“What I like most about the NS Design viola is the appropriate dimensions of a 16.5” instrument, I could pick it up and play immediately with minimal readjustment on my part.  The neck is tapered in a standard way and the “horn” bout makes navigation around the fingerboard as natural as any acoustic instruments.  I’ve tried many electric instruments that have terrible neck dimensions and wacky string heights/gauges, so I am ecstatic that the NS Design viola has NONE of these problems.  Because of these form factors I can concentrate on the music in performance.  Plus it looks killer in matte black!  Thank you NS!” Matt “Diek” Diekman – Violist of “The Beaus” electric string trio.  Classically Diek is principal violist of San Antonio Chamber Orchestra, a member of Boulder Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and Walden Chamber Music Society in addition to being a professional coach, teacher, and freelancer.  He’s professor of Viola at Regis University and guest artist at Denver School of the Arts and has previously held positions with San Antonio Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Sarasota Opera, and as Principal Violist of Tucson Symphony and Utah Festival Opera.

—Matt Diekman