Hi Mark,

Yes, I did the plans myself. Well, strictly speaking they are more like quick sketches rather than proper plans, with the main aim to determine how long the neck should be in relation to the body (depending obviously on how many tied-on frets you want to have on your viola), bridge and rose positions (these can be shifted / re-adjusted according to your preferences and, in the end, can affect the sound to some degree) and, of course, to work out the necessary body size and its outline. The constructional principles are very much the same as in vihuelas, i.e. integrated whole-piece neck and neck block, two bars on the soundboard. The only difference here is in the C-shaped middle bouts of the body. I do not use any corner blocks on these, just linen re-enforcement strips from the inside. In a way, the whole body / neck construction here is very much the same as found in surviving 16th century Venetian viols by Antonio and Batista Ciciliano (and some others) as well as in French 17th century viols. So there are good enough reasons to believe that similar principles were applied to the plucked viola too (besides, they may well still being made and played at the time!).

Which particular dimensions do you want to know?

Alexander

The lack of corner blocks in historical viols (and in some violins too) is not that uncommon and the building method(s) of such instruments is usually thought of as without using a mould. I don't use any either. My original 'dai Libri' model (http://www.vihuelademano.com/viola-da-mano/daiLibri.htm) has 58cm string length , and the other (http://www.vihuelademano.com/viola-da-mano/daiLibri_viola-da-mano_inG.htm) 56 cm. They can both be tuned in G (a' 440), it's a matter of your choice. The neck to body length proportions, as is seen on some iconographic representations, can differ quite considerably, so the neck can be long as to allow for 12 (if not more!?) tied-on frets. One such viola is depicted on the painting by Frencisco Venegas (c. 1582 - 1591) in Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz (Lisboa). Here again it's up to you how long the neck should be.

The body dimensions of my 58cm SL viola da mano are: body length 37.5cm, body width 12.5cm / 7.5cm / 10.6cm (bottom / middle / upper bouts). These are taken from my drawing (I no longer have the instrument with me) and represent the internal outline of the body so you'd need to add c.1-2mm to the figures to allow for the thickness of the sides.

I'm not sure that the difference in sound is so dramatic, just because of different body outline... From the early 19th century onwards guitar makers have made guitars with any possible (and impossible! :)) shape that one can only imagine. However, we are still stuck with the sort of shape that is traditionally associated with the guitar or, for that matter, vihuela. Good luck anyway!