fingerboard: CITES-free composite
• Finish: vacuum infusion, two lacquer cycles with sanding between, hand polished
• Warranty: 5 years on the body

Optional: hybrid

With a built-in Cordasonus pickup. A proprietary treated crystal from a German ceramics technology company sits in the bridge and registers pressure changes there and nothing else, not the general resonance of the body. The result is a natural tone without the hardness of conventional piezo systems, a frequency response from 10 Hz to 80 kHz and low feedback sensitivity.

The pickup rotates in the bridge. Turning it in 45 degree steps changes the tonal character, with no tools and no equalizer.

Available exclusively as a four-string instrument in the configuration described. Custom finishes outside the Orchestra Finish option are not available, in order to preserve the acoustic integrity of the selected body.