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I am considering getting a Glasser carbon(?) 15 1/2" viola, maybe in the Fall, so I can play it outside without worry. I know they weigh more than the traditional wood violas, but I was wondering how much more weight there is? Is it that noticeable as far as making your shoulders sore, or causing injury if you play too long?
Has anyone done both the carbon and wood acoustic and have any input?
I am looking at the one on the Fiddlershop site
https://fiddlershop.com/collec.....site-viola
I am not interested in the electric version.
Thank you.
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@Mouse and others. A quick internet search yielded that a 4/4 Glasser violin (non-electrified 4 string version) has a weight of 580 grams. I could not find anything regarding the weight of their viola sizes, but if you could weigh a 4/4 violin and your current viola, it would be easy for me to provide an estimate through cross multiplication proportion.
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
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Irv said
@Mouse and others. A quick internet search yielded that a 4/4 Glasser violin (non-electrified 4 string version) has a weight of 580 grams. I could not find anything regarding the weight of their viola sizes, but if you could weigh a 4/4 violin and your current viola, it would be easy for me to provide an estimate through cross multiplication proportion.
Note that there is a wide range of weights in wooden instruments. (Student instruments are generally heavier.) My 15.75" viola actually weighs less than many student violins. You may be able to get a decent estimate by comparing instruments of similar quality, but even then there is a range.
That said: a good violin typically weighs 400-450 grams, so a Glasser violin is about 35% heavier than a typical high-quality violin.
My professional-quality 15.75" viola weighs 561 grams. I would not expect the weight of a 15.5" to simply scale with the cube of length, because the wood can't get too thin and the fittings are probably going to be the same weight. But I think 550 grams or a bit less is a fair estimate for a high-quality 15.5" viola. That would put a 15.5" Glasser viola around 740 grams if the proportions are the same. (Again, they may not be, because of the weight of fittings. The Glasser may weigh slightly less than this estimate.)
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@AndrewH. You neglected to mention that your viola was a tertis Model, which has a lot of extra material in the corpus. I have a nice Eastman viola which is a quality approximate to the glasser and of comparable proportions. I will weigh that tomorrow.
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
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In any case, it seems like about a 35% increase in weight from wood to Glasser carbon fiber is to be expected. That might be enough info to answer the question.
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@AndrewH and others. I cannot fault your logic on that one. The differential is certainly not enough to make it an issue.
It is a pity that the glasser does not make a tertis style viola.
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
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