Need some cello advice

[Sherwood]

Hey everyone,

My wife started playing cello about a year ago, and she's progressing very quickly. Our first anniversary is coming up, and I'd like to get her a proper bow, or as proper a bow as can be had for under $200. She rents her cello, and we will eventually own it, but it doesn't make sense to upgrade any parts of it that she can't take with her when and if she moves up to a better cello.

I've learned that forums like these are very helpful for information and good used product, but I can't seem to find a comparable cello forum. Anyone out there know of a good bow in my price range and/or a good cello forum where i could learn more?

 

[Mrvile]

Although I can't really say anything about cellos specifically, I've played the violin for almost eight years now, and the two are somewhat similar. One important piece of advice is to get a decent instrument when you get the chance. A cheap rental or whatever will be ok for learning, but it's very difficult to get a good sound from a cheap instrument once you start getting better, especially with string instruments. As your wife progresses, she'll start noticing the limitations behind a cheap instrument and they can be very frustrating, so try to get a good cello if you can.

Good luck!

 

[Assorted]

I play the viola but I like to use a cello bow. Mine is the cheapest in the "decent" range and it was a thousand bucks :/

 

[justhavingfun]

Just like some amps and headphones have to have some synergy to sound beautiful, cello and its bow must be tried out together to find the right sound. If your wife is renting the instrument, just stick with fairly inexpensive bow for now until you have a chance to purchase real nice cello that your wife is going to keep for awhile. Then take THAT cello to the string music store to try out different bows in the store. Meanwhile, check this website out for strings, accessories, bows, etc... www.swstrings.com , we buy pretty much all the stuffs for my boys' string instruments needs here.

 

[zowie]

There's always room for more cello.

 

[kentamcolin]

How wonderful that your wife plays the cello. My son plays the cello and is a very gifted cellist. He has played some very expensive cellos and cello bows and has not found any bow under $2K that beat his first bow, a Coda Aspire carbon fiber bow. They run around $325, but even though he has moved well past this level, he always keeps his Aspire as a spare. Your wife will be able to use it for several years even if she keeps progressing, and the carbon fiber is not as sensitive to humidity as a wood bow will be. It's a great sounding bow and mates well with any cello. Although a little over your budget it's well worth the investment if she's going to continue playing the cello.

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kentamcolin /img/forum/go_quote.gif How wonderful that your wife plays the cello. My son plays the cello and is a very gifted cellist. He has played some very expensive cellos and cello bows and has not found any bow under $2K that beat his first bow, a Coda Aspire carbon fiber bow. They run around $325, but even though he has moved well past this level, he always keeps his Aspire as a spare. Your wife will be able to use it for several years even if she keeps progressing, and the carbon fiber is not as sensitive to humidity as a wood bow will be. It's a great sounding bow and mates well with any cello. Although a little over your budget it's well worth the investment if she's going to continue playing the cello.

Excellent, thank you very much. I myself am an instrumentalist, and I fully believe in the idea that you buy once to keep forever, and save until you reach that point. I spent 5k on my saxophone, and it's one of the best investments I've ever made. I realize intermediate cellos can easily eclipse 5k, but that's pretty much tops for saxophones.

As for her cello, we are renting to own. In about 1 1/2 years she will have paid it off, and we'll sell it to upgrade. The entirety of her rental fees go towards the cello, but she loses all of them if she doesn't rent it for the full term. Hence, beginner cello for the time being.

I did a good bit of research on my own, and heard a lot of praise for the coda series of bows. Specifically, I read a lot about the electric being an excellent bow, even for non-electric instruments. Have you (or your son) heard this as well?

 

[milkpowder]

Whatever you do, don't buy wiyhout trying! One persons' favourite may be anothers' nightmare. Everyone has a different playing style so please, whatever you do, go to a well respected luthier with your wife and let her try them out. Never feel rushed or pressurised into buying and shop around even if you think you've already found the one at the first luthier.

 

[kentamcolin]

He has not tried any other Coda bows but I know someone with an Aspire and they really like it. For the level he is playing the bows are all wood. We're looking at three now in the $4-5K range which should be good enough to get him through college. We've found that a good cello for a college performance major easily runs $25K-40K but for the first few years a very nice sounding cello can be had for $5K. He got to play a Becker cello recenly at Bein & Fushi in Chicago which was a $150,000 instrument, and he fell in love with it, and has had opportunities to play two instruments built in late 1700's. $5K for a good sax seems like a steal!

There are lots of things that can be done to a cello to change the sound. The strings and bridge are major contributors and it can be fun trying new things to see what the effect is.

Make sure the shop your purchasing from has a 100% trade up policy and yes, try before you buy. Cellos get expensive fast and most players keep trading up as their playing progresses. We've been to half a dozen shops looking at bows and although he has pretty much narrowed it down, we'll be in New York in a few weeks and there is a shop we are going to visit while we're there.

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kentamcolin /img/forum/go_quote.gif He has not tried any other Coda bows but I know someone with an Aspire and they really like it. For the level he is playing the bows are all wood. We're looking at three now in the $4-5K range which should be good enough to get him through college. We've found that a good cello for a college performance major easily runs $25K-40K but for the first few years a very nice sounding cello can be had for $5K. He got to play a Becker cello recenly at Bein & Fushi in Chicago which was a $150,000 instrument, and he fell in love with it, and has had opportunities to play two instruments built in late 1700's. $5K for a good sax seems like a steal! There are lots of things that can be done to a cello to change the sound. The strings and bridge are major contributors and it can be fun trying new things to see what the effect is. Make sure the shop your purchasing from has a 100% trade up policy and yes, try before you buy. Cellos get expensive fast and most players keep trading up as their playing progresses. We've been to half a dozen shops looking at bows and although he has pretty much narrowed it down, we'll be in New York in a few weeks and there is a shop we are going to visit while we're there.

Yeah, what a different world. My 5k instrument is a previously unplayed 1956 Selmer with a silver plate, it's a similar serial number to the one played by David Sanborn and a number of other players. There is almost no way to practically spend more.

150k, though, that's some change. I'm sure he's grateful that you feel the way you do about it -- but I'm sure you're also grateful that instruments like that are constantly appreciating. What a wonderful world, music.