Hello everyone! I will start by saying I am a classically trained cellist and have been playing for 11 years now. About 2 years ago, I started dabbling into the world of amplifying a cello and using effects. When I started this journey, I used a Fishman C-100 cello pickup on my acoustic instrument. (I would strongly recommend this pickup for anyone wanting to keep the acoustic instrument for use of amplification. Be sure to buy an acoustic preamp like an L.R. Baggs.)
For all you beginners, I must stress that you invest in an acoustic cello. This cello is not the type to learn on or anything like that. I can see how the silent and cheap aspect is appealing, but this instrument truly shines as one meant for amplification and effects.
Now, onto my review.
I received the cello in the mail just as any other package I have received from Amazon. It comes in a fairly large box, was much lighter than expected, and was well packaged for delivery. Do not worry about having this instrument shipped to you.
Upon opening the box, I pulled out the plastic bag that contained a basic set of headphones, the 9V battery necessary to power the instrument, and a 1/8" to 1/4" (male to male) adapter. All good so far.
Next was the gig bag with cello. The bag is your basic soft case that a beginning cellist would have received with his/her student acoustic cello. Not great, but not bad at all. Probably not going to find a hard case for this cello. So I pulled out the bow, and it's, as expected, a basic student bow. The wight was surprising light, but be prepared to rosin in for a good while. Too bad they don't make the rosin spray anymore. Luckily, a cake of rosin and dust rag come in the bag. No worries so far.
Now, the instrument itself. I opened the gig bag and was so excited to see the instrument. Upon grabbing it, you will notice it's not flimsy at all and the paint job is done very well. No blemishes, dings, or marks...and I got a white one, so if there was damage, I would notice. As expected, the bridge was not installed (thank goodness). You will find your bridge in the same small pocket on the front of the bag that had the rosin and rag. Also note that the strings will already be attached, but tightened down. Now, there have been a lot of complaints about this cello from the reviews I have read, but with a firm understanding of the mechanics of a cello, you should be playing this thing in 10-15 minutes. I will provide you a few steps I think would be helpful. ( I did not find any manual or setup guide with the cello )Do not be in a rush to get this thing assembled. Take your time and think.
1. Loosen your fine tuners and make sure they move smoothly. There have been complaints about them not budging. Mine worked fine, but to make them even more smoother, I sprayed a tiny amount of WD-40 on the tuners and the fully tighten and loosened them. Works like a charm. Note: If you hear a rattling, you have either loosened your tuners too much or you need to tighten the little nut at the base of each tuner. No tools required.
2. Loosen up your pegs at the scroll. Mine were jammed in a bit, so make sure you pull out and loosen to free up the peg. Some reviews say the pegs don't stick, but peg oil fixes that up. Now, I like to wire my strings in my own fashion, so I removed the strings and wound them the way I like them. (If you have no idea how to wire a cello string, there are videos and topics all over the internet. They did not take care to wire the strings on the peg in any good fashion, but no damage done. Now, once your pegs are loosened, make sure they rotate smoothly in the peg box. I imagine that a bit of sandpaper to the peg box holes would fix up any roughness, but I did not have a problem operating the pegs.
3. Loosen your strings just enough to fit the bridge onto the cello. For all you experienced cellists, rejoice that there are no worries with a sound post or proper fitting of legs and location on the body of the instrument. It fits perfectly on the pickup. No nudging or aligning with the fingerboard. You should have no problems placing the bridge. VERY IMPORTANT: Your bridge will probably be way too high unless you like your upper register to have a 1/2" gap between the strings and fingerboard. I haven't done so yet, but simply make marks on the face of your bridge where the string notches are and the sand or file down your bridge to you desired height. Make sure, of course, to keep the arch of the bridge the same as it aligns with the fingerboard. (One side should be lower than the other!)
4. Once your happy with your bridge, tighten your pegs and tune away. As any experienced cellist would know, your strings will stretch for the first week or so. You will have to re-tune the cello often until the strings are broken in. Now, as you noticed the price, you will not get any great strings. Any acoustic cello strings will do. You obviously don't have to worry about matching your strings with the body and character of your cello. Your cello has no body! I replaced the given strings with a basic set of Heliocore's and they work great.
5. Once your tuned up and ready to play, have fun with it. Please make sure your bow is well rosined. It will take a while to get it good and ready.
This cello works great as a silent practice cello, but note that you will have to get used to it as it's a substantially different feel from an acoustic. This is why you should learn on the acoustic! You will first notice that it's awkward to hold, but you will get comfortable with it. Also, it's probably going freak you out how little sound comes out of without it being plugged in.
Now, for my favorite part: The amp and pedal board. On the back our cello, there will be a black box with what you need to amplify. First, make sure your battery is in and your cello turns on. There's an on/off switch with a red light to let you know when it's on. (Turn your cello off or you will kill the battery ....kind of a weird new habit you'll have to get into.) Next, take your 1/4 to 1/8 cable and plug your 1/8" end into the "line out" jack. You can then either plug the 1/4" end into an amp or pedal board. When you plug it into an amp. the cello will, well....kind of sound like a cello. Kind of. Depends on your amp and the settings it has.
If you plan on using this cello for awesome effects and such, here's my pedal lineup for you to see how I shape my sounds.
Cello --> EB Jr. Volume Pedal --> Cry Baby Wah --> Lyon Distortion --> BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter --> Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble --> Boss Compression/Sustainer --> BOSS Equalizer --> RV-5 Digital Reverb --> Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler --> Bass Amp (USE A BASS AMP!)
If you want to retain the natural smooth cello sound, the pedals you will need are an equalizer and a compression sustainer. I would say teh reverb is optional, but it really does give a great sound for that cello tone. Have fun with your pedals and do research before you purchase. I like BOSS pedals as you can tell, but that's just me.
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Overall, I think this cello was a great buy and I am more than satisfied. With a little maintenance and care, this cello was up and running and sounds great. A must buy for anyone looking to try some awesome effects on a cello. Your cello can be a heavy metal guitar or Bach Prelude cello with the hit of a switch. I hope this was helpful and please feel free to contact me with nay questions you may have about the cello or let me know if this was helpful. I'd love to help!