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Hi,

Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post in.
I live in England and am looking at buying my wife a cello for Christmas.
She has never played a cello but has always wanted one. She is a very musical person and we already have a piano, 2 guitars and a violin. The violin she has played since she was very young.

I'm now need some advice on which Cello to buy her.

Can anyone help on types for beginners, but also one that will not need upgrading for many years.
Also, am I right in thinking a 4/4 is a full size cello (sorry if that question is stupid).

I have seen a few Cello's for sell on ebay from a guy in china, and it looks like he makes them himself (they are really fancy looking). Would something like this be ok, or am I going to be ripped off?
Just a bit of info, I live in London, England.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Regards


Bashy

Do you want to buy one from me?
I am a pro orchestra musician, and I can send you one for $1500 US dollar.

This one got the best rating on String magazine.
I will upgrade all the parts to make it sound close to a pro instrument - your wifewon't have to upgrade for her entire life, unless she wants an old vintage instrument later.

I will upgrade the soundpost, bridge, strings, bow. It comes with a handsome hard case - just the case costs $500 if you ask a luthier. The bow is very important, so I upgrade to a Pernambuco wood - all the way from Brazil !

Email me at casalsmusic@yahoo.com if interested. If you want to give her quality, you got to spend a little more and get one that is pofessionally setup like this one. The ones on ebay will not be that - and it won't be a musical experience most likely.

Do you have a nice hifi system? That is important in improving her sound. She has to hear quality. I can help you with that too.

Sounds like you are good to her - good for you...

I hope she likes her cello - it is a comfortable instrument to start on, compare to a violin, or a flute for instance. Email me if you have questions I can help with. I am teacher so I like chatting cello.

Hi there,

I bought a cello in London from Vivace Violins.
www.vivaceviolin.com
You would be able to make a time to visit and get them to play the instruments to you so you can hear the tone.
They have a wide variety of new and old instruments, cheapish and expensive. All their cellos are professionally set up by their luthier. If you speak to Paul Reeve there, he will be able to organise exactly what you need.
Whatever you buy, make sure it's been professionally set up. It's worth spending extra money to buy a decent set of strings and bow as well. Personally I like Jargar and Larsen strings, but each to his/her own. Jargar medium gauge would be a good start for a beginner cellist.

Hope this has been hopeful.

Hi,

Thanks very much for your advice. We are currently thinking of going for a Stentor Conservatoire. After a lot of looking around at prices and comments, these seem to be great value for money and a very good piece of equipment. We are due to go to the shop next Sunday and have a demonstration.
The shop are selling it for £530 but I have managed to find it online for £428.00
This comes with a bow and case, so It seems quite a good deal.

I will obviously get a better bow if the experts on this forum think wise, and of course will invest in those Jager strings.

If anyone has any experience with this particular piece of equipment, good or bad, please let me know. I must stress, we have not actually heard the instrument (or any yet) and am just going on cello's in my price range.
I only want to really spend a maximum of £600 (I bought her a brand new digital piano for Christmas last year and that set me back £1,400, I don't want to spoil her too much). So if anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know. Obviously, we want to actually hear the instrument played in a shop, even if our intention is to buy online, it's nice to hear the instrument played before buying.

Anyway, any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Best regards


Bashy

I tried a stentor for a hire instrument when I was in England. It was really horrible, but it was the cheaper model. If you buy it from the internet, you'll still need to take it to a luthier to have it set up properly. Internet sites often say the instrument has been professionally set up, but normally their idea of this is somewhat different to most cellists needs. Also the luthier can put the new strings on for you (not really very easy to do!) if you buy them from him/her. I have heard that the stentor english model is very good. I think it is called Elise.

Anyway, goodluck with your purchase! You'll have to tell us how it all went after christmas!

It depends on what kind of investment you wish to make and if you wish to take the chance about her success. my wife stated about 5 years ago and I started out by renting a student cello which I eventually bought (about $800) and last year I purchased a intermediate cello for her (about $5500).

In all honesty, the last thing I would ever do is buy an instrument over the internet. I know too many people who have recieved a esser quality instrument to the one they believed they purchased.

That is simply a matter of finding a reputable seller. Not difficult. Find a forum and ask the question.

I wonder how the original poster got on?

Liz

Hi all,

Thanks for all the posts, they were very helpfull.
We ended up purchasing a Stentor Conservatoir from a reputablt dealer in Scotland.
I paid £475 which I thought was quite a good bargain for the full package as most other places were selling the same for £695.
My wife is very happy with the instrument, she now just needs to learn how to play. I myself am now looking to purchase a very good set of earphones (LOL :-))

Thanks again for all your help.


Regards


Danny (Bashy)