I played £8000's worth of cello this morning

WOW!

It sang with hardly any effort. I am totally spoiled - shan't be playing my (borrowed) one for a couple of days

What's really depressing is that it was brought to the string group by someone whose main instrument is double bass, and who was giving the instrument a rare outing. His wife apparently plays cello really well - but hardly ever plays any more because she spends her whole time playing Gamelan instead.

Lovely experience playing it though - it was so lovely to play. Probably close to the best string instrument I've had the pleasure of playing. Just glad I didn't know it was worth £8000 till after I handed it back.......

whatever Gamelan is I'd rather play the £8000 cello, but I know: 'it takes all sorts to make the world go round!'

Yeah, it's amazing how an instrument can make your playing sound super-cool! When I moved from my £2k Clarsach to my £12k Venus Penti the difference in sound for even the simplest of pieces was extrordinary. Beginners 'Ye Banks and Braes' never sounded so good!

Gamelan is a mainly percussian 'ensemble' from of music from Indonisia - especially Java and Bali - using gongs and drums and bamboo flutes etc - it's rhythmically amazing stuff - check out the Balinese 'Monkey Chant' - mind blowing stuff. But yeah - I'd like a go on a 8 grand cello even though I can't play one

Ha! On my earnings, that's 2 years' wages worth of instrument!

That sounds amazing!!

Yeah, I blew almost all my life's savings on it, plus had to sell off 30% of my games collection to make sure I had a bit to put towards it. I raised £1,500 in a month on eBay from my sales of games and other nik-naks lying about the house. It's amazing how quickly you can raise cash if you really put your mind to it. Consider that if you ever see your dream instrument for sale.

At the time my partner went nuts, but ultimately gave up and said 'its your money, do what you want with it.' However, now I am not able to question all the shoes and handbags she buys.

Anyway, it was worth every penny. It really is such a wonder to play. And the way I see it, I still have my £12k savings, they're just not as fluid as before.

For that amount of money I'd expect it to play itself

Sometimes I wish it did - I have some nasty blisters on my fingers from practice this afternoon.

Try surgical spirit - it hardens the blisters off so they don't hurt any more. Daughter used it when she got a blister the day before her grade 3 harp exam and she managed to get 132!