Hey everyone.
Now that I have passed Grade 5, my dad has decided to get me my own cello for christmas, after years of using a county one. The only thing is that he doen't know which makes are better to get. He wants to get me one that will last me to Grade 8 and through university and has a buget of roughly £500-£600 at the most. Also it would need to come with a case and bow. We would really appreciate any advice you could give us.
Thanks guys. xxx

whoaaaa! cool!!

i always love cello from the strings section

by the way, sorry not give you any advice, cos i dunno anything about strings..

congrats u have passed grade 5 and congrats too because you'll have a new cello from your father

lol thank you

Firstly, congrats on passing your G5. Secondly, congrats (BIG congrats) on getting your first cello, exciting!

However, if it's full size you're looking at, I honestly think you'll find it hard to get a cello for under 1000 UK that will take you to G8 and beyond. If you can stretch that far, check out www.elidatrading.co.uk.

If you can't, try going to a luthiers and telling them your budget so they can let you try as many instruments as possible in that range.

Hope you have fun shopping!

Allan

Grade 8 and on to Uni is a tall order with your budget but it can probably be done although you will have to look at secondhand instruments. You may struggle to find something nice like a Gliga Gems or Gama used at that price but may be able to find a used Stentor Conservatoire for the kind of money that you have available, They can be nice instruments with good strings and a decent set-up.

good advice!

A new Stentor Conservatoire from singing chicken fits the budget and a Zeller from the same source is only slightly over, but I would give the following cautions:

1. At the prices they charge, Singing Chicken is bound to be a "get it off the shelf and send it out as it is" company. Check the returns policy - particularly how much they will charge you for carriage if you return it, a full size cello is officially too big to send through the post (our post office never quibbles but many will get the tape measure out and tell you it's too big). Sending it back by any other route is going to be expensive.

2. Buying from a discount warehouse, the chances are that you will find the bridge too high and will want to get that altered. Cello set-up work is not cheap unless you are lucky enough to know someone who does it as a hobby. Also you are likely to want better strings and they are not cheap either. Further, the chances of a cello soundpost collapsing in transit are very high unless the shop is prepared to send the cello out bridge up. If the cello arrives with the soundpost down you are going to have to get it fixed.

3. The Conservatoire and Zeller are not cellos I would normally recommend for very much higher than your present playing standard. To be fair I do not know of any new cello that I would recommend for grade 8 that comes within your budget - on the other hand, they may well be a lot better than the one you have at present. I do know of better buys than the Zeller or Conservatoire within the specified price range.

You could try scouring ebay for a used instrument - you never know what might come up.

Liz

I've a friend who recently bought a Stentor II cello from DJM music and their prices are very good, the instrument was sent bridge up and was half decently set up. I'm guessing they would send out a Zeller or Conservatoire in the same way.
I think there might be 2 models of Zeller cello, one with a laminated back or belly, I'm not 100% sure though. Either way the solid wood one would be a better buy.

Yes there are two models, but only the cheaper one is within the specified budget. I doubt if a grade 5 player is going to be very happy with the P&H bow but of course that is something that could be updated later.

Liz

I have a Conservatoire viola and, whilst I'm perfectly happy with it for my standard, which is pre-Grade 1, I certainly don't expect it to do me for G5 and beyond! Like many folks here have said, I seriously doubt that you can get a suitable instrument for £500 to take you to G8 and Uni. Unis are not going to expect students to come with lower level instruments for first instrument study, to be honest. You won't get the sound quality that's needed for that kind of thing. That is, always assuming that you're interested in taking music at uni..... you might not be and just be wanting it to join in the Student Union orchestra.

Yup, many congrats on getting your G5! I'm looking forward to being good enough for G1 in June!!!

What does your teacher say? The county one may well be better than anything currently in your budget, or may be lousy, they come both ways! It can also be possible to upgrade county instruments if one of their better ones comes available, depends how they run the scheme.

Could you up the budget if you asked other relatives to help, looked to any savings you have, waited until your birthday, borrowed some money off your dad to pay back later...

Or there's the 'Take It Away' instrument purchase scheme. Not that I like encouraging people to borrow money but it is completey interest free and obviously a worthy reason to take out a safe loan.

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/takeitaway/

If you are at school is assisted purchase (I think that's what it's called) available to you? You'd be able to buy an instrument through your school or music service vat free. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
If you want to study music, you may be better saving for a little bit longer and getting something which will last you longer. Do you have any savings you could add to your budget or could friends and relatives be persuaded to contribute to your cello fund instead of birthday and Christmas presents?

Yes, AIPS is very well worth a look - it makes the difference between an upper limit of £600 and an upper limit of £705 - that extra £105 will buy a decent case or a set of good strings. Most LEAs and school operate the scheme happily enough, though there are one or two really awkward ones such as Cardiff who will not buy from anyone not already on their list which rather limits the options, and also it's no good for a private sale or for a sale from a very small retailer who is not VAT registered.

Liz

I recently bought a cello having decided to skip my grade 5 and go on to grade 6

I was given a budget of £1000 which me and my parents thought was fair however we ended up stretching this to roughly £1500 to pay for a good bow, strings, set-up etc... (In the end I had to get a 22mm thick case as I couldn't afford a hard one as of yet) though I am told the cello I got will do me to grade 8 and possibly a little bit further... though if I plan to take cello as my main instrument at uni I will have to purchase a higher range one

The advice currently given is excellent however I feel that if you can hopefully gain the budget stretch it would be worthwhile, I'm in love with my new 'cello (got it on Friday) and I haven't left it alone since I got it

Hi everyone, I'm new to this string forum, but it is interesting as hubby wants to get me a cello for xmas. So far, the choice is a £150 Zeller with major scratches, 30 yrs old, no case or bow and about an hours drive away. Or new for £850 inc. set up, case and bow. The same shop does hire them for £25 per month but you have to buy strings yourself and the money spent on hire does not then come off purchase price if you decide to buy.

I've been given very different advise about new vs 2nd hand. I have never ever touched a cello before but have loved the sound many years. I understand what you're saying about damage in transit, and realise that it needs "setting up". Does £850 a lot to spend for a new instrument?

Are there many instances of people who just don't take to the cello, that would justify hiring for a while to see?

Sorry if I've taken the topic away from original post. WELL DONE for passing grade 5 !

Are you saying it's a new Zeller for £850 or is it something else?

My first reaction on reading your post was to encourage you to buy the used Zeller on the grounds that £150 for a used Zeller is too good to miss. There's not a lot you can get in terms of cellos for £150 after all. And at that price, if it doesn't work out for you, you can simply sell it on and your losses will be minimal. However, you will need to add at least £50 for a basic case and a basic bow, and £50 to £100 for strings depending on what you have, which effectively brings the price for the outfit up to £250-£300. The rule of thumb is that an instrument drops in value to 50% of the RRP the instant you leave the shop - and that 50% of RRP is the maximum, speaking as a retailer I don't think I've ever "sold on" an instrument we bought in new from a source other than the wholesaler or maker for more than 60% of RRP, and that is with offering our own guarantee in place of the original manufacturer's guarantee which is only valid for the first purchaser. For an instrument that is 30 years old, obviously you would be looking at a lot less than 50% of RRP.

The RRP on a zeller (cheaper version, which this almost certainly is) is £595 according to Singing Chicken, that is probably fairly up to date. So £150 is about 25% of the RRP. But adding strings, even basic srtrings - and you'll need to, the ones on it will be unusable - brings it up to about 33% of RRP already and that is making no allowances for the fact that the bridge might have warped.

Bottom line - if it were me, I'd have a look at it. If the only problem appears to be that it has no strings, I'd buy it. Scratches after all are cosmetic, and it should sound better than a new Zeller. If there are other problems, I wouldn't pay that much for it. If you end up having to pay for a new bridge then you could easily be looking at up to £100 - but to be fair, what you will then end up with will be better than you would get on a new Zeller.

However if you are determined to buy new then you could do better for £850 than a Zeller, even a Zeller that has been well set up.

Rather a ramble, but hopefully I have given you some pointers.

Liz

Thankyou for that advise. I don't know the make of the new instrument I was quoted.

I was a bit concerned about the £150 one as there is no case and a lot of scratches, it doesn't sound as if it's been taken very good care of?

Trouble is I know nothing about cellos so wouldn't know if I was going to get problems. I haven't really got a spare £850 hanging around though so it might be worth taking a drive and having a look.

Do you know a string player who could go with you to look at the £150 cello?

It may be cosmetically a bit of a mess but structurally sound and able to be brought quite easily into decent playing condition.

Thankyou, yes, I might do that if I can find a musician who's not busy. (do they exist?)

I was in your situation when I was 17, my dad bought me my first cello after using our schools instrument for years. We had a similar budget and I loved my new cello but soon realised that because we were restricted by budget I'd have been better saving more money for a better one as the one we bought wasn't well set up and needed a lot of work doing on it to bring it up to scratch, new end pin, pegs etc. The brand was Primavera.

I loved the cello though because it was mine and I played it for another 3 years and because it wasn't my first instrument it was adequate but if you are wanting to go on to study at uni/college then I'd think about holding off and buying one when you've got enough to buy the right one for your needs :0)

All the best though, Hope you have loads of fun looking for your ideal cello. The best friend a girl could have hehehe :0) I still have my cello, though i'm a singer first and foremost nowadays. I still play it when i can though.

Helen x

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice. Both my dad and I have have taking all you have said into account. We are going to wait a while to get my cello. A lot has been going on finacial-wise and he cannot afford it at the moment.
Thanks again.
ladyelven

I'm sorry to hear you're having to wait but that could be for the best in the long term.
If you keep working hard on your borrowed cello you'll appreciate your better one all the more when you do get it and you'll be better able to really make it sing.