Richard, you are undoubtably the Mr. Doubtfire of Cello presenters. I enjoy your upbeat, positive, playful and helpful energy. The insights on the sound of each instrument are good to listen to. I tend to agree. The phrase angry for the one instrument was poetic.
Nicely done Richard - I REALLY like the Francesco Ruggieri copy sound and look - thanks for this and you other EXTENSIVE string comparison - Really USEFUL - based on that review I got the Spirocore Tungsten G C and the Larsen D Soloist and Larsen A (non soloist)
Hanna should have got the Jay Haide Strad. model in my humble opinion (Just my two cents :-). Thanks for the inspiring review of your wonderful celli, dear Whitehorse music Shop. You are awesome!
So let me say this . I was interested in learning cello but 4k - 6k for mediocre student instruments is a starting price ? That is more expensive the my Rickenbacker 4003 , Fender Ultra II jazz bass and Fender p bass combined ( all professional instruments ) thats the problem with your industry .
Cello made in China or Taiwan-$up to 6000. Cello made by a luthier--18k Euro or more. WHY? Both use spruce. Wood is glued together. Same number of parts in a cello. Is Italian glue better than glue used in Taiwan by Eastman Strings?? Are Italian cello makers more skilled in gluing? Dimbath so much better in cutting out the shapes? Is his source fro spruce offering superior quality than the supplier for Jay Haide? Could they be the same supplier? :) Hmmm... It's not like creating a grand piano. Where the internals and engineering aren't identical. Brand to brand. There's no innovation possible with a cello. Differences minute...wood bow or carbon fibre. Metal tail or wood? Strings from brand A or B? One could argue that a luthier's cellos lack consistency because they are not "assembly line made". One copy different from the next. They do claim 1/10 a mm makes a difference. :) So you might play 5 $30,000 cellos made by the same luthier. like only 1... Then there's the possibility they can be sat on. :) Not the strongest durable instruments. So you spent $30,000 on a Burnd Dimbath Ruggieri. That only gives you to your ears marginally better bass than a $4k Jay Haide...uses same strings, bridge...etc.
You’d think that, yes, but as an even more extreme example, take bows. A stick and some hair, right? When I upgraded my bow I took five home from the luthier and immediately put numbered stickers over the brands, and removed the price tags. I then took them to my teacher, didn’t say a word, and let her try them. Her thoughts were similar to mine, and similar to my girlfriend when she listened, also blind. Notably when my teacher tried my cheap bow (which I included, also blanked off and marked as with the others) she laughed after two notes and said it was my cheap bow. I was surprised. One more comment on wood: the wood used does actually make a huge difference - where it’s grown and how it’s worked. Think of grapes: wines from two different regions made with the same grape are instantly recognisable. Similarly, how a tree grows gives the wood different resonant properties. That’s not a complete answer, because I’m not qualified to give that, but these small details that I know do hint at differences. The ear is the ultimate test though - listen to the differences. Try here for instance: same cellos and strings, but made from wood from different places: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b1ssSj3H-LQ.html
