I can't afford both a cello and a cello bow but would like to start playing the cello.
My violin bow is kind of a wee bit finer than your standard musicschool bulk model bow I guess so I'm worried it wouldn't be sturdy enough...
I'm guessing cello bows might be thicker and have broader hair?

So should I really reconsider buying/renting a cello without a bow, starting out with my fairly light violin bow? (I probably wouldn't afford buying as fine a cello bow as my violin bow, which I like alot.. so that's another reason... or maybe a reason not to break it using it on a cello maybe? ^^;

Oh I remembered we have a viola bow within the family aswell which I could use and that one is thicker than my violin bow.. are viola bows and cello bows fairly interchangable?

...I mean, atleast for the time being while I'm still a beginner at cello?

Throughout my time playing cello ive rented three (two classical, one electric) and have finally bought my own.

I have never come accross a hired cello, mine or anyone in my section's where you had to hire the bow seperately, it came as a package. Aswell as that, when I bought my cello, it came in a package with a bow (and a few other goodies).

Perhaps look around a little harder.

A violin bow will not produce a good tone on the cello (you will find it very difficult to produce a tone at all, which would be a very discouraging start to your cello studies). As the cello strings are thicker than violin strings, they require more pressure to vibrate them and therefore require a thicker, heavier bow. You could also cause considerable damage to your violin bow. Look around for the cheapest cello bow you can find - this will be far better than a violin bow.

thanks for the replies! the cello I'm considering (new planet electric cello.. those black ones on ebay) does come with a bow but since the bundle of the cello, bow and case is so relatively cheap I don't expect the bow to be pretty crude.. I bought one of their electric pro violins and the bow that was included was far inferior to the one I got with my aucustic violin and I tried for a long while applying rosin, applying rosin, applying rosin but it never achieved as good friction..

the electric pro violin actually has a nice aucustic sound (not even slightly "silent") (allthough the pickup sends through constant noise and pops) so I'm hoping the cello is equally decent.
but maybe I should rent a proper aucustic cello.

well.. so now you know a bit about that anyway ;-)

anyhow thanks for the thoughts on the bow issue!

Oh god, DO NOT buy instruments from ebay! I have never head anything good about them. If you want an electric instrument, I would reccomend buying a well known brand (such as yahmaha) even if they are more expensive. The way I see it is if a good electric cello cost $1,500ish, and you find one on ebay for $700, you'll just end up upgrading to the higher quality anyway, but you'll be down $700.

But hey, maybe you'll find something good.

Anyway, the violin bow thing, it doesn't work. My cello bow died and while I waited to find a new one I tried using my violin bow, and it is so unresponsive. It may get the A and D string moving a bit but g and c barely move at all, and it will just frustrated you. If you are worried about buy a bow, you can always get a cheaper student bow that will last you atleast a few months. Go to folkmusician.com and they have student cello bows for $22.00.

I started playing cello again two years ago after not playing for many years. I was given a cello that was purchased from Giardinelli.com that came with a viola bow by mistake. Since I hadn't played for so many years, I didn't notice until I complained to my teacher about the thin tone. She looked at the bow and informed me of the mistake. I had used it this way for months so it will work but not as full tone as a cello bow. I compared the viola bow with an old violin bow I had and they were identical size for the wood part anyway. I couldn't compare the hair thickness as the violin bow I have has lost the hair years ago.

My violin bow is kind of a wee bit finer than your standard musicschool bulk model bow I guess so I'm worried it wouldn't be sturdy enough...
I'm guessing cello bows might be thicker and have broader hair?<

I actually purchased a violin bow for use with my accoustic cello....and prefer it to my cello bow!

Being frustrated by the limited reach of the much shorter cello bow I bought a carbon violin bow which is approx. 3" longer and I haven't looked back...nor have I noticed any difference in tone or volume...the only noticable difference between the two is the length and the hair is slightly narrower. I guess it would depend on the quality of the cello and the bow...as for breakage is it possible to break a bow just playing (musicaly speaking) with it?