Customer Letter: Viola and Violin with Bass Bar

Dear Peter,

What a Genius you are! Thank you so much for putting your latest bass bar improvement in my viola and violin. The viola is dramatically improved:  more power, more even tone, more depth of tone, the A string which tends to be nasal in tone on most larger violas is much more beautiful, and has much greater ease of playing.

The violin which was shrill from top to bottom when I sent it to you the first time has improved unbelievably. It sounds very much like my Italian Gagliano-Antonazzi violin. It has the quality of an old Italian violin!  Pretty soon, you will be producing instruments of such power and tone quality that you will be able to make an ordinary sounding violin to surpass the greatest Strads and Guarnerius instruments.

Thank you, thank you, my dear friend.

Derwin Landis, Former pupil of Jascha Heifetz, and a prominent violinist and teacher in the Los Angeles area