All right, i know most serious violist/violinists are perfectly happy with an instrument that has not been improved since the17th Century, but come on, for those of us who are only casual players isn t time to bring the damn fiddle into the modern world? Wooden tuning pegs are insane. I ve just spent fifteen minutes retuning my viola because the pegs slip anytime the humidity changes. This is a constant fight with both my fiddle and my viola. OTOH, my guitars, basses, mandolin and every other instrument I own stay in tune just fine. What s the difference? We guitarists ditched wooden pegs a century ago. A few simple tweaks to the violin, primarily getting rid of the scroll and replacing the archaic tuning system with simple, efficient and affordable metal tuners would go a long ways toward improving the instruments playability. No more slipping, sticking or fine tuners needed.
Some electric violins have already gone this route. Isn t it time acoustic violins and violas do the same?
Okay, I m done grumbling now! ;)