- 100% Handmade, 100% hand oil varnished-Warm response with unique character and tremendous tone- Selected Seasoned Spruce Top, naturally air dried (over 20 years)- Selected Seasoned Flamed Maple Back, Ribs & Scroll, naturally air dried (over 20 years)- Maple Fingerboard- Hard-carved pegs, tailpiece and chinrest- Genuine Inlaid PurflingWhile buying a viola online can be challenging, we are so confident in the extremely high quality of D Z Strad instruments that we decided to list these instruments anyways knowing that you will be thrilled with your purchase. These are top of the line violas made by incredibly talented luthiers especially for discerning string players.Each viola is made from a two piece maple back and solid carved spruce top, and is hand-rubbed with antique varnish. The wood is naturally dried outside on a covered, ventilated area for several years. The wood is then placed into a drying room, consistent with old world traditional European practices. This process ensures that the wood will not open or expand, and guarantees stability. The Baroque ideal is an arch of sound, appropriately well-sustained and well-proportioned. For Baroque music to get airborne, the line must soar. The bow is like the breath of a singer. To quote Donington: "Phrases generally go to a peak note, which is often though not always the highest note, and then relax to a note given away at the end. There is the unit; that much, and no less nor more, is the phrase; and it is for our own musicianship to recognize the fact. Nothing in the notation and nothing in the historical evidence, is going to show us the pattern of our own musicianship does not."