Cecilio 4/4 Silent Electric Cello with Ebony Fittings, Black Metallic

I read all the reviews about this cello and went ahead with my purchase to try it out myself. I've got 19 years playing cello and needed my own "rough/bumming around" cello for going to bars or practicing. Let me break this down.... --- The quality this has is actually insanely impressive, and I mean that different ways/reasons. The body is sturdy, the neck and pegs are strong wood [rosewood, spruce, standard] but to have the feel of a $1300 cello in a $300 purchase, great feat. The sound, holy heck the sound. Just what i had hoped for. Living from homes to apartments, neighbors to consider with the full bodied instruments. The sound in this thing is just superb. It does not carry the bass like a full body would, but do not take that as "there will be little to no sound" the sound is great for apartment living/small spaces. --- The bridge OF COURSE does NOT come pre-installed. I had read a comment or two about how mad the customer was that had to install the bridge... OK.... Take one look at any stringed instrument and ask "would you ship it that way?" No. No you wouldn't. On that note, the strings came already set and pegged for any beginner to have little to no struggle with. Keep the tuners {the silver twirlies near the bridge} loose and not the pegs; you'll unravel a string and have to feed it through again. This is a given at any time with the instrument so you'll want things tight after you've set. Slip the bridge under the strings and place on the rubber pad provided, then just suspend the loose strings on the bridge. The fatter space on the bridge is left for the G string, or the fattest string. Otherwise noted the logo, "Cecilio" should face AWAY from you. When you've placed the bridge, you'll have to switch between tightening the tuners and placing the pegs. You'll slip a string occasionally, it'll just happen. Wood and friction, humidity and temperature, things will happen, so just try and palm/push the wooden pegs [where the strings wrap around] to press the pegs into the cello a little harder/further. This will more/less help to keep the pegs in place and prevent slippage. Go to youtube, tune a cello and tighten it up by turning tuners or pressing pegs. It'll take tiiiimmmmeeeeee. Don't force the cello. Work it into tune. Do it right? You'll have strings that possibly last a decade and a cello that stays most often in tune. It'll jus sit there, set and ready to play. --- The Bow. Cheap and not cheap at all. Very impressed by the quality they've sent along. Shorter, heavier, though a great bow to work the form and muscles of the hands and wrist [for beginners]. Others will most likely have this bow as only a back up or maybe practice. --- If you have never rosined a bow before..... Here's some pointers: Do NOT touch the bow hair directly, do not let others or anyone touch the bow hair directly. Your oily greasy fingers will tarnish and deplete the sound and ability of the bow. Do NOT over tighten the bow. Here's a good way to avoid doing just that: If you have a moment of "Gee, I wonder if this is too tight" it probably is, so loosen it. You should be able to tap or bounce the wooden part of the bow on your palm and see *some* movement or "slack" in the bow hairs. Be sure to loosen after use. This is your chance to play around and after no time at all you'll feel/hear the difference with your playing of tight or loose bows. ----- To rosin, remove the entire bit of rosin from container, should have a hole underneath to help pop out and should be covered in cloth; again stressing the "do not touch the rosin or bow with your bare fingers" routine. ****TAKE A PAIR OF SCISSORS*** or say a screwdriver, anything sharpish and hatch the rosin. Just "#" sort of thing, just scrape right onto the rosin. Yes, the rosin is pretty as it is, Yes I mean it to just tear right into the pretty rosin. It is a type of activation and helps spread and cover the bow. Then just rosin the bow. Go all across the hairs, go by preference. Go multiple layers. Through my years I've done the sides and in between [the wood and the hairs] to rosin a new bow. Then thru time you'll just apply as needed or pending on your amount of play time, before each play. --My Overall, If I knew I could have gotten this instrument sooner in life I would have. If I had this as a kid I can't tell you where I would be now. I had auditioned for many spots and a lot of my practice was prohibited by apartment living. Impossible to play anything on a rented loud full body cello in an apartment. If you have kids, if you have someone interested at all, definitely if you have interested kids, find some way. If you're concerned, there are SO many more options for rentals than you can guess. Try that out for size, hear the loud bass and see if the kid actually gets into it. Then I would say, don't hesitate with this instrument. This is a phenomenal deal for any age or use.

Got this as an upgrade from a $100 cello off of Craigslist, it’s beautiful and sleek and I feel like it’s made nicely for the money spent here. The thing I’m most terrible about is turning it off from its battery pack so I’ve gone through batteries quick but that’s due to my own fault. The strings sound nice and function as intended and so far no tuning issues. I’ve had this cello for 3 years and although I’m not a professional musician this is a good upgrade if you want something you can plug a headphone jack in and play without being too loud for apartment neighbors.

Look, first off, full disclosure - I'm not Yo Yo Ma. This shouldn't be a surprise given I'm reviewing a sub $500 instrument, but I probably can't tell the difference between a $2000 cello and a $30,000 cello. I'm fairly new to bowed instruments. I rented a cello from a very good strings shop up here in Seattle area, for about a year and according to them the "Student Cello" was about a $2k setup with soft case, bow, etc. That said, I have been playing other things with strings for 25 years (electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, uke, bass, harp) and I am a pretty good judge of quality and playability. I have done a lot of my own setup and modification work on instruments over the years. I got tired of shelling out a monthly fee for a cello that I play about 6 or 8 times a month, so I went looking to buy something. My use case for this is simply to test out some parts I'm writing using some string libraries in my DAW, and I wanted to figure out for some of the chords and transitions if they were humanly possible, or whether or not a given part might require 2 cellos or more. I wasn't that interested in tone, all I wanted was something that will play, stay in tune, and not require special handling like humidification or specific temperature requirements like many full acoustic cellos do. So far this fits the bill. It was inexpensive, at least as cello kits go, and while I was a little worried about friction tuners on an inexpensive instrument, so far it seems to be holding up nicely. I didn't have to make any bridge modifications, although it did not come with instructions for how to set the bridge so you will have to go online for guidance there if you have never done this before. Also worth mentioning, if you are new to the bow thing, getting a brand new bow rosined up for the first time can take some time. The positives: No strange buzzes, hardware is not too flimsy, it comes with almost everything you need including rosin, case, cheap headphones, bow, strings, a 1/8" to 1/4" cord for your amp, and a polishing rag. Only things that were missing for me were batteries for the preamp, and instructions for the bridge setup and positioning. Plays just like the rental did, and sounds fine. Being able to amp it means you can fool with the tone a bit to get the sound you want. For extra kicks, run it through some guitar effects. I have a Boss GT-10 megapedal, and had a blast goofing around with it on some of the odder pedal patches. not super useful for my intended purpose, but a fun way to spend an afternoon. The negatives: Cheap finish, with a few paint runs. The built in preamp with the volume knob and tone knob feels a bit flimsy on the knobs and switches. 1/8" output jack where 1/4" is standard in the music business. You have to use the cord that came with it instead of a decent guitar cable. No auto power off, so you are sure to forget to flip the switch on the preamp and run the batteries down at some point. All my other guitars with active circuitry have a feature where when you unplug the cable from the guitar it shuts off the preamp in case you forget. A simple switched jack could solve this. Summary: Overall, happy with this purchase. It isn't perfect, but it serves my needs quite well, and there are no major show stoppers with the unit I got. I may take apart the preamp at some point and add a switched 1/4" jack somewhere if I need an afternoon project, but I'll give it a solid 4 stars and I feel like I got my money's worth.

Looked good, not terrible reviews. Bought it because I live in a small apartment and didn't want to bother my neighbors. (Experienced musician, first time playing the cello). It was nice and quiet, could be heard fine without headphones, and didn't make a huge racket. I practiced it about 3 - 4 days a week, about an hour a day, from mid May to mid August, owned it for not even 100 days. Picked it up one morning, and it had literally fallen to pieces in the gig bag. All the glued pieces had come undone. 5 stars to amazon for refunding my money. I really enjoyed it for the time that I had it, and wish I was still playing it, I really liked it. Good sound, good feel (like a normal cello, but thinner front to back, obviously), I was looking forward to playing this for a few years. But that kind of catastrophic failure... Maybe I'll try a different model next year, but probably I'll try a regular acoustic cello instead.

I wasn't playing my old acoustic cello because those deep bass notes travel right through our apartment walls! I must say that I am overall pleased with this instrument, as it allows for practice with headphones or plugged into an acoustic amp, when you want others to hear. Now for some negatives...The first thing I noticed that disappointed me was the paint finish. It looks cheaply spray painted black. There also is an area on the neck, were your thumb goes that wasn't painted and looks ugly. Second, the strings it came with were dreadful but that is to be expected. I replaced it with helicores and they sound great! Third, the action, or distance of the strings to the fingerboard, was way too high. I took the cello to a professional violin shop who charged me $80 to shave down the bridge, file down the nut and adjust the endpin length. It came back in much better shape. Another issue is the tuning pins slipped out of tune and were hard to move, but some liquid drops they sell here on amazon helped with that and it now stays in tune. When I took it to the violin shop they said the fine tuners are cheap chinese made, and will break at some point. Playing the cello the fine tuners had an aweful buzz. I replaced them for about $30 here on amazon and now it's much better. The bow that this came with works, but is very cheap and can not be rehaired. The guy at the violin shop said to use it till the hairs wear out and then trash it. I bought a nice carbon bow here on amazon for very cheap (about $50) and I love it. My final issue with this cello was the gig bag it came with. It's a super thin bag that offers no protection. I'm looking into getting a hardcase made for an electric bass guitar (check the measurements before you do that). Basically you get what you payed for, but now that i've fixed all the issues, i've got a great sounding practice cello and I'm very happy! This cello arrived on time and was packaged well. The sound from the built-in preamp was good, but I bought a small headphone amp that greatly improved that as well. I plug it into my roland acoustic amp and it sounds like I payed 4 times what I did! It took some work but it was worth every penny!

I looked at a lot of single shaft style electric cellos that cost 4 to 8 times more than this one without offering the logistical convenience of a internal pin stand, or the added acoustics of a slightly larger body, and without the advantage of having virtually the same ergonomic experience of playing a real acoustic cello. Also, those type of slender body electrics do not use authentic scroll pegboards nor Ebony tuning pegs. I was impressed by the fit and the finish of both the Ebony parts and the Maple parts. The electronics are very good, especially if you install the 9V battery correctly. It has an on-off switch for the electronics so that it won’t drain your battery. It has plenty of extras, including the 9V battery a set of strings, bow, a maple bridge, lightweight headphones, a 1/8 to 1/4 inch adapter out jack to plug into your amp. Complement this rig by buying an extra bow that’s more expensive than the one that comes with it and by buying an extra set of premium strings. It also comes with Rosin and a very good quality microfiber polish cloth. The case has plenty of extra pockets and can be worn as a backpack, and all the accessories are in different pockets, hidden throughout the case, so make sure you look in every single pocket of the case before declaring something is missing. The walnut glaze finish on the maple parts is also lush/luxurious, and super nice! Get a fork and scratch up your Rosin a lot before you Rosin up your bow for the first time and spend at least 10 to 15 minutes rosining up your bow before testing it. And tighten up your bow significantly before testing as well. Failure to do this will result in no sound being emitted from the cello. Also fold the rear wood brace into the upright 90° perpendicular position before playing as this acts as the ergonomic simulation of the back of a real cello resting against your chest. All in all this cello is a very substantial yet quality and very aesthetically pleasing instrument. LATEST UPDATE: Going deeper into the electronics and tone: Speaking to people who played/owned the substantially more expensive "narrow shaft" electric cello's that I mentioned earlier, I was told that they sound "cello-like, but that you can tell it is electric." In contrast, without any exaggeration I can honestly say that when I play mine through my amp with the cello's tone knob balanced but with slightly more treble bias, it doesn't sound "cello-like" at all, instead it sounds like an actual Stradivarius acoustic cello! (I only used the amp's reverb, a compressor, and noise gate/filter stomp boxes).

I love it! She’s beautiful and works well. The headphones have a little static but nothing i can’t ignore. Doesn’t come with spare strings so order your own if you’re a first time cello player and setting it up yourself! I snapped two strings the first day i got it because i’ve never played an instrument before. So super happy with my purchase!!

There are some pretty mixed reviews on here and the rest of the internet, but my experience with this has been pretty decent. Considering its price tag, I don't really believe you can go wrong even with taking a risk on a potentially bad-quality product. My local instrument shop prices their cellos at minimum around $1000, so I'll take my chances with the online option that's 1/3 of the cost; at least there's such thing as a return policy. That being said, I am pretty happy with my purchase, as everything arrived undamaged. My package arrived with a disassembled electric cello, and completely without instructions, but like the top review says, "why would you want a completely assembled instrument shipped to you?" Pros: - Cello sounds like a rental cello - Bow feels like a rental bow - Aesthetic - Construction is solid, nothing's flimsy or loose - 1/8" port means casuals without amps can use more common sound equipment - Bridge is nicely cut - Light and (relatively) portable - Good for small living spaces - Cheap as heck Cons: - Cheap cello comes with an even cheaper preamp - 1/8" port means you either get an adapter for your real amp, or stick with their "meh" quality cable - Included strings are garbage - Some assembly required - The case fits too snugly that the endpin barely fits (Protip: stab a hole at the bottom) I am by no means a cello purist, but it does its intended job of being a cheap electric cello that produces decent sound. If you're looking at this product, you probably fall into the obviously intended audience of enthusiastic newbies, casuals, apartment-dwellers, etc. You really can't beat the price, so I'm giving it 5 stars despite the cons.

So.. usually I base purchases on the negative reviews, not the positive ones, but in this case I went ahead with the purchase solely because I already owned a Cecilio electric violin that was just dandy. For the Cello, I was quite shocked upon arrival in that it did -not- have any number of issues described by other reviews, starting with the fact that the bridge came absolutely, positively pre-installed in the upright position. Not only that, but it seemed very well packaged to clearly keep the bridge in that position. The only thing that would have dislodged it would have been a severe blow and that could just as well damage the whole instrument, let alone the bridge. So while some people say the unit should "never" be shipped with the installed bridge anyway, I say this one came out just fine. Next, the tuning. The horror stories of 'requiring' peg oil or having to rig up some rosin on the pegs... I prepared myself. I began turning the pegs, pushing them in only with the slightest of pressure really, entirely expecting them to recoil promptly and refuse to carry a tune. Yeah, it never actually happened. The pegs stayed exactly where I put them the first time with very little effort. First I tuned them a touch flat, let the cello sit and the strings stretch, then I put them in correct tune. I let the cello sit again and, upon returning, I expected to find a flat cello that needed re-tuning. To my surprise, it was still perfectly in-tune, and required nothing more than the slightest adjustments by micro-tuners. Then we have the bow.. oh how horrible will it be to get this terrible, awful bow with its equally-terrible rosin to play? Well it really wasn't -that- bad. In fact, it was really easy. Is the bow great? No, not really... but will it PLAY? Can you LEARN with it? Is it what you'd expect in an off-brand random instrument off Amazon that you feel has questionable origins? Oh absolutely! Look, if you're having trouble putting rosin on your bow, it's not the rosin, it's not the bow, it's probably just you. Scratch the surface of the rosin with the edge of just about anything hard, scoring it nicely, and you'll be just fine. So far this instrument performs exactly how I expect a $500 electric cello to perform. It plays, it holds a tune, it's structurally sound, and if you want to replace the headphones and bow, by all means go ahead, but don't just run out and buy hundreds of dollars in extra 'stuff' for this thing. You bought a -cheap Cello- for a reason, and I can honestly tell you that you will absolutely be able to use this instrument as-is out of the box, assuming there is nothing inherently wrong with your particular cello which happens to just about any instrument and electronic device on the market (sometimes, you get a lemon). For what it is, I give it 5 stars.

Absolutely fantastic electric cello for the money. No complaints at all here. It is a first cello for me, but not the first I have held or played. You simply cannot beat the value this package offers. Was shipped with no damage or missing parts, everything worked right out of the box.

* Update at the bottom * I ordered this cello for myself, having only played cello once before, but I like it so far. It came 5 days after I ordered it, which was with the free super saver shipping. They assume that you know a thing about cellos, because it came in pieces, and without and instruction or owners manuals in the box or online. When I tried to tune the cello, the plastic tailgut stripped, so I am unable to play it until I get a replacement, preferably steel. However, being an electric cello, most tailgut replacements are far too long, so I read that nylon cord is a good replacement. I will but a better quality one on my own, but I do want record that I have had a problem. Going through their customer service was frustrating, as Cecilio has no record of my purchase, probably due to being through KKMusic store, through Amazon.ca. I emailed them proof of my purchase, and am waiting on them to get back. I was exited about finding an electric cello only being $500 CAD, as the one I was originally going to get was closer to $3,000, the Yamaha CVS 110 or whatever. Many cellists have multiple cellos, so maybe later. This cello seems like a good beginners cello, being cheaper than any used acoustic cello I could find, and I will certainly practice on it more than a acoustic cello, as I always want to practice in the middle of the night, when my family is asleep. It still makes some noise when you play it, but not nearly as loud as an acoustic. The case it came in won't protect it against anything, being so thin, and is awkward to carry the cello in as the cello is so top heavy, but it has a compartment for the rosin, bow, and some sheet music. The headphones it came with are lower quality than the free ones you get on airplanes, but I have good headphones I was planning to use with it anyway. It came with a nice cloth too. All that being said, I am eager to get to playing it. UPDATE: Cecilio sent me a replacement tailpiece for free, in an envelope a little too small, but I had already gone to a violin shop and bought a new one. The exert there recommended a lighter tailpiece altogether, so I bought one for $60, and also got it strung up and tuned as well. Pro tip, you can ask to watch them string it up if you're new, so you can learn how to for next time. The cello sounds great, though the sound outputs and input are a bit confusing. The "phone" jack is for headphones, the "mic" is for plugging in an auxiliary cable from your phone to play music through while hearing the cello, and the "line out" is for powered speakers or an amp. I use the Turtlebeach XP7 headset, it has a mixer, and has inline audio that works better, but the cello mixer works fine. The cello sounds good through headphones, and it is way quieter than acoustic cello from the outside. That means if you're self conscious about practising while anyone else can hear you like I am, you don't need to worry anymore.

Do. Not. Buy. Terrible sound. Cheap build. And hardly silent.

really bad quality of headphone, just throw it in the trash. Nice body and no early broken part after playing it. I live in Canada and the shipping was fast. Plan to buy some additional set of strings and a stand for the cello.