The Best Cello?

September 2018

Because it has been out being played, I haven’t mentioned my Andrea Guarneri model cello since I finished it in the spring. This is the first instrument I have made with a poplar back, ribs and scroll, though the model I have used many times before, and have used poplar on collaborative violin making projects.

The poplar is very different to work compared with maple, and interestingly, the characteristic tool marks on the original Andrea Guarneri come naturally when working in poplar.  I was hoping the poplar would give the cello a warm tone and that has proved to be the case, though from the start I put on a Belgian bridge which are generally brighter than the French style.

The first time I took it out, only a couple of days after having strings on the first time, it immediately seemed to work. In fact, one of my good cellist friends who has probably played every cello of mine over the last twenty years, likes this one the best! Of course, it won’t be for everyone; being a small full-size cello [ladies ‘cello] with a string length an inch shorter than average, but it is very comfortable to play, and it does have a lovely sound, very rich, with a breadth of tone all the way up, and powerful too.