The Topa violin arrived quickly and safely from Fiddleheads. It was packed so well with all the details taking care of by Rhiannon at a very high standard, including her testing and setup to get it just right for us.
It looks beautiful and sounds incredible as per her description. I’m certain that after babying the Topa for a few more months, its sound will make me proud of my decision. In fact, I already know that I’ve made a very wise choice by relying on you, Rhiannon.
My first impression was it looked so nice with a lot of personal antiquing touch by the maker. Apparently, it was originally made perfect allover before vanishing, and Topa had applied some antiquing techniques at the corners and occasionally along the purfling on the top and back plates. At upper bout of the top plate, it was purposely roughened to make it looks like it’s an 200-years-old instrument.
The most admirable of all is the precision of works at the arching of lower bout. I guess the gap between the bottom part of the tailpiece and the belly is around 1mm only. It made the use of conventional fine tuner undesirable as it can easily touch and eventually scratch the top plate. I immediately replaced the original fine tuner with a Hill type tuner I bought locally a few days ago. It’s in gold and looks so nice with the Topa. The only trouble was I’ve to remove the ball of the E-string. But I managed it well.
The above are contrary to Topa's previous violin I saw on the web. I saw one violin made by Topa on 2007 with high quality photos. In that particular 2007 violin, I can’t see any antiquing touch by the maker and the belly arching is so subtle compare with my violin. You can see the maker is applying a lot of personal touches to his design over the years as his confidence building up while his original great ideas are maintained.
I especially appreciate his mildly bulged peg box. It allows the E and G-string having more rooms to maneuver within the peg box. It’s an instrument made by a violinist, which suit his own use and likings, I think. As Topa is a rock-star, I can guess the sonic character of this violin before hearing it. In fact, I've surfed through the net for Topa and revealed that apart from professional musicians, young violinist are also using it for competitions.
Sound-wise, it’s the kind of powerful sounding violin with high projection ability which matches with Topa's music genre so well. Initially, it has deep and colorful lower register. Believe me, it’s nothing close to nasal noise. It has reasonably sweat E-string, but its A-string is not as delicate as the others for the time being. As everything are brand new, I really can’t judge its ability now but I know it will sound much better after babying it for some time.
In terms of fittings, I love the rosewood very much. I like to view the violin from the side in front of lighting, so that I can see the ridiculously narrow gap between the tailpiece and belly. It makes me appreciate the high precision works done by Topa. However, I think a bit steeper curve could be made at the lower register of the bridge. This can make my life easily for not touching the E-string while I’m on the A-string. Let me enjoy the current setup for a year or two, I will have the bridge and sound-post change for some tweaking fun.
The inscription on the label for me by Topa is heartwarming. I know this can’t happen without your big help, Rhiannon. It means a lot to the family. I just can’t thank you enough for this special touch! Keep in touch and I’ll keep on bothering you whenever I’ve any questions relating to violin and music.
[UPDATE: 1 Month later] Just wanna give you an update of its tonal development. I've changed the strings to all Pirazzi Evah for a week already. Everything is great except the whistling E, which I replaced with a Jargar.
Sound gradually turning mature with less edginess. The whole spectrum is dark and sweet now with the feeling of better control, and I think Evah should be a good match with my Topa. It demonstrates the potential of the Topa very well. Thanks for your recommendation, it's really a great instrument.
Buying quality violins is a better investment than entering the stock/property market. It is a very happy buying from Fiddleheads. Told you, it is my wisest decision of the year!
[UPDATE: 6 Months later] FYI, my Topa has great tonal improvement over the last few months.
Time is one of the major reasons
I would only buy a violin of this caliber from Rhiannon: It surpasses my greatest dreams
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Product: Violins,
Topa
June 13, 2012
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