Translucent cello scroll...

[Michael H]

I had this cello pegged as a German factory cello circa 1960 based on the body. I adore these celli for their tone at a relatively low price. Before the work to be done, I set it up first to see if the tone is worth the work. I did not notice this at first, but the scroll is partly translucent. Now I’m not really sure what era this cello is from as I have never seen it before. Purfling is scratched but some idiot ran a black market around the back plate, which is not coming off with water and steel wool.

[violinsRus]

the last turn of the scroll is plastic on both sides.  someone was offering several of these on MN some time back.  they must have been standard on student instruments at one point. 

[A432]

Try acetone for the black marker.

FWIW

[Nick Allen]

I can see why they would make them plastic. That section of scroll takes the longest to carve. 

[Violadamore]

Suzuki was doing that at one time.  They were selling instruments like that to Scherl & Roth in the USA, BTW.  Has it got a label?

[Michael H]

29 minutes ago, Violadamore said:

Suzuki was doing that at one time.  They were selling instruments like that to Scherl & Roth in the USA, BTW.  Has it got a label?

No label. Plates looked ply at first, but it’s solid. All-in-all it’s easy to play and has a surprisingly good tone, so it will make a student happy.  Just feel stupid not knowing anything else to say about it. At this point, all I can say is “it’s a full-sized cello that sounds good and has a spooky scroll.”  I have had plenty of old S & R for rentals ranging from 1990s and up, but those have always looked completely different. I have never had a Suzuki cello, though.

[Michael H]

36 minutes ago, A432 said:

Try acetone for the black marker.

FWIW

Perfect!

[Rue]

Never seen plastic scroll bits. Cool!