The Voss Violins Short-Scale Cello

By Stephanie Voss, Geigenbaumeisterin

Background

Over the course of the past 30 years in violin making and restoration I have come across a large number of pre-18th-century violins, violas and celli that did not abide by the modern standard of stop length and neck length, which in combination determine the playing string length of a given instrument.

The older the instruments and the more prominent the maker, the more arbitrary the string length seemed to be.

Looking at the Brescian makers and specifically at the viola, I have seen vastly different sizes, yet one thing many Brescian violas have in common is a fairly short string length. This makes those instruments much easier to play since the spread of 1st to 4th finger is not as large as it would be with a longer string length. Of course, the larger the musician’s hand, the more comfortable that musician will be with a longer string length and vice versa; the famous American violist Lillian Fuchs had a different need in string length than William Primrose.

Many soloists playing cello have opted for small scale instruments. For example, Natalie Clein plays a Guadagnini that by today’s standard would be considered a 7/8 size, as does Carter Brey.

After analyzing several violas for string length, my colleagues at Voss Violins and I have always designed and made violas with a relatively short string length for our custom made violas. Ease of playing is one of our main goals, besides, naturally, the best possible sound. We have also partnered with a workshop in Germany to make our Voss Violins workshop model 16" viola for our clients that are not able to afford a custom made instrument.

It should be noted that just moving the bridge north is not the best answer as there is a musical center that combines the lower bout corners and f-hole location. To move the bridge out of that center would be a cheap move that does not work well acoustically. In addition, the important relationship between the neck length and the string length would be destroyed.

While making a copy of a 1595 contralto viola by Maggini with an unusually short string length, I had a thought: why can’t we use that idea and transfer it to a cello model? It could be possible to design a cello model that is geared towards cellists with small hands who struggle with the normal string length of 690mm.

I have had many conversations with clients and teachers that have exactly this problem. Some would only slowly open up about their struggles with it. It really is not anything to be ashamed of since we are all born with different size extremities. Well-known cello teacher Martha Gerschefski encouraged me to pursue this design to help some of her students with small hands.

Design

The design of the Voss Violins short-scale cello starts with a body length (measured over arch) of 745mm (just under 29 1/2").

The body stop length has been shortened to 380mm, and the normal 7:10 ratio of neck length to body stop has been maintained, resulting in a neck length of only 266mm (about 10 1/2"). Maintaining this ratio is an important design consideration since it guarantees that the relative position of the hand on the neck will not change playing the same note on the short-string cello vs. the standard string length cello.

These two measurements combined with a normal bridge height result in a playing string length of 655mm (25 3/4"), shorter than a 7/8 cello but longer than a 3/4 cello. This is substantially shorter than the standard 690mm (27 1/8") length of a 4/4 cello. Since the body length is still that of a 4/4 cello, no compromise needs to be made regarding projection and sound.

The outline of the cello body is designed for players with relatively short legs and arms to enhance the playability: reaching around the instrument is very comfortable.

I have partnered with Tonareli Music Supplies to offer a commercial version of this cello, since a custom made version from my workshop would start at $28,000. The commercial version will still have all the playability features and we are currently planning to offer it for only $6,000.

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