While I am at it, I thought that I would add a close up of the modified and roasted bridge that I put on the MV 500 violin._

Hi Fiddlerman (and others).

First, regarding the picture of the bridge.  The image somehow got re-orientated when transmitted to the page and it gives me a sort of vertigo when looking at it.  Sorry about that but I don't know how to correct it.

I am using the same bridge that came with the MV 500 (which was installed when I received it with the name toward the fingerboard).  I roasted it, trimmed it to reflect proper string heights (the feet were very well configured to the front plate as received, so I did not mess with that), and substantially reduced the depth of the wood though providing a substantial "belly" for strength.  The sound was much improved from the original although the G string has slightly less punch than the other strings.  I was going to move the sound post more toward the "E" string foot to improve this, and perhaps expand the bass side bridge "heart" if I still feel a need to do something.

But I think that the big improvement was going from the 4/4 tailpiece to the 3/4 tailpiece.  That really expanded the lower harmonic component of the sound.  I have read that this effect is increased by removing the tail piece side string "whippings."  I am wondering if I can burn them off with an alcohol lamp, but I am concerned that I might damage the perlon.  The metal winding might protect the perlon from the heat for the few seconds it would take to remove the "whipping," but I am not sure.  

If you have a rogue instrument with a very bright (to harsh) voice (or would like a violin that would blend extremely well with a string quartet), you might want to try reducing the size of the tail piece to 3/4.  As I write this, I wonder how this modification would sound on an electric violin or a cello?

A last comment.  The Mendini MV 500 was the only Cecilio branded violin I have ever owned that came with an honest threaded nylon tail piece gut loop.  All of the others that I have seen came with a crimped piece of insulated wire.  

Hi Fiddlerman (and others).  I measured 2.552 inches between the bridge and the string ridge of the 3/4 tailpiece on the MV 500.  As a comparison, I measured 1.951 inches between the same two points on the MV 650, which has a conventional 4/4 tailpiece.  

I have been playing the MV 500 for several days now and the G string is now equal in volume to the other strings.  I don't know if the string is breaking in or I am making the adjustment in bowing pressure.