And so hard I tried....

[opus37]

In my house are 4 tubas, a baritone, a french horn, a cornet, a harp, 2 piccolos, and 2 flutes. My son has another 2 trumpets, a piano and a euphonium. So my first grandson is starting 6th grade. He announces that he is joining the band. (His school actually has a good music program). He said, "I am going to play saxophone." His younger brother, now starting third grade, said, "I want to learn cello." So, where did I go wrong? I have a friend who is a very good sax player and I have found an alto sax (a friend said come and get it out of my house). I have no idea about cellos. At least he's learning bass clef. Anybody have any guidance on cellos? (I know, I should be in therapy about now.)

[Donn]

I don't really have any idea, but I did get a cheap viola once, so ... if you're buying a 'cello (might be smarter to rent, no idea, or find some parent whose 'cello player was in the third grade), I assume it's going to come from a Chinese factory. While a great 'viola is an impenetrable acoustic miracle of art, craftsmanship and maybe even science, a workable instrument could probably be made with a cigar box, and the Chinese can make an even better one than that. What they can't reliably do, in the high volume factories, is make the fiddly little bits work right, and violas etc. aren't allowed to take advantage of innovations from recent centuries, so you have friction tuning pegs, single piece wood bridges etc.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that if there's any sort of a trustworthy violin shop you could go to, they can take those Chinese things and polish them up so they can be played. As opposed to buying one from ali-baba on the internet, which could easily turn out to be unplayable - tuning pegs won't hold, bridge is whacked, who knows.

Also, you may find that they want surprisingly big money for the bow. No way to tell whether it's worth it, but a reasonably good bow does make a very significant difference. Strings won't be cheap either, but I expect they should last a long time.

[pete edwards]

Always buy (used- Craigslist & FB are full of them). So long as your kid treats it decently you can always sell for what you paid, which is usually much cheaper than 8 months rental. In my area at least, there is a kind of "black market" of used instruments which keep changing hands every year in what amounts to a free rental program.
For a rank beginner string player, you really DON'T want an instrument that projects well, if you value your sanity. Once the kid can play, upgrade to a better instrument.

[opus37]

Always buy (used- Craigslist & FB are full of them). So long as your kid treats it decently you can always sell for what you paid, which is usually much cheaper than 8 months rental. In my area at least, there is a kind of "black market" of used instruments which keep changing hands every year in what amounts to a free rental program.
For a rank beginner string player, you really DON'T want an instrument that projects well, if you value your sanity. Once the kid can play, upgrade to a better instrument.

[MaryAnn]

As for bows, take a very good look at the Coda bows. You can get a LOT more for your money than if you buy a "real" bow. Many pros have a Coda bow for their backup bow; the top of the line ones are not toys, and the lesser priced ones are a good bet. Southwest Strings is right here where I live and their web site is well worth a look.