Mendini by Cecilio 14 Inch Solid Wood Viola Set for Beginners - Hand Carved Acoustic Viola Kit with Hard Case, Bow, Rosin, Bridge and Extra Strings

I wasn’t sure about getting this viola because its price was so inexpensive. However, I am very impressed! I used to play viola years ago and wanted to get back to playing it. I purchased the 16 inch viola. It isn’t a high end instrument but it looks and feels good. It also has a much better than expected sound. The strings are easy to tune and very responsive to the touch. The bow is mediocre. It takes a bit of work to get it to the right tension, but once that tension is achieved, it stays throughout the practice session. Eventually I plan to upgrade to a carbon fiber bow later. The Cecilio rosin is good enough for someone who is beginning or returning to the viola, like myself, after many years of not playing. For the first few times, used a flat, cardboard type nail file to scratch the surface of the rosin to get to the point where it would stick to the bow. Of course this can be normal with new rosins and bows. The look and finish of the viola is better than expected! (I got the antique finish). I am very happy with my purchase.

I wish I could put 4.5 stars as I don't want to give the impression that this is a perfect instrumment, but it is quite nice for a $100 piece. The first one I ordered had a warped and cracked fingerboard and had to be sent back, but the second arrived in good shape. I've only had it for a day and I am by no means a good string player, but this viola seems to keep itself in tune fairly well and it also has decent tone. The fine tuners are not great, but function just fine. The case is almost as good as the case my fairly nice violin came with. I've heard in other reviews that the strings are poor and should be replaced quickly, but they aren't terrible and if you're a beginner like me, they'll do for awhile. I had to score the rosin with a pocket knife before it would apply to the bow, which I'm given to understand is common, but not ideal (still, it worked). This brings me to the bow. The bow is very poor. Both violas I recieved came with warped bows and I can tell a big difference when I play with my violin's bow. In short, this is a good instrumment with some fixable shortcomings. The construction and tone are good, and I'm very happy with this purchase.

Let me start by saying this viola pleasantly surprised me on quality and sound for such a cheap mass made product. I've been a violist for almost 30 years, my daughter plays the violin and has been interested in trying the viola, since I didn't want to let her have mine, we often practice at the same times I thought I'd see about something cheap to see if she would want to continue to pursue it before dumping a ton of money into another viola. My main viola is easily worth over a grand so I know what a good solid made viola is like. This viola is much lighter than a professional instrument, however the craftmanship is much better than I would have expected for how cheap this instrument was. The pegs are strong the fine tuners work well. It stayed tuned easily even without using peg grease. The sound, with the given bow is decent and fairly rich. That being said the bow is extremely low quality, and has about half as much hair as it should. When swapping to a better bow the sound was more fluid. Keep in mind a decent bow generally costs as much as this viola so personally I'm glad they put more quality into the instrument itself. Strings are cheap but yet again decent strings are going to run you as much as the price of this instrument so no big deal. I think this instrument is decent enough for a student that wants to find out if they are truly dedicated before spending money on something higher quality. If you invest in a better bow and some better strings to go with it it is actually fairly decent, especially considering the price is unbeatable.

My 5th grader decided to join Strings class at school this year. Rather than rent all the items for over $100 a month, we decided to just buy all the things she needed. The positives: The case is sturdy and inside is soft for the viola. There were extra strings included. Negatives: The rosin was completely dry and broken into pieces. The viola had to be tightened and tuned (as to be expected) but the biggest disappointment is that neither of the bridges are cut. We have to take it to an instrument repair shop to have them cut, which is going to cost more than the expense of the viola itself. And it takes multiple days to have done. If the seller had mentioned that the bridges would have to be finished, it would have helped make it decision. Now my daughter will not be able to participate in strings because it is taking too long to have a working instrument. Edited to add: I was able to find a local shop to help drill the bridge piece. (It was actually a quick fix at his shop.) Only to find out that the sound post had to be adjusted, the string posts and holes were not drilled correctly, and the strings all had to be replaced. (They were very cheap strings which would only give the screeching sound that you do not want to hear). We are now at a decent viola that can make a very pretty sound. But it was another $85 investment to get to this. It is still considered a "practice" instrument. If I had time to get a new one, I would have just returned this. But I was VERY short on time so we just sunk more money in it to make it workable.

My daughter is learning the viola and since she is showing more interest, i decided to buy her this beginner instrument. It has a good sound quality and the price is perfect!

me gustó mucho, llegó a tiempo y en buen estado, lo único es que el estuche tenia descosido un belcrom, pero en realidad nada que no se pueda arreglar y no es causa de devolución para mi, el instrumento y sus aditamentos muy bien

This is a respectable instrument for a beginner and one that looks nice in blue. However, it took quite a bit of setting up - the nut needed filing and the peg holes needed a gentle reaming. Strings are basic but serviceable.

Estupenda compra para iniciarse en el aprendizaje. Buena calidad precio y muy completa (solo le faltaba la almohadilla). Totalmente recomendable.

Bello strumento ottimo rapporto qualità-prezzo. Viola leggera, bel suono, originale, peccato le misure dichiarate siano errate. Infatti non è di cm 38 ma di cm 40.