Please help me decide between these two violas for a beginner…?
Viola #1:
Yamaha AVA5 16.5″ hand made, Top Solid hand-carved spruce, Back Solid hand-carved maple (2 pieces), Finish Hand brushed oil varnish,Bridge Aubert, Fingerboard Ebony.
Tailpiece Wittner with integrated tuners, Chinrest Rosewood.
Pegs Rosewood, Strings D’Addario Prelude. Cheap case, wood bow with authetic horse hair, cheap rosin.
Price: 400 euros (~550 U$)
Viola #2: No name 16.5″, hand made, Top Solid hand-carved spruce, Back Solid hand-carved maple (2 pieces), Finish Hand brushed oil varnish,Bridge Aubert, Fingerboard Ebony, very good case with hydrometer and 4 bow slots, bow made of brazilian wood with real Mongolian horse hair, chinrest, tailpiece with integrated tuners, fingerboard and pegs of ebony, Aubert bridge, Thomistak Dominant strings.
Price: 560 euros (~750 U$)
Thanks a lot.
I don’t know that it’s all that important which instrument you go with as an absolute beginner. Both of those violas sound suspect to me – Just about any viola would fit the descriptions above as long as it doesn’t have a painted fingerboard.
I would suggest renting an instrument from a local shop at first, just to get the hang of it. Then at about the time when you can tell the difference between instruments by the sound, and you have a preference between them, then you might consider buying something.
If you feel strongly that you want to buy something, I would go with an place like Johnson Strings or Stringworks because they have good instruments for reasonable prices and good return/upgrade policies. They may even often rentals.
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