baroquecello

This is what happens to normal leather with Mr also. No nail causes this. I got a different kind of leather, could indeed be lizard skin, and the problem yet has to arise (after two years or so). Super wear resistant stuff. I don't like the feeling of playing with a plasti/rubber tubing on that part of the bow.

If the sound post becomes too short (a sound post doesn't become shorter, but the top and back plates change shape over time, the back plate bulging out, the top plate caving in, if that happens the sound post "has become too short"), the arch of the violin top may suffer from collapsing. Even a slight collapse, barely visibile, in some cases leads to severe tonal and response problems. But this should all be checked by an experienced person in person.

open seams, badly positioned/ill fitting/too short sound post, badly fitting bridge feet. Four years without adjustment is quite long.

Oopsie

Well, it depends on how you define "trade instrument ". It is not a registered trademark and it's meaning is sort of subjective. But to me, this violin is about as trade violin-ish as you can get from the period it was made: second half of the 19th century Markneukirchen or thereabouts. The makers attempted to hide only the "missing" corner block that is visible through the f-holes. The carved out bass bar fits right in the picture, although it has to be said that this is a better than average example.

Oh I like that, very nice work indeed! The antiqued varnish is very convincing on the top.

I'm only a player, but work as a teacher and come across many lesser quality instruments, and this is very comon. In my experience, of the four cello strings, the d string is the string that is most sensitive to problems with the cello that otherwise do not show up acoustically. It is home to most wolf tones, and I've often experienced weird d string response if things weren't glued up properly or loose somewhere. I experienced it once when a fingerboard had become partly unglued (but this remained invisible), and also when the top block (but not the ribs, so again, only visible by moving the neck left -right) had unglued on the top plate side. Sometimes, thinly built plates have this problem also (placement of magnetic wolf killers influence the sound output positively in that case). I could imagine weak necks or too lightly made bass bars might also cause this. Often, a cork wedged between the fingerboard or tail piece and top plate, or a krentz sound modulator under the fingerboard solves some of the problem, meaning that part of the plate there is subject to too much resonance, counteracting the resonance of the d string. So I would guess with you either something is unglued, or the top is too flimsy (too thin or too weak wood or arching).

Regarding the instrument at hand: I think it is an attractive looking cello. I can imagine it sounds quite good (but you have to be the judge of that). It looks to be in fairly good shape, so for the right price I'd see no reason not to buy it.

I think blank face is right, but as a Cellist I wonder about what you believe is a 'better' choice. If you mean the best choice as an investment, then that gets you a wholly different answer to what is the best choice as a player, or what is the best buck for your money. As a cellist I'd say: try before you buy, and unless it is a wreck, buy the best sounding instrument you feel comfortable with and can afford without too much financial difficulty. Don't buy anonymous lower to medium grade instruments based in their provenance. You cannot hear or feel, although occasionally see (from a close range) the provenance.

In my experience, Chinese vendors will not ask for a return shipment, but will send you a replacement free of charge. I'd send them a pic and describe the damage, and ask them what their proposal is for a solution.

As a cellist, I dislike fingerboards with a flat mainly because it makes double stops an chords with pure fifths between the c and g strings harder to grab.

Very interesting! Is the pegbox also as wide at the nut end that it could facilitate 5 strings as easily as here? Maybe they were made with four strings, but possible conversion to 5 strings was anticipated in the design?

Thank Thank you for this information!

Well, I don't think there is a standard answer to your question. However, I'd expect 4 pegs, in a long peg box to be differently spaced than 5, and I don't see that here. Also, the peg box is very wide, and the five strings fit very comfortably, so if it is the original pegbox, I'd be inclined to say it was made for 5 strings. Does it have a small body and a long neck? It looks that way in the pictures. Interesting cello.

Seems to me that with the string angles over the bridge like that(with the guitar-like attachment of the strings to the belly) you are asking for bridge warping.

In my opinion, they are ok strings, but not very interesting. A little subdued. But your mileage may vary! What are you looking for in your new strings? I think Rondo is a pretty great set. I also like Larsens Magnacore Arioso, which is missing from your list. And on some cellos, Eva Pirazzi Gold is pretty good as well. Have fun experimenting!

Markies vary widely regarding their quality. The lower end was produced in high numbers. You get weird arches and especially wonky graduations. Many cheap markies, especially those made for export, have quasi unfinished inside of the top plates and very rudimentary bass bars. If regraduated, the can often work well. Unregraduated often not so. These things cannot be judged without the instrument at hand, and so people don't take risks with online buying of such instruments. That is the good thing about modern chinese: they mostly have ok arches and graduations. Have a look at Yitamusic instruments, for instance. But personally I advise my students to buy when they need a full size cello, and to rent as long as they still need fractional sizes.

I'm a full time cello teacher. The questions you ask are hard to answer universally, and the answer would very much depend on where you are. Principally, what is most important is that the instrument had proper measurements and a good setup. This is much more important than anything else. A thick neck, a too large fingerboard scoop, too high nut or bridge, too low bridge, bad hair etc etc etc will put any child off on at some point. If you as a lutier can fix this, only then does the instrument make a difference. The bad news is that two instruments of the same brand looking exactly the same can be totally different instruments in the hands of a player, so a brand won't help. That said my personal experience with Stentor has been really bad and I avoid those at all cost. I have no experience with Hidersine instruments. What usually are indications of quality are oil or spirit varnishes as opposed to Nitrocellulose, hide glue and ebony for the accessories. Many Chinese cheap instruments are diamonds in the rough but require good setup

I'd be just as interested in hearing a violin with two sound post (and maybe no Bar. Or a centre Bar.

If the Salad cutlery I have is any measure to go by, then it is a gnarly, not very wear and water resistant, acoustically dead wood. That doesn't mean it won't make exactly the right tailpiece for some instrument (on some instruments dampening certain frequencies can be beneficial), but I wouldn't expect much from it. Recorders made of olive wood? Not what i'm used to seeing. It's usually box wood or tropical hardwoods over here.

Buying a new instrument hoping that it will appreciate in value during the lifetime of the maker is not realistic. In my experience, there are only two ways in which buying a new instrument can lead to profit. The first one being that the maker already has a good reputation and makes consistency good sounding instruments, but dies. Then the supply of new violins is gone, and the existing ones will appreciate based on the reputation of the instruments, and the relatively increasing scarcity of these. But these instruments will not be cheap to begin with. The second type I've witnessed was of a cremona-trained maker from Romania. At the start of his career, 20 years ago, a cello costed 5.000 Euros. His local reputation has risen, and the wages in Romania have also risen. A new cello now costs around 14.000 Euros. From experience I can say that ofcourse, a second hand cello doesn't sell for the same money as a brand new one, but one can make a small margin of profit. I think you'd better try your hand at buying underestimated historical makers. I know someone who bought a Cuypers cello in the late 80ies for the equivalent of roughly 12.000 Euros, and recently sold it for the ten-fold price.

Sorry to deviate from the original post, but I'm surprised @Will Turner s suggestion of using bees or carnauba wax to polish an instrument. I' always been told anything oily, greasy, and waxy is not to be used on varnishes at all. Have I been given wrong information?

I'm only a player and not a maker, so not an expert at all. But it is an interesting violin. Beautiful back with a nice varnish, fruitwood scroll. To me, the top looks like it has been meddled with, likely refinished, or possibly it is an old replacement. The varnish is different, and looks like it was absorbed more into the summer growth than in the winter growth, it doesn't look too good. The violin doesn't tick any of the usual boxes I'm used to, so it is a bit of a mystery to me. I suspect that may be why nobody has responded yet. I hope someone more knowledgable will.

It looks like this was from a tree that saw a couple of warm winters. Maybe the trees was from a region that doesn't see large differences between the seasons, or maybe these are the first batches that show the effect of global warming?

I'm a cello teacher and string instrument enthusiast, and not a maker. But professionally I often have to give students advise on what to do with their instruments, which are often similar to yours. It is possible to answer this question definitively only with the instrument at hand. The answer depends on what needs to be done and to what standard you'd like it to be set, and who/where you are going to get the work done. However, I think the answer is likely yes, if no invisible problems exist (invisible cracks, low neck projection, loose bass bar, loose linings....). A list of what I'd expect to be needed: Pegs reshaped or replaced (if they turn badly) Nut reshaped or renewed (if too low like lvlagneto writes) fingerboard re-planed (if the scoop is incorrect or the strings have "eaten into it" new bridge and possibly sound post new strings (I'd get somewhat higher quality than what you currently have there - I know the brand. Sound quality of strings that are just a little more expensive is much higher.) clean-up and varnish touch up, particularly so that the edges don't wear down any further. optional: if you are not good at tuning with the pegs, many amateur players prefer to either replace those with mechanical pegs, or get a tail piece with four built-in fine tuners. The former is more expensive the latter relatively cheap. Not a good solution would be to add tuners to the existing tail piece, because screwed-on fine tuners are heavy and four of them will influence the sound negatively. Will set you back between 300 and 1000 Euros, depending on what is necessary. I'd expect the violin to have a value of around 1500 and 2000 Euros after the work.