The diagnostic fitting kit, "Fortissimo", is best used for players whose necks are about 85 mm or taller who play full-size violins or equivalent or larger violas. The kit offers a series of "lifts" to find the best height of chinrest, and also "toppers" to help players find a chinrest that fits jaw shape.
Fortissimo's contents include:1. “Lifts”
from 10 to 25 mm designed to custom fit chinrests according to player neck height and the preference for left or slighty centered placement over the tailpiece.
2. Nine
“toppers”
(a standard chinrest without the hardware) crafted to fit onto the top of the lifts. These toppers help the fitter to custom fit a chinrest to the contour of a player's jaw shape when 10mm or more height is needed. The toppers are: Brandt, Donaldson, Gordon, Hamburg, Original Flesch, Rondo, Strobel, Teka, and Turner. (See
Our Chinrest Line
for photos and a description of each.)
3. Shims
ranging in height from 1-4 mm. Combinations of no more than two shims can be used to fine tune lift height. Shims should not be used for long-term playing or practicing.
4. Viola barrels
to make the kit adaptable to fit violas of varying rib widths.
5. A chinrest key
to install or remove chinrests and chinrest lifts.
6. A tape measure
(shape varies according to availability) used to measure the neck.
7. A sponge
(models vary) that fits over the chinrest hardware on the bottom of the instrument to provide side-to-side stability of the instrument and for protection of the collarbone from the chinrest hardware. The sponge also provides gentle friction for confident balance of the instrument close to the neck.
8. Rubber bands
to hold the sponge in place.
9. A kit
to hold all of the above (design and colors vary depending on availability).