Copy of a viola by Giovanni Paolo Maggini

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Copy of a viola by Giovanni Paolo Maggini

by | Feb 25, 2012 | Violin making

This week I finished an instrument modeled after a viola by G.P. Maggini. The original was made in Brescia, Italy, during the early part of the 17th Century. The construction methods I used were similar to the methods my assistant used on her Brescian viola.

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The back is carved from one piece of maple. (cut on the slab) The high full arching shape, which is not discernible in the photos, is combined with a deep fluting around the edge.  I had good casts of the back and front of the original viola which was a great help in capturing the arching of the original in my copy.

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This viola was made for a violist looking for a darker sound than his current instrument. One of the reasons I chose the Maggini viola as my model was because the Brescian violas are renowned for their darker sound.  Though the ‘dark Brescian  sound’ may be a slight cliche, my copy certainly has the rich and darker sound that I was looking for.