© Photo by Lois Siegel

Ann's New Viola This page contains the story of my new viola, recently made by Ottawa luthier, Guy Harrison. I decided to commission a new, smaller viola after playing the wonderful instrument which Guy made for a friend last year. The viola is 15 5/8 inches in length and is based primarily on a small Amati (Strad Magazine, June 2001) with elements of a small Lupot owned by the National Arts Centre Orchestra. These pictures chronicle the construction of the instrument which was begun in June 2004 and was completed in early October 2004. Please be patient if they take a few minutes to load. You might like to visit Guy Harrison's web site.

	The viola was begun with the outline traced on a slab of maple. (left) By June 21, the top and back were roughly shaped, the ribs were done - here shown around their form with the back set on top, and the initial shaping of the scroll had been done.	June 21
June 21	Guy Harrison holding back of viola.	By my June 28 visit, the purfling had been inserted in the top and back. These pictures show the back which has been smoothed and burnished and the top on which the purfling is still rough and awaiting final finishing. The picture below shows the form around which the ribs are shaped.
June 28 - Rough top, smoothly finished back	June 28	June 28 - C-bout detail
June 28 - Upper-bout interior detail	June 28 - Purfling detail	These pictures, taken July 5, show work progressing on shaping the interior of the top and back of the viola. The f-holes are also traced onto the top of the instrument.
July 5 - f-hole placement	July 5 - inside of back	July 5 - inside of top
By July 13, the f-holes were done and the top was ready for the bass bar. The back was glued to the sides which had been removed from the form. The reinforcing blocks at the corners, neck and button end had been trimmed.	July 13 - Guy holding the top of the viola.	July 13 - Top of viola with finished f-holes
July 13 - Back glued to the sides. Labels have been stamped and glued.	July 13 - Reinforcing blocks have been trimmed.	At the July 19 visit, the bass bar was complete and the end button been inserted. Note the flange on the end button. This is used because in this small viola, the reinforcing block is smaller than usual to lengthen the inside of the instrument.
July 19 - bass bar complete	July 19 - end button complete	July 26 - The body has been glued together and work has begun on carving the scroll.
July 26 - carving begun on scroll	July 26 - carving nearly complete on other side of scroll	Some of the tools needed to carve the scroll.
August 5 - back of scroll	August 5 - top of scroll	August 18 - viola is prepared to have the neck attached
August 18 - The scroll is finished. The back of the neck will be shaped and completed once attached to the viola.	August 18 - The fingerboard is attached to the neck which is ready to be glued to the viola.	August 24 - The viola is glued together and will be exposed to ultraviolet light for a few weeks.
September 7 - A couple of weeks in a UV light cabinet have begun to impart a golden glow.	September 13 - A light stain prepares the viola for varnish.	September 13 - lightly stained
September 21 - the varnishing process has begun	September 28 - varnish nearly finished.	September 28 - varnished back nearly ready for final polishing.
October 4, the fingerboard has been glued in place, the varnish is being polished and the peg-box has been marked for the placement of the holes for pegs.	October 7 - the viola had been strung shortly before my arrival, making me the first to play it. Pegs and tailpiece are of dark rosewood.	October 7 - from the peg end, the viola looks long but in fact the body is only 15 5/8 inches. I played it for awhile and it sounds great, even into high positions on the C string.
	This shows the new Harrison viola (right) next to the viola by Thomas Oliver Croen (Gold Medal winner -VSA 1984) which I have played since June 1985. The Harrison is about the same width but is nearly 3/4 inch shorter, making it easier to play.	Return to Ann's page Return to Frederking Home

---