[edit2] Wow, thanks for the gold, stranger! First time I got a comment gilded :-)

___

Ok, lots of questions, I'll try to hit them all. (edit: didn't realize how long this was going to be, sorry!! TL;DR: accessories are fine, but don't invest in that instrument itself because it has no resale value and if/when you upgrade, it will have good "parts" on it already).

Strings - your new strings (linked) look better than the stock ones. Not good. But a bit less bad. If you were thinking of upgrading, I would say don't get a full set. Just replace the A/D (or even just the A) and see how it compares. They should be about $20 each for the A/D strings. Those are the spares I carry in my case (I play Larsen, but don't want $50 spares, especially if someone else asks for one!). Jargar are kinda harsh, but in a good way - they are loud, easy to project, and cut through the mix of the orchestra very well. Easier to be heard, that kind of harsh. On the downside, they require more work of you to not squeak. The cheaper the strings, the easier they squeak, and crunch, and eventually go dead if you apply enough pressure (like crunching that never turns into tone?) but maybe that's not happening to you if you don't have good rosin. So onto point 2!

Rosin. Get this stuff it's superb. I used to pay 2-3x that price, I'm so thrilled it's become readily available. I'm not sure it's quite as good as it was in the 90s, but after experimenting with about a dozen brands (including synthetic, because I'm allergic to pine), this is the one I come back to. You'd think it doesn't much matter, and I used to think that too. Until I did the experiment and found that rosin brand/composition does make a difference. I don't know how much you can hear it, but you can DEFINITELY feel it! Which makes playing easier/harder, and the audience can always hear you working hard. They want to hear you make it look easy, right? Right. Get the Hill Light (violin/viola/cello). Smooth as butter, easy as pie, and creamy like a... something french dessert, I don't know... As for the old rosin, use a dry cloth and just gently wipe and wipe and wipe. Don't use alcohol. it will dry out the hair. Also, you can put new rosin even if the hair isn't 100% clean. It mixes right in, no problems. Wipe off some old, then put on too much of the new Hill rosin. It will make some dust, then in a week put on too much again. Then it should be good to apply once or twice a week from there (depending on how much you play).

Tailpiece is 100% you're done. End game quality right there. Some prefer wood, but whatever. I think I have one of those on one of my cellos. Only problem is you can't fit gut strings because they're thicker and have knots instead of balls at the end :-) The reason it's easier to tune is not the tailpiece, though, it's the fine tuners. Either way, you're sorted. Mazel tov.

Bow - holy cow, that looks legit for the price! Depends on the quality of the hair, though... I pay about that for just the hair every couple years on my carbon fiber bow (CodaBow Classic, I think they're not as expensive as they used to be, mine was top of the line 15-20 years ago and I paid like $1500 for it? Carbon Fiber was not as common so much more expensive in every product... now you can get CF sunglasses for $20 haha). Hard to tell if your struggles might be from the bow hair (stick is probably fine) or the rosin. Easier/cheaper to change the rosin first, though!

For the buildup on the strings, I'd say replace the strings (haha!) - no, but really, take a clean handkerchief and give them a rough hand-wiping at least once a week (some do it every time they play, but not me, I'm lazy!). Every now and then (once a year for me?) I'll put a little bit of rubbing alcohol on the cloth and carefully wipe the rosin-y parts of the strings. If you get alcohol on the cello, it will dissolve the varnish. That's bad. If you get it on the fingerboard, you might find out your fingerboard is painted black and not real ebony... etc. Just be careful. Also, when you clean the strings, take a few seconds to clean the entire length from nut to bridge, because oils from your skin build up in between the wrappings on the strings and make them heavier (so they don't want to vibrate as freely). This extends the life of my strings from 1 year to like 5 years. (again, I'm lazy. Sometimes I don't change for 10 years... but I like a dull/warm sound anyway).

LASTLY

On to the cello itself... Where to begin... The tuning pegs can be replaced, and the peg box can be reamed to better fit the friction pegs (or geared pegs if you want to go crazy). People used friction pegs for hundreds of years so don't moan too loudly. As for the tone, I think the thickness of the finish/varnish make a big difference, the amount of glue (and type) in the seams makes a difference, and the thickness of the wood. The thinner it is, the easier it vibrates. the heavier it is, the harder it is to get a full sweet sound. That also has some to do with the quality of the bridge (which needs to be carved by a luthier, you can't just get a Fournier bridge from Amazon and stick it on there... Expect to pay $75-250 for a bridge out the door from a pro, depending on the quality of the blank. He will also set it up for you). Don't put a fancy bridge on a junk cello tho. It will always be heavy. And it feels heavy when you play. Even in just the left hand. The neck is chunky like a baseball bat (so it won't break?) and the fingerboard might not be perfectly planed, the action can be too high (bridge height can help this, but the nut can also be a problem - and at that point, you do get buzz sometimes if the fingerboard isn't perfectly flat). The fingerboard can be thick/heavy and not vibrate easily - which means it absorbs vibration from the strings, and deadens your sound. Mostly, it's the playability and feel - not like sharp frets, more like the smoothness of the neck like a Strat with nitro finish or matte vs full gloss poly, right? People sand down the neck to get a "nicer" smoother playing? Same thing. It will also feel different in your knees (like a nicer guitar can feel better in your lap? Maybe a $3k American Strat doesn't feel any better than a $500 mexican, but it might feel a LOT better than a $50 knock-off, you know?)

I wouldn't put much more into the cello itself. I'd get a decent A string, depending on what your budget and goals are, I'd recommend the $20 Jargar or maybe D'Addario Kaplan which is much gentler sounding and feeling, sweet and easy to play, but not loud, hard to project and easy to choke it if you press too hard, but I like them for beginners overall. I'd say get good rosin. The wood bow it came with is also probably fine, but play both and see if you can actually feel a difference - play for 15 minutes with one, then switch for 15 minutes so you have time to get used to it. Put good (Hill) rosin on both of them.

Lastly, after you've been playing for a bit (enough to play a Bach minuet from the 6 suites, or the Breval sonata or something, like 6 months in?) go find a local luthier or bowmaker, see if they have a showroom where you could test-drive a $5k cello (that's middle intermediate, like high school players). they should give you a bow and some privacy. See how it feels compared to what you're used to. It's hard to gauge sound under the ear. If you're shopping for sound, you need to take someone with you (a teacher) or have someone at the shop play them for you while you sit across the room listening. But you can definitely feel the difference. They will probably come with Larsen A/D and Spirocore tungsten C/G strings, they'll give you a $1k wood bow to test it with, and the end-pin will be sharp :-)

If you want to argue the difference between a $5k cello and a $50k cello, it gets harder to quantify and you'd have have to do it in person, not in writing. But from where you are? A $1500 yamaha cello would be a step up, but you wouldn't understand what you're missing. I'd say $3500-5k and preferably a locally handmade one (no "brand," just the maker's name inside). It's not snobbery, there's something you'd just have to feel, but you might not be at a place yet to tell the nuance.

Not sure what your price range is or what your bf has but here are some ideas (I'll try to go from cheapest to most expensive) :

A nice dark rosin. http://www.amazon.com/Original-Hill-Dark-Rosin-Violin/dp/B000F3FQP6


Chair strap. http://www.amazon.com/Xeros-Anchor-Endpin-Rest-Cello/dp/B000FCJUV8/ (This is the kind I have. There is no substitute, if he doesn't have a strap like this then he really needs one. If you are buying one note that you get one with a circular holder for the end pin and not a V-shaped one. The V-shaped ones are for basses and don't work nearly as well)


Sheet music. I am a fan of the Music Minus One (MMO) series. However a nice anniversary gift might be duet music. I can help think of some good duet music if you want but would like to know a little more about your playing level.


Bow rack. I bought my rack at Home Depot and it looks like this. (actual pic, sorry no link) http://i.imgur.com/Ytww0.jpg They're just hooks, but I really like mine


Cello CDs. There's a lot of good recordings out there but that's for you to find, I can give some suggestions if you want.


Music stand. http://www.amazon.com/Manhasset-Model-Sheet-Music-Stand/dp/B0002FOBJY/ If all your bf has is a wire stand then this is a great gift. There's also stuff like pencil holders, lights, and other stuff that would make good gifts as well.


Cello stand. There are lots of stands out there, I highly recommend a stand that supports the neck of the cello like this. http://www.amazon.com/Stagg-Foldable-Stand-for-Cello/dp/B003ZUEQLG/ref=sr_1_6?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1343515413&sr=1-6&keywords=cello+stand




There are some other cool stuff you could get, but may come off as offensive.


A practice mute. I would suggest an ebony comb style mute kind.http://www.amazon.com/JSI-Ebony-Cello-Mute/dp/B000F3HK5U/ over a "tourte style"

A tuner and or metronome. I use http://www.amazon.com/Matrix-MR500-Metronome/dp/B0002F6ZJI/

A wolf tone eliminator. http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Cello-Wolftone-Eliminatr-Brass/dp/B003KWGW9I

For the bow you will need to get some rosin. No other oils needed for the strings. I was using Carlsson for a long time and really like it. It's bass rosin, so very grippy and less dusty than some of the violin kinds. http://www.amazon.com/Carlsson-Bass-Rosin/dp/B000OJ418O

Right now I am using Baker's rosin and I think it's the best that is made. The problem is that it's so popular, you have to go on a waiting list and it took over 2 years before I was able to buy some.

For the two higher playing strings I recommend using harp strings (sheep gut), and a metal one (can use a flatwound guitar string) for the lowest. This is a very good brand for the harp strings. http://www.bowbrand.co.uk/home.html

My guruji lives in Lahore, but he gives lessons over Skype and is an amazing player, very kind and a patient teacher. http://zohaibhassanamritsari.com/Lessons.html

Where are you located? I know a lot of sarangi players around the world, and your best case scenario would be to find one you could meet in person and help you get setup.
I was lucky enough to have a close friend that started sarangi a few years before me, so he has been able to help with getting my instruments in proper playing condition.

Feel free to PM if you have questions or want more info.

I have a few questions for you here if you don't mind. I'm a (very) beginner cellist and I'm playing one of these cheap-ass amazon cellos. I immediately replaced the tailpiece, the bow, the strings, and the rosin. I'd say the tailpiece and bow replacements really dramatically increased playability for me, though the base instrument is still obviously kind of shit.

What I want to know is, what kind of a difference would I see in being on an actual better Cello? Given the nature of the beast, it seems like i'm not running into the playability issues that you do on terrible guitars (bad frets, buzzing), and I'm not going to. I understand tone won't be the best, but I'm not certain I'm a good enough player for that to matter yet anyway. The whole friction peg situation is a pain, but the better tailpiece means I rarely have to re-tune at the head, I just get them stuck in the general area and i'm good for like a month.

Also, you mentioned putting better strings on, can you comment a little more on the difference between a $20 set, and say, this set of jargars? Edit: I guess you already did, What I mean is, can you describe the specific way cheap strings sound bad that better ones don't? I want to see if that's a part of my experience.

Also also, the rosin i'm using is still pretty damn cheap, and I feel like i'm leaving alot of rosin on the strings (a white cake buildup), but it takes really alot of rosin for the bow to feel sticky. Is better rosin better in that way? Do you have a recommendation on brand? How do you de-rosin a bow to get the chance to switch brands?

Thanks!

This is what I'm using. My teacher recommended it, and it works great - no dust! Apparently it's also unaffected by weather/altitude (though sadly it's not hypoallergenic). https://www.amazon.com/Jade-LOpera-Rosin-Violin-Viola/dp/B002Q0WT6U Definitely helps the whole "warm tone" thing - I know because I like it too. :)

Also, I can recommend this string combo: Dominant A/D/G, Pirastro Gold or Lenzner E. They're cheap (for the most part) and are great for my "warm" violin.

Unfortunately, the cost is still higher than purchasing a perfectly capable cheap student violin off of Amazon. Regardless, I used Inland PLA, which is $14.99 for a 2.2lb spool. Here's the total breakdown:

• Inland PLA - 1kg @ $14.99 (http://www.microcenter.com/product/434392/175mm_Blue_PLA_3D_Printer_Filament_-_1kg_Spool_(22_lbs)) = $7.20
  
• Carbon fiber truss rods (https://goodwinds.com/20143.html) = $15.99
  
• D'Addario Prelude Violin String Set, 4/4 Scale, Medium Tension (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002Y6BJI) = $15.49
  
• 1set 3L3R grover - style tunning pegs Tuners Machine Heads Gold High Quality (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092M2EZQ) = $9.99
  
• ADM 4/4 Full Size Well Balanced Brazilwood Violin Bow with Wood Stick, Horsehair, Ebony Frog with Pearl Eye and Pearl Slide, Nickel Silver Mounted (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DW12HR8) = $22.59
  
• Vio Music Full Size 4/4 Violin Chinrest - Ebony with Standard Bracket (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BDON64Y) = $11.99
  
• Everest EZ Series Shoulder Rest for 4/4 - 3/4 Violin (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QJVTNA) = $12.99
  
• 
  ADM® 4/4 Full Size Basic Professional Triangular Shape Super Light Suspension Violin Case (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J1UXIPY) = $36.99
  
• D'Addario Natural Rosin, Light (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002OP0WC) = $3.59
  
  Total Cost = $136.82
  
  I used a MendelMax 1.0 with an E3D V6 hot end and Bowden extruder setup.

A friend who knows a bow maker recommended Andrea Solo Cello Rosin. This stuff is awesome. I bought several as gifts for friends who also play. Andrea Solo Cello Rosin Full Cake https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045ZXJ68/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_z7lrybFN68ZHR

Ive been using

D'Addario Kaplan Premium Rosin with Case, Dark https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038XUDW6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_IsHFAbTX1VPAC

Works well and I love the dial to rotate the cake each time you use it.

Pretty sure mine is the dark which is softer and stickier than the light

Perhaps a nice rosin? This is the one I've used for years and I swear by it

http://www.amazon.com/Larsen-Rosin-for-Violin/dp/B0002FOINI

Or some sort of cleaner and polish, I've used this on my cello and it works like a charm

http://www.sharmusic.com/Accessories/Cleaner-Polish-Cloths/SHAR-Cleaner-Polish-and-Cloth-Gift-Pack.axd#sthash.f9MtaLa4.dpbs

EDIT: yeah, the essentials are a cloth, rosin, and a mute. If he's missing any of those, definitely get those first!

Spelled rosin with an I :)

Everybody has their own preference on rosin, but I personally like Andrea rosin for solo viola because it's nice and sticky. https://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Rosin-Solo-Viola-Full/dp/B00636XZ9S

>I got a bottle of something that looks like a creme from my local violin shop. It smells like varnish. It was $18 for a bottle small enough to fit in my case compartment where I also keep my rosin, extra strings, etc. I use a piece of kleenex and a q-tip swab to get in all the tight spaces to clean. It works great. My bottle didn't have label, but this looks like it: https://www.amazon.com/Original-Hill-Violin-Cleaner-Polish/dp/B000F3FQNS

Very awesome gift!!! Though I'm biased.

ETA: And though I know it says it comes with rosin, often the rosin that comes in sets like that isn't the best. Mine was all broken to pieces and it wasn't very useful. I bought this rosin and it has made a world of difference for me!

Looks like rosin for a string instrument like a violin or cello.

I think many people use the Hill Rosin, and it comes in both light and dark varieties. I actually use both kinds, and they're both fantastic.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Hill-Dark-Rosin-Violin/dp/B000F3FQP6

I've been using the la opera Jade for a while. I was just recommended this and I really like it https://www.amazon.com/Salchow-Medium-Dark-Rosin-Violin-Viola/dp/B000BND2QK

I've found this one https://www.amazon.com/Rosin-Violin-Viola-Cello-Light/dp/B010CG2XHE in my city.. dude told me that is superior, what do you think?

>...it is a few euros / dollars...

You need to try the good stuff... I'm currently using Andrea.

I need rosin for my bow for my violin. I love my violin, and have recently returned to playing it. Unfortunately, my rosin is basically dust now, and I need some new stuff. Since I just started a new job, I am a bit low on funds. I can't afford to buy anything non-essential.

I make my own: I bought a cheap bar of rosin ($6) from a violin shop. Violinists use rosin to increase the friction of their bows against the strings. That one bar will probably last me a lifetime. I crush bits of it until it's a fine powder and dissolve it into an eye dropper bottle filled with isopropyl alcohol (A.K.A. Rubbing alcohol) until saturated.

Costs next to nothing, works wonders. I apply it with whatever is handy: Bit of paper tissue, Q-Tip, small paintbrush...

Several people in this subreddit recommended Melos Dark rosin to me. I'm no violin expert but it seems to work well!

As someone who has studied both. I would say start with Rabbath and move to Simandl. as far as french and german bows its a preference/taste and what you want to do thing.

Also I would really suggest pops bass rosin

Depends on your strings and setup.

That said, Hill Light Rosin.

Andrea

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002OP0WC/ref=twister_B00N4ZLLP6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I will see if I can post a pic later.

I was correct on all accounts https://www.amazon.com/Holstein-Premium-Violin-Viola-Cello/dp/B01CITWZGM/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1543555359&sr=8-17&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=rosin

i really need rosin my kid needs it for school and his last one crumbled to dust.

Forget about your worries and your strifes