Wilhelm Klier 16.5 Inch Viola/Bass Bar Custom Made by Luthier Dalton Potter/Same as Model VA702(Predates use of this designation)

This viola was very carefully selected when I was in 11th grade by my teacher and I. It has a beautiful singing A string, very bright, and with a wonderful viola sound that really penetrates. Across all strings it is very well balanced. The lower end and especially the C string has a great depth and full, deep resonance due to the 16 1/2 inch size and the custom Bass Bar made by Luthier Dalton Potter. This was done by him on all of the Wilhelm Klier violas during the period right after he opened his store back in the late 90s. He no longer does this, unless you were to pay him $1,000+ to hier him to do it custom, but it can be easily confirmed by contacting him. He informed me himself when I called him several months back, that back at that time he was making the bass bars for those instruments automatically before selling them. This makes a tremendous difference in the instrument. As my instrument is almost 30 years old and was made in 1997 comment not only was it benefited by the period when he did this, but it has been almost 30 years that it has been played on all the way through a Master's Degree in Viola Performance and I played on it professionally. The wood has been well opened up by being played for such a long period and is no longer just a brand new instrument, but a seasoned one. I I'm just putting on a brand new pair of Evah Pirazzi strings, which the set cost about $170. It is a high level student instrument / beginning professional instrument. I played it for many years professionally and nobody ever felt that it sounded like a student instrument at all. It is full of many excellent qualities, and it was made in Erlangen, Germany and it is well known being made with aged European tonewoods. As you can see in the picture it has a beautiful color varnish to it, and I highly flamed back, they have and it's creation. You can see very well in the pictures how it looks and it's condition. Because of a lot of playing in the upper hemisphere towards the top of the a string you can see a little bit of varnish has been worn for many years of playing, and also towards the middle of the c-bout it is very slightly nicked from intense playing by the bow. But it is minor and you can see these two things focused on well in the pictures. The case that it comes in will protects it, but it is also the original case that I had with the viola so the inside is still very nice, but for the outside you can see that it shows it's age and use. Due to being kept up over the years with top luthiers around the country, and having been well seasoned by many years of playing, and the custom work that is unique that was done on this instrument by Luthier Dalton Potter with the bass bar, this instrument far exceeds what you will find by purchasing a typical new Wilhelm Klier. It also has a custom bridge made by Luthier Herbert Kuttner who used to work on many of the players instruments when the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra existed, down in South Florida before he moved up to Brevard County. It is a perfect instrument for a high level player who's about to go to college perhaps for music, or is very advanced in high school, or is a good starting professional instrument. It was always highly praised by my peers professionally and no one ever wondered about it not being some $10 or $15,000 viola. As such the price is $4,200 for the instrument, especially due to the 30 years almost of its time being played and the wood being opened up, and the custom Bass Bar by Luthier Dalton Potter, as well as its size,and having brand new high quality Evah Pirazzi strings. Note that well I took a couple pictures of it in the case that I have posted, there is no bow included in this purchase. It is for the instrument only. And typically an instrumentalist will buy them separately at different times anyways so I have not tried to group my bow with this however, my coda Diamond GX Viola bow that's in terrific shape is also listed here at reverb.com and if it has not been sold yet you should be able to locate it if you're interested. For shipping it must be ship by two day overnight air through UPS and insured. This will be the responsibility of the purchasing party. Depending on where you live it could range from about $125 to $200 max. Again this will be your responsibility to pay for the shipping. Both to you, and if for any reason you decide you do not want the instrument, which I highly doubt once you try it, then it would be a responsibility to pay for the shipping into return to me as well. Again it will depend on where you live how much it will cost. Please contact me with any questions you have and we can discuss anything that you would like to inquire about etc.