Hey everyone, I`m a pianist and a guitarist, looking for his first cello. I noticed there are some inexpensive cello`s on ebay, most of which are of low quality. I found this one, it sounds like a quality instrument but I really don`t know what i`m looking at. Anyway if anyone could just take a look and tell me what you think I would really appreciate it, thanks,
Brian
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10178&item=928092374

#1. It depends on what your price range is at.

#2. That cello is so inexpensive because it is very low quality and machine made.

(this add is kind of funny because every cello is like this, LOOK AT ALL THE EXCLAMATION MARCKS ON THE EBAY ADD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

ALL solid Construction
(OF COURSE!!)

*SOLID, Hand Carved Instrument Fine Select / Aged Spruce Top
(AGED SPRUCE I DONT THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!,IT TAKES AT LEAST 50 YEARS FOR A CELLO TO AGE TO THE POINT THAS IT SOUNDS GOOD.

*HIGHLY FLAMED, Hand Carved Solid Maple Back, Neck, Scroll and Sides(HAND CARVED, THAT WOULD TAKE THIS PERSON TOO LONG TO DO THAT, HA!!! LOOK AT HOW MANY INSTRUMENTS THIS PERSON HAS ON HIS OTHER AUCTIONS)

Oil Varnish lets wood breathe to produce beautiful tone and and BIG Volume (SOO WHAT!! ALL CELLOS ARE LIKE THIS)

*EBONY Fingerboard!! Won`t Warp like Rosewood
*Ebony Tuning Pegs, Won`t Slip Like other Woods
(YAH RIGHT HA)

*Tailpiece with 4 Fine Tuners to make Tuning Easy
*Inlaid (not painted) purfling !!

*Ebony Frogged Bow with Real White Horsehair
(WHAT!!! BUT ALL BOWS HAVE REAL HORSEHAIR)

sOft Padded Case
(I WOULD SAY THAT THIS SOFT PADDED CASE IS WORTH $419 JUST KIDDING:-) )

IN OTHER WORDS THIS CELLO IS NEW, NEW CELLOS DONT SOUND GOOD, OLD CELLO DO SOUND GOOD, AND CELLOS THAT ARE ACTUALLY HAND MADE SOUND GOOD WHICH ARE AROUND $5000 AND UP. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A CELLO IN THE PRICE RANGE OF $1000, THEN TRY TO FIND A OLD USED ONE, LOOK HARD AND CAREFULLY.

This old cello may look bad compared to that new one, but it probably sounds a lot beter.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=928134097

They come and go, type in either "old cello" or "antique cello" on ebay search to find the good ones

Hey thanks for the advice, you brought up some good points.
i`ll keep searching!
take care,
-Brian

I bought my cello for $450, its around 150 years old and its the best cello I have ever played. It was a total wreck when I got it and I could play it then, but it was probably about to fall apart.It took my dad and I a whole year to fix it and another year to let the varnish dry. After I was done fixing it I thought from all the years of damage (1 off-centered sound post crack, 2 open seems, over 20 stress cracks and varnishing screw-ups) the old cello would sound bad, but I was wrong. My cello ended up sounding a lot better than everyone elses. And by the way, if a cello has a full sound post crack, then you just bought a dead cello other wise known as fire wood, ha! :-)

They don`t show enough information on that web site. The picture of the cello is too small, they don`t show the actual picture of the cello and there`s not enough pictures of the cello to show it looks like in detail. I mean one of the cellos that they were selling was around $1600, to top it off the bow and bag didn`t come with it. $1600 cellos are expensive for someone to buy off the Internet and to never look at before they buy it. I bought my violin and cello off the Internet but I knew a lot about them beforehand; I knew how old they were, what condition they were in, if they were playable because they were actually cheapen price considering that the cello was about 150 years old and the violin was about 200 to 300 years old. Only buy an instrument from a person that is selling it to you personally, even if its off the Internet and the person you`re buying it from his 500 miles away.