We never run short on ideas. Here's one of them.

For this rendition, I chose a nicely aged oak wine barrel stave to hold it all together. The wood is very stable and it had a nice weathered look before the bouts were ever added.

The neck Maestro and it plays easily.

The body is from an old viola, made in GERMANY in 1929. Carved spruce top and maple back. It made it's way somehow to Oakland Public School, where they burned this into the finish on the heel end. You can see deep wear on the edges where it probably was slid into and out of a slot in the classroom for many years before it was retired. I was blessed to win the auction on it.

The amp is a Harmony TEA 2025A and it runs on a 9v. battery. Vol. Tone. I recommend Lithium rechargeable for the obvious reason, of course, but above all, the tone is far superior.