Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A Cello for a Student

I have a wonderful student named Marianne.  She has never played cello in her life, now at age 75 she wants to learn the instrument.  "It'll be good for my brain!" She tells me.  I agree, what a wonderful ambition to follow.
So, she had no instrument; just pure ambition.  So I went hunting online for a suitable instrument for her that wouldn't hurt my budget.   I found an old cello with some beauty hidden under the roughness, the cello has been through hell and back, worked on by "woodshop amateurs" and probably not played in a very long time.  Judging by it's body, it looked to be a gem.  Here are some photos.


I took this instrument "as is" to my luthier Jim Guimot in Bozeman, Mt.  He took this unplayable ugly (on the outside) cello and made this absolutely stunning.  Here are the pics after he worked on it.



 Now, I am happy and have a happy student playing a beautiful cello that plays magnificently!