Contact Info.
Don Rickert on Linktree: https://linktr.ee/donrickert. This link gets you to ALL of my detailed contact information, my websites and social media.
Email: [email protected]
Phone (in US): 706-896-0909 or 706-400-1481 (mobile)
I am posting this article to provide more information to potential buyers of a Tenor (G2 D3 A3 E4) or, optionally, Octave-tuned (C2 G2 D3 A3) Viola that I am currently selling. It will be of interest to anyone who currently has, or is considering acquiring, a lower-pitched viola.
Introduction
Do you remember the “chin cello” fad just a few years ago. As far as I have been able to surmise, this pretty much revolved around the apparently successful marketing effort by Bellefina, a Chinese company with an Italian-sounding name, that made inexpensive large violas that were set up with octave viola strings. I recall that they even made a 5-string version. Apparently, Bellefina still makes them, at least the 4-string version. The going street price at the usual online discount megastores (e.g., Musician’s Friend, Guitar Center, etc.) is currently about $829us. I have no idea what type of strings these instruments for sale currently could use. Keep reading for more about this.
Chin Cellos
There is even a “Chincello Society” Facebook page self-described as “A community of string players dedicated to the advancement and promotion of the Chincello instrument”. This appears to be a marketing site for a company called Prodigio Strings, who apparently offered octave tuned violas costing even less than the Bellafina ChinCellos. There has not been a new post to the Chincello Society Facebook page since 2019, an indication that not much is happening there.
Luthier-Built Octave and Tenor Violas
Even some luthiers, myself included, tested the market with high-quality, and, yes, more expensive ($3000+) luthier-built Octave Violas. My experience is that if you make a viola large enough, it will sound pretty good when set up with octave strings. I made a number of 16” “Tertis pattern” (viola with extra wide middle and lower bouts, associate with Lionel Tertis), optimized as octave violas. I have always felt, however, that the smallest instrument suitable for a cello tuning is the Violoncello da Spalla, which itself pushes the boundaries for the baritone range on a relatively small instrument.
Strings for Tenor Violas and Octave Violas
Regardless of whether you choose to call the instruments Chin Cellos or Octave Violas, they all absolutely depend on special octave viola strings, which were made by only a single manufacturer, SuperSensitive. If you pay attention to such things, you will know that SuperSensitive, the company that used to manufacture the strings went out of business (an unfortunate victim of the COVID-19 lockdown). SuperSensitive was acquired by D’Addario; however, there is definitely NO plan to restart manufacturing specialty strings, such as for octave violas, EVER! Please note that D’Addario Octave Violin Strings ARE available. No, they will NOT work for the longer scale length of even a 15.5” viola.
Custom hand-made strings have always been an option, but they can be quite expensive ($500+ per set), and they are generally real gut. This means that they have VERY large diameters (like more than 3mm for a C-string).
But there is good news, D. Rickert Musical Instruments can get custom strings for both Tenor Viola (G D A E) and Octave Viola (C G D A) and even 5-string Octave Viola (C G D A E). They are “modern” in that they are silk core strings with silver winding and an inner winding of tungsten for C2 and G2 strings. They are made for us by Atelier Boussoir in the Lorraine region of France (Lorraine borders Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg).
In fact, Atelier Boussoir makes custom strings sets for all of my “non-standard” bowed instruments, including Violoncellos da Spalla. Sets run from about $150 to $250, depending on the instrument and the number of strings in a set. That is a bargain. They cost not that much more expensive than the SuperSensitive Sensicore strings did when they were available. The Boussoir strings are FAR superior to the Sensicores, in terms of sound as well as playability. Due to the tungsten inner windings, the Boussoir strings are smaller in diameter. For reference, a viola G2 strings is a mere 1.5mm (1/16th inch) in diameter! The genuine silk cores are much more “live” than synthetic (e.g., Perlon) cores.
How to order
Using the image as a guide, record measurements A, B and C, in millimeters.
Send me an email with the measurements and the desired tuning for each string. I will get back to you with a quote and estimated date. It generally takes about 3 weeks.
Don Rickert on Linktree: https://linktr.ee/donrickert. This link gets you to ALL of my detailed contact information, my websites and social media.
Email: [email protected]
Phone (in US): 706-896-0909 or 706-400-1481 (mobile)
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