Interesting.

I know we took a viola and put an end pin into it and added cello strings. We gave it to my former cello instructor a couple years ago for his little niece. He said it sounded really nice. Not like a purchased one would, most likely, but he said it was pretty good and his niece loves it to play. 

I don’t know, if anything, else my husband did to the viola.  That is all I remember we did.