I bought this so I could string my electric violin and tune it the same as a viola. I'm not sure how well it sounds on an acoustic violin but on my e-violin it does the job pretty well. It's not the same as playing a viola, it's always going to be difficult to properly get the same sound quality from a shorter scale. Having said that, it's pretty good and with a bit of adaptation to bowing style I can get something that sounds nice and is pleasing to play. And it's better than trying to use a viola string on a violin scale instrument.