Samuel Eastman Series (Beginner Violas)
The Samuel Eastman series of instruments is the perfect match for beginning players or players on a budget. These instruments provide remarkable sound, visual beauty, sturdiness, playability, and affordability—basically, all of the most important points when considering an instrument for a young player without a lot of experience. It is our philosophy that possibly the most important instrument a musician will ever play is the first one, because it is essential that the experience is both enjoyable and rewarding. These instruments provide the quality and affordability to ensure that players will get the right start.

Ivan Dunov Prelude Series (Beginner Violas)
For centuries, viola makers have prized tonewoods from the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. In fact, the great Golden Age Italian violin makers are thought to have especially valued this wood. This means that the Ivan Dunov instruments are made of wood similar to that used by great violin makers like Stradivari and Guarneri! Generations of expert woodsmen have perfected the techniques of harvesting, sectioning, and seasoning these valuable tonewoods so that they yield the best possible tonal results. These exceptional tonewoods are crafted into the four different Ivan Dunov models in a traditional Eastern European workshop. Whatever your budget or playing level, there is an Ivan Dunov for you.

Andreas Eastman Series (Advanced Violas)
In the Andreas Eastman master workshop, we are focussed on a small number of very important things: • Quality tonewoods • Outstanding hand-craftsmanship • Artistic traditional varnishes It’s a short list, but it includes all of the factors important in ensuring that our instruments are the best sounding and most beautiful, responsive, reliable step-up instruments available. Our master workshop has no power tools; our luthiers use the techniques and tools of European workshops of the 19th century—because some things just can’t be improved.

Ivan Dunov & Ivan Dunov Superior (Advanced Violas)
These are step-up models from the Ivan Dunov workshop in Romania. Expert hand-craftsmanship ensures the beautiful appearance, responsive playability, and outstanding tone of these instruments. From the careful detailing of the scrolls and the custom graduations of tops and backs, to the hand-applied spirit varnish, these instruments bring together the best of traditional European materials and craftsmanship.

Albert Nebel (Advanced Violas)
Albert Nebel violins, violas, and cellos provide famous German quality at a modest price. These instruments are crafted from aged European tonewoods and are varnished by hand in the United States.

Rudoulf Doetsch (Advanced Violas)
The Rudoulf Doetsch instruments are made in a time-honored workshop-method tradition by a collaboration of family workshops in Erlangen, Germany. Necks, scrolls, ribs, tops, and backs are each carved separately and are then assembled into instruments by a master luthier. They are then sent to the United States where Mr. William Weaver and his assistants remove the tops to make internal tonal adjustments, check and correct neck size and graduation, replace the bass bars, and hand-varnish each one.

Eastman Masters Series (Master Violas)
Instruments from the Ling Wang workshop, located in a small section of our Beijing facility, receive the special attention of our most experienced and gifted master luthiers. These luthiers focus their expertise and experience on the creation of three professional models. In addition to the meticulously applied oil varnish (see models 905 and 906), the Ling Wang models employ the latest advances in the technique of plate tuning, a method that helps makers fine-tune the graduations of the top and back plates to get the best possible sound from each unique piece of wood. Our research into old master instruments, texts, and technical experiments, come together in the creation of some of the finest workshop instruments available today.

Raúl Emiliani (Master Violas)
Raúl Emiliani concert violins, violas, and cellos are our top-of-the-line instruments. They originate in our master workshop in Beijing. Then they are shipped to the United States where a master luthier applies a translucent amber varnish. The influence of the great Golden Age Italian makers can be seen in the slightly antiqued appearance and detailed craftsmanship of these instruments. Tonally, these instruments are colorful, rich, and with a very sweet sound. In Memoriam: Raúl Emiliani was an Italian born violinist, composer, and arranger. His work as a pedagogic contributed to the formation of numerous fine instrumentalist. Professor Emiliani died in 1989.

Wilhelm Klier (Master Violas)
The Wilhelm Klier instruments are crafted in Germany using a time-honored workshop-method tradition. These high-end instruments are made of older wood to achieve a warmer sound. They are highly flamed and varnished with a deep coloration to give an exciting, old-fashioned look. The sound is described as rounder than a new instrument, almost as if it already had been broken in. These instruments are an excellent upgrade for the advanced musician.

Frederich Wyss (Master Violas)
Frederich Wyss violas are the pinnacle of European luthiery tradition. The finest available European tonewoods are meticulously crafted by makers working in the tradition established in Germany centuries ago. Tonally adjusted and hand-varnished by master luthiers in the United States, these instruments are nothing less than true professional models, worthy of the conservatory, studio, or the concert stage. Their rich, mature sonority penetrates to the furthest reaches of the concert hall.