About the Hidersine Venezia Viola Outfit
The Hidersine Venezia viola is a beautiful instrument with a traditional feel
“Finishing this hand-carved instrument with a traditional oil-based varnish accentuates the natural beauty and detail of the selected spruce and maple, and the addition of upgraded fittings completes this superb instrument.”
Key Features:
Ready to Play with everything you need:
Your Hidersine Venezia viola is supplied as an outfit, which is to say it is complete with what you need to get started. The Viola is supplied in a shockproof case (upgradeable) with internal accessory compartments and an outer music pocket.
Most importantly, your Venezia outfit includes an upgraded, premium Fully-Mounted brazilwood bow. Just tighten the hair, apply a little Hidersine rosin, and the bow is ready to play… as you will be too.
A Unique Antique Oil Varnish:
Everyone loves an old, antique viola, and so using clever techniques developed over many years, the Hidersine Venezia has various ‘antique’ markers and is finished with a rouge-brown, oil varnish. This varnish is one of the most traditional bowed instrument finish applications and results in a slightly lighter colour than other techniques. Each instrument is uniquely treated to replicate the appearance of a much-loved and often-played example, with slight pitting and wear-marks evident across the body.
A Premium, Fully-Mounted Bow with Ebony Frog:
The bow is naturally one of the most important parts of any bowed instrument setup, and the particular bow supplied with the Venezia Viola has been upgraded to a ‘Fully-Mounted’, high -quality Brazilwood model.
The term ‘Fully-Mounted’, refers to an upgraded and more intricate join between the ‘frog’ and the ‘stick’. There is a smooth metal plate between the frog and the bow stick, allowing a smooth fit and protection for the wood as it slides back and forth as the bow is tightened and loosened. So, not only will the Venezia’s included bow assist in producing a superb tone, it will perform its duties for a long time to come.
Seasoned Maple:
Hidersine Venezia violas use seasoned maple for the bridges.
The use of ‘seasoned’ tonewoods in musical instrument manufacture is well known. When a tonewood, such as maple, has been seasoned, it infers that the timber has been stored in a controlled environment for a reasonable period. The exact time can vary, but instrument luthiers will pay a premium for wood that has seasoned for 5, 10, 20 or more years.
When wood is initially harvested, it has a high moisture content, which over time will dissipate. This lowering of moisture content is one of the most important parts of the seasoning process, and as the wood is formed into its new (bridge) shape, it brings with it a new natural state for the material. One in which the wood fibres settle into a more coherent whole and will transmit vibration and resonance more effectively. Therefore, the string vibrations are carried through the bridge to the sound-table more authentically, which will result in further improvement of the tone of your viola.
Looks and sounds more beautiful throughout its life:
Hidersine Venezia instruments feature a hand-carved solid spruce top – or sound-table. This is important because your instrument’s primary voice is formed by this sound-table, and therefore the top can resonate as a single, coherent structure and sound great as a result. Plus, as the wood ages and the solid tonewood top gradually relaxes at a cellular level into its natural rest state, it will resonate even more naturally, and the sound will improve further.
Hidersine Venezia Violas not only have solid tops, but they also have beautiful solid, flamed Maple ribs and backs too. These highly figured, solid tonewood sections further enhance the instrument’s natural tone. The top produces the instrument’s primary voice, and the back and sides add the character.
(The term ‘Flamed’ refers to the figuring of the Maple grain, which looks like flames striking across the wood. Maple with a natural ‘flame’ is highly prized, with the most intricate and stunning natural grain patterns demanding very high prices throughout the world of musical instruments.)
Each instrument created by skilled hands:
The form of your Hidersine Venezia viola will be the result of genuine hand-carving techniques. Not only have the intricate curves of the top, back and ribs been carefully tooled, but the neck and the beautiful scroll (head) has been skilfully crafted.
Although most musical instruments have a fair amount of human input in their building process, unsurprisingly instruments created for the entry-level tend to have much higher levels of machine-made elements. While this makes the process efficient, it can take away from the individual ‘soul’ of each instrument. Each mark from the luthier’s carving tools are there for a specific reason. The amount of time taken to carve the arched tops and back of a viola is integral to their structure – lightness and strength – and the resulting tone. Luthiers have been passing their immense skill down the line for centuries, and in the case of Hidersine Venezia instruments, the skilled hand-carving techniques can be truly appreciated.
Ebony – Feels great, plays great:
Hidersine Venezia violas benefit from a genuine Ebony fingerboard, pegs and chin rest. This prized hardwood has traditionally been used for hundreds of years due to its truly long-lasting properties. Unlike dark-stained or ‘ebonized’ softwoods often used on inferior instruments, genuine Ebony will not mark, pit or wear out under lengthy playing periods. This is essential in areas such as the pegs, which are under a lot of tension from the strings. The shaft of each peg needs to retain its integrity, and using Ebony is one of the best ways to ensure this. Ebony should remain structurally sound for a very long time, and it will also feel smooth on the fingers and chin, helping make the playing experience more pleasant all round.
Supplied with:
Styrofoam Case with accessory compartment and music pocket (Upgradeable)
Brazilwood, Fully-Mounted bow with Ebony Frog (Upgradeable)
Hidersine Rosin
Quick Spec:
Selected, Hand-carved Spruce Top; Selected, Hand-carved Maple Back, Ribs, Neck and Scroll; Ebony Fingerboard, Pegs, End Pin, Tailpiece and Chin Rest; Single gilt finetune tailpiece adjuster; Antique, oil-based varnish application
Hidersine Venezia Viola Configurable Options
The Hidersine Venezia viola is available in the following sizes: 14″, 15″, 15.5″ and 16″ and we offer the following options in our outfit configurator.
Setup Options
You can choose either the factory standard setup or our Luthier setup. If you select our Luthier setup, one of our Luthiers will setup and finish your viola to the highest standard, improving the playability and tone of the viola. We discount our Luthier setup by 60% on new instruments. We can do this because all setup work is carried out ‘in house’ and we absorb some of the setup cost in our retailer’s margin.
Tuning Peg Options
The factory ebony pegs are standard viola pegs or you can upgrade to Wittner finetune geared pegs. The advantage of the geared pegs is the instrument is much easier to tune without the need to use string adjusters and the viola will stay in tune for longer without adjustment. The viola will be delivered with your choice of pegs fitted.
String Options
We will fit your choice of strings to your viola in our workshop. You can choose the factory synthetic core strings that are a no-cost option or you can upgrade to better quality strings.
Bow Options
Choose from the factory-supplied Half Mounted viola bow or upgrade to superior bow with a 10% discount.
Case Options
Choose your viola case from the Hidersine shaped viola case that is a no-cost option or upgrade to a different viola case with a 10% discount.
