Visse Balsa blade - great

Finally have had a chance to test this blade properly - I got a visse blade with cypress outer ply a while back - Visse also offers the blade with a harder outer ply but I chose cypress because I like the feeling and its lighter.

I have it set up with Provine 2.0, a tensioned rubber, very spinny and quite fast (for unglued).

And would you believe it - I have a Nittaku Violin here for comparison!  Visse also builds his blades with hide glue, so how does it compare?

I'd say quite favorably.  Straight hitting hard is where I look at the blade - I find some vibrate a lot, feel hollow.  Visse + the Violin have a very mellow feel when hitting hard, low vibration.  Visse feel is DEEPER than the violin, and has a little more vibration.  The Violin is stiffer than the Visse which might be to some people's preference - but the added flex doesn't change vibration significantly, as mentioned above.

Visse + Violin are comparable speed-wise - my Visse setup edges out the Violin right now because the Provine is a bit faster.  But I can use them interchangably.  I couldn't pick a favorite, they are both quite nice.  I think the cypress + flex in the blade might improve things a bit when looping, but personally can't tell.

Use the Visse blade with harder sponged rubbers.  You can use heavier rubbers as the blade is quite light.

Just as a note, my Darker 5p-2a (which I use most of the time) is significantly faster than both these blades, not that they aren't fast themselves but you can feel the difference with the Darker (5p-2a might be comparable to acoustic).  I'd say Provine is faster than the Quattro I have on the 5p-2a now - Provine + 5p-2a was too fast, Provine on the Visse is just right.  Take a good fast rubber and put it on the Visse and you'll have kick + control.

That's all.  At $35 its a steal, plus its fun to have something handmade by another player.  Go out and get all three if you like all wood blades, you won't be able to pick a favorite.