Mark_G Report post Posted October 12, 2020 Hello all, I am very much a beginner and probably too ambitious for my own good, but I deeply enjoy woodworking and have been considering attempting to build a cello. I am trying to learn as much as I can before starting anything as I believe wood should be treated with respect and I do not want to be wasteful by making many mistakes. I have bought Strobel's Violin Making Step by Step book and plan on purchasing his Cello Making book very soon. My wife has started to learn to play cello recently and I would like to build this for her, but she needs a 7/8 size. I know the Cello Making book comes with Guadagnini 7/8 plans, but I am wondering how to get my hands on other 7/8 plans. One of my more basic questions is: are 7/8 cello designs just 4/4 cellos that have been scaled down? For example, is it possible to get a Davidov poster and scale it down to achieve a 7/8 size? When I visit The Strad Shop, I do not see anything labeled as "7/8". I would love to hear what people here recommend. I am intimidated by the whole process and am not in a rush. Worst case, I get the joy of learning about this process without building anything. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uncle duke Report post Posted October 13, 2020 When I made some 7/8th sized violins I used the 96.25% of 4/4 specs. That means all measurements spec wise for the most part were 96.25% of 4/4 specs - I bet the same percentage will work with a cello too. Ex. let's say there is a measurement for 200 mm and we want 7/8th's of that amount. Using the 96.25% we'd take 200 x 96.25 and have an answer of 192.50 mm. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JPherson Report post Posted October 13, 2020 You could always make a “known” 4/4 model and make it with a shorter string length or a t-nut Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bress Report post Posted October 13, 2020 When you say “7/8”, what is the length of back you are referring to? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Urban Luthier Report post Posted October 13, 2020 Guad Simpson poster from the Strad is 7/8th ish (cant find it in their shop). The Saveuse Strad (the one Robert Max plays) is a bit smaller. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark_G Report post Posted October 14, 2020 Thank you all for your replies! Scaling down by 96.25% was pretty much what I was thinking, but wasn't sure if it's just that straight forward. Jim, the current 7/8 cello my wife has a 717mm length back. I was thinking of a getting a poster for a smaller 4/4 cello, but is there anyway to know the length dimension before purchasing the poster? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
