Mendini 16-Inch MA-Black Solid Wood Viola with Case, Bow, Rosin, Bridge and Strings

4 | 1,634 ratings

Price: 77.99

Last update: 07-15-2024

About this item

Size 16" black viola
Hand-carved solid spruce top with maple back & sides
Maple fingerboard, pegs, and chin rest with an alloy tailpiece with four integrated fine tuners
Includes: lightweight hard case, a Brazilwood bow with unbleached genuine Mongolian horsehair, rosin, and bridge
1 Year Warranty Against Manufacturer's Defects

Product information

Item Weight

3.6 pounds

Product Dimensions

35 x 7 x 15 inches

ASIN

B006LCCW5M

Item model number

16"MA-Black

Customer Reviews

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,628 ratings

4.1 out of 5 stars

Best Sellers Rank

#2,832 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
#1 in Acoustic Violas

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer

Date First Available

February 29, 2012

Back Material

Maple, Wood, Spruce Wood

Color Name

Black

String Material

Alloy Steel

Top Material

Maple, Spruce

Number of Strings

Size

16-in.

Top reviews from the United States

soda

Thrilled! Fully intact, and sounds Gorgeous!

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2017

Okay, this is a little premature, I got it today and haven't tuned it or brought it to my teacher for her to break it over my head, and I'm a total newbie, never played strings before besides guitar and... keyboard. No chance I could ever afford an "approved" one. The price is obviously unbelievable. However the case is hard and felted, and the construction is beautiful of wood, with plastic parts (neck guard). It's *very* lightweight. When I first saw it I thought it was too small to make Viola-bassey sounds and wondered if they sent me a violin by mistake.

But I'm writing about the immediate construction and first *sound*, timber, functionality (playability) of the instrument. I somehow managed to rosin my first bow adequately (my orchestral roommate tightened it when he came home because I forgot to). I had watched YouTube videos and read the scant instructions which tell you to wait and let your instructor guide you in your first setup. I held it (I'll definitely need a shoulder brace), and tried the lowest open string... my eyes opened wide. I had never produced a tone on a concert stringed instrument before. It was BEAUTIFUL. And totally bassey. Sounded exactly as it should (correct tuned pitch aside). I was actually amazed. I played all the strings open one at a time, likewise. Absolutely lovely instrument with a beautiful and fully resonate, bassey sound. Just like the YouTube videos. I tried some fingerings; okay, that'll take practice and a developed reach. But clearly it would play. If there's a problem of tuning, not holding pitch or cracking, I'll update my review. But I wouldn't hesitate to purchase this instrument if you're worried if it sounds good enough, esp. for the price. I hope my instructor doesn't break it over my head, I love it and will be sad. My first 4/4 cello by the same maker and store is on the way! :) My seller feedback:

Thrilled! Arrived early, unbroken, with hardcase and all accessories, and... plays! First time ever player, sounds wonderful! :) :) Thank you!

Update: Ok it's two hours before my first lesson. Tried to tune, string broke and the tuners generally won't hold. I should have had it set up before lesson day. I'm going to see if she knows a trick with rosin or such to make tuners stick. Otherwise I'll have to wait for a setup and it'll set my lesson back and may make it unaffordable depending. I'm not in the market for a more expensive instrument at this time. The sound of the box is still terrific and bow and rosin work fine. 4 stars and we'll see.

Update Update: My teacher took it walked around awhile while I was getting ready and handing it back to me said, "Why did you think it couldn't be tuned?!" :) I also got a shoulder rest and two packs of DiDarios. So back to Fine Instrument! :) but follow instructions and let your instructor do the setup the first time. You'll save a string. She understood it was inexpensive, knew the price, but had no problem working with it and is starting me on the Suzuki method :) I thought the tuners absolutely wouldn't hold, so see a pro before giving up!

CongenialVirus

Great instrument, affordable, don't call it a violin.

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2015

Let me preface this review by saying, this is written after a frustrating and enlightening few hours tuning my new instrument, on the same day I received it. Was ironically heading out the door when it was delivered.

I purchased the purple finished viola. Visually, looks great. Not much different from the viola I had in elementary & middle school. Aside from being purple, if you're unsure about color options, you'll fit right in with one of the wood vanish colors. I haven't played much since I dropped the viola. [idiom] Saw this was on sale, I have amazon prime so the price was probably better than what non prime members pay. For under 100 bucks I was pretty enticed, so I went ahead and bought one.

A non-musically trained person might take one look at the bow and decide that the piece is crap. Yes and no. This is not as high quality as a 500 - 1000 or so instrument. There can be no debating that. But even with a high end instrument, (especially if it is shipped) your bow WILL have some loose hairs. Just cut them back at the tips carefully, this is normal. Not an indication of defect or poor quality. That said, as far as my semi-amateur eyes can tell, this is just as good. And it's great for beginners, BECAUSE BEGINNERS TEND TO WRECK THEIR INSTRUMENT IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. Not true of everyone, but a slightly lower tier instrument is in my opinion a better investment especially for beginners. If it gets destroyed, or it's used for 2 years and abandoned. That's several hundred dollars "saved."

As far as the tuning. I'VE NOTICED A LOT OF NEGATIVE REVIEWS. Mostly around the change of seasons. I'm assuming most of these reviews come from north america. Thing is, when the humidity changes, (it gets cold outside and thus people run their heaters) it changes the moisture levels of the wood in the instrument. It is entirely possible that some people received an instrument that didn't meet quality standards for one reason or another... But this seems unlikely, given the volume of negative reviews. It seems that these people didn't know how or had little patience in tuning their instrument. I spent at leas 2 hours tuning mine, not even fine tuning pray mind. Towards the end I was getting frustrated, and was tempted to call the piece crap and send it back. Bit more time and research led to better awareness and a nearly perfect pitch.

Based on my impressions, I'd recommend this to any beginner or aspiring musician. It's a very solid entry level instrument, but tuning and care lead this to be a FINE ART. Something most people seem not to have patience for. I'll update this review in a few months should any of my feelings change significantly, else some material defect becomes apparent. I WOULD RECOMMEND however, a bit of time spent on YouTube and the internet researching the instrument. This is NOT A TOY and should respected. Like I said, string instruments are a fine art, the internet has lifetimes of experience and free information. Use it. Learn. Grow.

Heather M.

Not bad, needs new bow

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2024

First impressions: The viola just arrived an hour ago, so these are just first impressions. Many reviews mentioned a crooked fingerboard and tailpiece, but everything looks straight so far. I was surprised that it shipped with the bridge already in place and the strings had actually been tuned when the bridge was set. The nice thing about that is it meant the strings were already somewhat stretched and not going flat constantly while they stretch out. The pegs want to slip, but if you push in while turning, they seem to hold okay so far. The bow is not good. The frog and stick have a visible gap at the bottom, so I suspect that the frog will snap in half at some point.

That said, I'm a music teacher and have the knowledge to fix any issues that would arise with a crooked tailpiece and fingerboard. It is a risk buying an item like this because you don't know what you'll get. It stinks when kids think they are bad, but it's really the instrument. I only bought this to use to teach my child how to treat an instrument before trying to use a nice one. For $40, that's a good value.

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