Cecilio Solid Wood Cello, CCO-300, Full Size

Good instrument for the price. Arrived in good condition with sound post intact. Probably, not for a beginner as some set up is required – bridge, and rosin needs sanding to deliver residue to the bow for it to catch the strings properly. As a violist who always fancied a cello this was a great purchase. Lots of accessories and the sound is very good.

First off, this is my first violincello, but I learned to play the violin 40 years ago. If you have absolutely no knowledge of orchestral string instruments, I would advise you not to buy this. Go to a local string shop and rent a student cello from there and get some experience first. You might spend $50-$75/month to rent, but in some cases you can rent to own. You’ll get a cello that is already setup, and possibly higher quality, if not more dinged up, and some “history” if you’re into that feeling.

If you are up for an adventure, then read on!

First, I bought the package that came with a soft case, hard case, a “cello stand”, entry level cello, bow, one extra set of strings, and a rosin cake.

Things you will need to buy on your own:
1. a chair. playing the cello requires a certain playing position, and so you can’t use just any chair. You want one that tilts you forward, is the height that allows your legs to bend at a 90 degree angle at the hips and the knees, and maybe has some padding but not too much. You don’t want anything that swivels either. You might have a chair like this already at home, but if not you will need a solution. Don’t try to make do with a chair that is too low or high, or tilts you backwards, you’ll hurt yourself and be super fatigued after practicing, and will grow to hate playing.
2. a music stand. You can get a cheap foldable stand for holding paper music
3. a proper cello stand. Yes, the package I bought came with a “cello stand”. So why do I suggest you need to get cello stand? The one pictured in the product page, and that I received is actually a guitar stand. This is a problem for several reasons. First, it sits low to the ground. You have to push the end pin back in to use the stand. Do you want a stand you can set your cello in briefly during practice or performance? The guitar stand isn’t going to do it. Second, it rests on two lower arms and the back of the cello rests against a foam pad at the top of the stand triangle. Because this is a guitar stand, the contact points are very close together as the body of a guitar is much smaller that that of a cello. These contact points allow for your cello to be knocked off easily. Third, there is no place to hang the bow, because guitars don’t use bows.
4. peg dope. no, not weed for your pegs. this is a compound you can apply to keep the pegs from slipping, if you have that problem. Mine appear to be fine, but I also already have peg dope for my violin if the need arises.
5. end pin holder. OK, you may not need one right away (see below for a discussion of the end pin on this cello), but the strap type of holder are less than 10 bucks, and you will need one eventually, and more immediately if you’re playing on a hard floor. Plus it helps you be consistent about your cello placement as you’re learning (the strap type specifically).

Expect to spend another $100 dollars or so, more if you need a chair. You’d need these things no matter what, so just plan to get them somehow.

OK, now a review of the components of the kit:
1. the stand. See above. It’s a guitar stand, give it to a friend who plays guitar and get a proper cello stand if you want/need one.
2. the soft case. This is more of a dust cover than a case. It has minimal padding, and there is no extra padding around the bridge nor for the scroll, so those sensitive components could be easily banged around if you use the soft case for transport.
3. the hard case. The hard case seems nice, it’s a zipper style case covered in fabric. I has wheels, a carry strap, and a handle. It’s velour lined o n the inside, but no padding. It has two sets of velcro straps for holding up to two bows. It also has a useless latch and lock combo that came with no key, and the clasp is on a fabric wing that could be easily cut off. Not really sure why there is a locking latch. It’s acceptable for this level of cello, and this is the case I would use to take it places.
4. the bow. It’s a typical entry level bow, and relatively heavy, but serves the purpose.
5. the strings. These are cheap strings. If you’re learning, just use them till they wear out and replace with better ones.
6. the cello. It’s made of real wood, it’s cello shaped, and it has a finish in all the right areas. It looks decent, sounds decent, and I had no major quality issues. The finish on the back of mine has fine scratches all over it, I’m guessing from shipping. The tailpiece is aluminum with one piece fine tuners, which is nice. Mine has an issue with the A string, the tuning screw will pop off the tuning lever if it’s turned down too much. The other thing about this cello is the end-pin. First, it’s pegged into the body, so it cannot be easily removed out from the end of the cello. Second, it seems to be a solid stainless steel rod, so its heavier than it needs to be. Third, it’s not sharpened, and because the end pin is pegged into the cello, it can’t be easily sharpened. The rubber cap over it seems to be meant to be used directly. It’s effective at preventing slipping on carpet, but on a hard surface probably not, once it’s covered in dust.

The setup. OK, this is where I said you’d need to invest time. The cello comes with the bridge down but pre-strung. Surprisingly the sound post made it all the way to me via UPS still in place. Normally the string tension through the bridge would ensure the sound post stays put. How it was shipped and didn’t fall is a mystery. The bridge does at least appear to have been fit to the body, but you will have to properly place it. (A funny aside, after I bought this, I saw the ad by Cecilio for their cello. Hilariously, the bridge in that video is set in the completely wrong place, so don’t use that as a guide!) After setting the bridge, you will properly tighten the strings and tune them, then go through a week or more of making major tuning adjustments as the tailpiece gut stretches out to it’s final shape. By major tuning I mean using the tuning pegs, not the fine tuners. If it continues to slip out of tune after a week or two, you might need your pegs fitted or try adding peg dope. If you’ve never used a tuning peg before or set a bridge, or have slipping pegs, then I suggest you take it to a string shop and let them do all that for you. They’ll need to keep it for a little while. You can have them put tapes on it too. That will cost you extra money, so factor that into your cost and value purchase decision.

Future upgrades. If you find yourself enjoying the cello, then you can, in the future, invest in a better balanced, lighter bow, which you can use on this cello or a better one that you upgrade to after a few years. Strings will be a must anyways, so get better strings when the cheap ones have served their purpose (you’re a beginner, so you’re not going to be playing Bach’s Cello Suite #1 anytime soon), and hear less tinny music from your cello. I don’t suggest spending any money on planetary gear tuners as they will be rather permanently affixed to this cello, nor do I suggest you need a different tailpiece, unless it breaks.

I hope you enjoy your cello journey!

Very good value. Expect to visit a luthier to make some minor adjustments. On mine, the fingerboard wasn’t planed exactly right, which caused the two lowest strings to rattle. It was easily remedied by replacing the bridge. I’ve played on a $1400 cello and a $700 cello before, and this Cecilio sounds much closer to the $1400 one after that fix and some better strings. The hard case is a must! I highly recommend it as a beginner’s cello, but be aware there’s a bit of a gamble.