Not exactly a cello-- it`s tuned in fourths and has the range of a piano-- more than bass, cello, viola and violin combined! See it at www.geocities.com/ubertar. There`s also a link to pictures and descriptions of my other instruments.

Their were cellos a long LONG time ago with a lot more than four strings, around the 10 area in fact. But they got old, with the too many strings thing. It was eith from the Middle or the Renaissance period.

Yeah-- I think that was called viola da gamba or viola d`amour. I saw some seven stringed ones at the Met a while back. They faded out as the violin family gained in popularity.
To have that many strings all on the same plane-- at the front of the instrument-- the strings would have to be very close together, making bowing angles of individual strings tight. They must have been difficult to play.
The alumitar`s strings aren`t all on the same plane. The stand it`s connected to can swivel so each string can be bowed comfortably and easily. At some point I`d like to learn one of the pieces that was written for those old instruments. I think Haydn wrote some.