u/Elegant_Contact_9317

Gonna preface, I've been playing cello for about 6 months but I'm a classically trained flutist of 20 years. I know my way around music, I'm just switching to strings because I love the voice that a cello has in comparison to my flute.

So I'm currently playing on Prelude C, G, and D, with a Kaplan A. The reason for this is I wanted to start with cheap strings until I could hear the nuances of my sound and better approach nicer strings. I'm glad I did because when I started everything sounded fine and I couldn't hear a difference in strings. How the heck would I know what I want if I'm not hearing differences at all? The first issue I noticed was my A string... now 6 months later I'm noticing my lower register. Now that I'm hearing the nuances I finally feel prepared to invest in strings I want to listen to.

Anyway, I noticed a shrill scratchy cat-on-blackboard sound to my prelude A after about a month of playing so I replaced it with a Kaplan to make it warmer. I love my Kaplan A (although I'm not married to it) but I'm now hearing issues with the rest of the preludes. Specifically my lower register. My bowing obviously needs work as I've been playing less than a year, but no matter what I do I can't get rid of this ever so slight harmonic sound to my lower register. It's definitely not my left hand, that has always felt great surprisingly. I think it's because I originally tried bass guitar when I first started exploring strings. Regardless, left hand is good. When I first started researching lower register strings, I found I love a deep, earthy, grumbly, old world sound. The first time I noticed it was actually in a cannone set. So I started looking at magnacore arioso and il cannone warm/broad. As I was looking at these, I made sure to compare it to my upper register to prevent the split where it would sound like I'm playing 2 different instruments. Eventually I decided to do magnacore C, and cannone G with a Kaplan D and A to get the sound I'm after. It gradually blends the old world grumble to the bell side of things if I'm right. (key words being IF I'm right)

Then out of curiosity I looked to see if Jargar had anything to say since I was primarily looking at Larsen and D'Addario. I found the Jargar evoke. from what I read... it sounds like it might blend the Larsen lower register with the Kaplan A.

Gonna slip this in here: before you ask if my cello itself is bright/dull/muddy/etc.... I don't know. I won't know for a while until I test out different strings on it. So far I've only played it with the preludes and the one Kaplan. It's absolutely possible that this cello leans to the brighter side... but it's also possible that it's just the fact I'm using cheap-beater strings. It's an "oxford made-in-china" used rental I got for $400ish from an actively closing music shop. I'm not expecting greatness, but I want to give it the best shot it's got.

I want to hear feedback here. I... have gone so far down the rabbit hole I can't see sky anymore. What do we think of the (magnacore arioso C, Il cannone warm/broad G, Jargar evoke D, Kaplan A)? (bolded that to make it easy to find) I'm not married to the Kaplan but it's a young string so I want to play it till its time to change it. Are there cheaper options than what I've listed? I read about the helicore but I'm not sold on them since I've heard the cannones and magnacores and I like them. Remember, goal is old-world earthy lows blending into silverbell-like singing highs.

I cannot get the tension out of my right hand. Its in how im holding my bow. I KNOW it. But I cant get it to go away. Some days are better than others but it just *hurts*. What causes tension and how do I get rid of it? If I keep going (like my teacher says to) im going to injure myself. My teacher thinks it's an endurance thing but I just know it's a tension thing and it shouldn't be happening. Today was a particularly bad practice session where I couldn't even get through a quarter of the first dotzauer without stopping (pardon the spelling).

Seriously, SOS.

Its crazy how much people dont realize has chicken in it. So far I've seen owners feed their chicken allergy dogs pedigree, regular "salmon" kibbles, milk bones, and even DEHYDRATED CHICKEN. All those kibbles and treats contain chicken or chicken products??? I... this hurts my head. What is everyone else's experiences?

Im new to trying out different strings and im in the "i want the deepest, most broad, muddiest strings possible" phase. So far im customizing off a basic set of preludes. I hated my cat-on-a-blackboard A, so I got a kaplan for it. I know synthetic cores are going to be more mellow and dark than steel or braided cores...

Im wondering if theres a set known best for this? I've heard of the following:

- dadario proarte

- pirastro... anything. Although I dont want their gut strings.

Any reccomendations? Thanks!!

I hear for carbon fiber Luis and Clark is the way to go. They project, and really take advantage of the materials strengths. They're also 8000 for a student model when i checked. Which is a lot... but im looking to save up for a nicer cello so 8000 isn't... completely out of the picture... id prefer 2g to 5g tho.

Glasser is said to be... "heavier"? I couldn't really find enough info on them. If the sound is heavier and darker... I like that.

I dont like to play super loud and cut through everything to be heard. I prefer to practice by myself *for* myself, with just etudes. I study music for the joy of studying the structure and scaffolding within the notes and instrument itself. My current setup is literally a used cello i got for 400 and a bow i got on amazon. Truely, i dont care abt making it perfect, i just want to *play*. Im a weird musician. Anyway. My point in this post is this: considering what I want... i dont think L&C is for me. But what about glasser or other carbon fiber cellos? I like how durable they are and resistant to weather damage. Wooden instruments make me nervous in that sense. Am I totally off base thinking abt a CF cello or would maybe one of the ones no one else likes work for me considering what *Im* looking for?

So I recently realized that yes, bows get old. Ive been playing for less than a year so obviously my bow is probably fine rn. But how often should bows be replaced or rehaired depending on the value ofc? Ik strings its 6 months to a year or whenever they're sounding dull. But bows... I have no clue.

So im a cello player without a luthier. Like the closest one is states away. Also a broke college student. Also a fiber artist and woodworker. To date i have mastered macrame, knitting, crochet, lashing, splicing, hek even lacemaking. Also, 99% of the furniture in my house is made by my family. Putting all this together, im training myself in this artform. Half out of necessity, half out of interest. So far I've restrung my cello a couple times, fixed the slippery pegs, and placed the bridge comfortably a few times as well. On my guitars I've done the basic restring and conditioning process. Along with fixing the tuning machines on my ukulele. So im not... as clueless as I could be... if yk what I mean.

I need a second bow but I really dont want to dish out the 75 bucks for it if i dont have to. Id rather spend 10 on a couple hanks of hair from my favorite cheep bow company to see if its possible to rehair my cheap dead backup bow myself first. If its not possible, I'll just buy the second bow. If it is, we'll then yay!

I have LOW expectations. Lower than hell. If it fails, this bow is both cheap and dead anyway. Oh well. That being said, theres a chance (small as it may be) I could succeed. And have a second bow. For cheap cheap. (Again. Stressing the low expectations.)

I know about the wedges and shaping them. I know about measuring the amount of hair. I know about the superglue, the various clamping, the various measuring, the combing, even the heating of the hairs at the end to finish.

My question is, what's everyone's experience? Little things you learn by doing, not by studying. Is it easier to start at the tip or at the frog? So far I've only seen starting at the tip so that's my plan. What kind of string/thread do you use to tie the end of the hair? Id assume something cotton... but would pearl cotton size 3 work? (I have that) are there special chiseles or would fine woodworking chisels do the job provided theyre sharp?

Any advice is welcome... so long as it's not "it's not worth it". I know this is not an easy project, it seems like most of the hard parts involve making sure the hair is in order and treated and measured properly. I feel like my history of fiber arts and instrument work can be applied here. Also, this would be an extremely useful skill to have. Again. I have no luthier. Im thinking if I train hard enough i could become a very small luthier of this area (that would be one helluva dream tbh). I really want to give it a shot. Assistance would be appreciated!! 💖

So im a cello player without a luthier. Like the closest one is states away. Also a broke college student. Also a fiber artist and woodworker. To date i have mastered macrame, knitting, crochet, lashing, splicing, hek even lacemaking. Also, 99% of the furniture in my house is made by my family. Putting all this together, im training myself in this artform. Half out of necessity, half out of interest. So far I've restrung my cello a couple times, fixed the slippery pegs, and placed the bridge comfortably a few times as well. On my bow ive replaced the bow-grip a couple times too. On my guitars I've done the basic restring and conditioning process. Along with fixing the tuning machines on my ukulele. So im not... as clueless as I could be... if yk what I mean.

I need a second bow but I really dont want to dish out the 75 bucks for it if i dont have to. Id rather spend 10 on a couple hanks of hair from my favorite cheep bow company to see if its possible to rehair my cheap dead backup bow myself first. If its not possible, I'll just buy the second bow. If it is, well then yay!

I have LOW expectations. Lower than hell. If it fails, this bow is both cheap and dead anyway. Oh well. That being said, theres a chance (small as it may be) I could succeed. And have a second bow. For cheap cheap. (Again. Stressing the low expectations.)

I know about the wedges and shaping them. I know about measuring the amount of hair. I know about the superglue, the various clamping, the various measuring, the combing, even the heating of the hairs at the end to finish.

My question is, what's everyone's experience? Little things you learn by doing, not by studying. Is it easier to start at the tip or at the frog? So far I've only seen starting at the tip so that's my plan. What kind of string/thread do you use to tie the end of the hair? Id assume something cotton... but would pearl cotton size 3 work? (I have that) are there special chiseles or would fine woodworking chisels do the job provided theyre sharp?

Any advice is welcome... so long as it's not "it's not worth it". I know this is not an easy project, it seems like most of the hard parts involve making sure the hair is in order and treated and measured properly. I feel like my history of fiber arts and instrument work can be applied here. Also, this would be an extremely useful skill to have. Again. I have no luthier. Im thinking if I train hard enough i could become a very small luthier of this area (that would be one helluva dream tbh). I really want to give it a shot. Assistance would be appreciated!! 💖