Procuring a cello
 

My daughter has decided that the cello is her instrument of choice in fifth grade orchestra. I, of course have zero clue about the cello and so I beseech the collective genious (sic) of the Planet for answers. I'm assuming that the best route to go is a rental until we decide if she's going to stick with it. I've been quoted $35/month for rental with one years rent allowed to accumulate into equity on a purchase. Is this a good/standard deal? Any other input would be helpful.

Go down to Lowe's and get some plywood. My dad's got a killer set of tools.

just get a great big fiddle.
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For what it's worth and as far as I'm concerned, a rental is the very best way to go for a beginner, Mr. JimNasium.

Depending on the size, $35 bucks a month seems a little high to me, though. I would think that $25 would be market for something like that if she requires a 1/4 to 1/2 size or so.

FAX

Prepare to pay through the nose for any band instrument.

I don't know anything about cellos (other than they sound cool), but am going through the same thing with my son playing sax. The one thing that is probably similar is to beware of the cheap instruments coming out of China and other Asian countries (except Japan) if you decide to buy.

Renting is a good idea to make sure they will stick with it. However, it should be a quality instrument as nothing derails a kid's interest like the frustration of dealing with a piece of crap instrument.

The long hair at the music store recommended a 1/2 size last night. I think I'll shop around.

Rent or find a parent of the HS student that gave it up. Could get a decent deal.

Such is my dilemma. I'm easily sucked into this argument and it resulted in me buying her a $300 Alvarez guitar which she will hardly pick up. I think I'll err on the side of cheap this time.

Cello's are investments. They appreciate. You should pump $250k into one. When she gives it up next year, it will be worth $275k.

That seems just a tad high for rental, maybe you could make deal if you're going to buy your child lessons as well....they could package it a different way?

As a music educator, yes, start her with a rental. If she shows promise or really ends up liking it after about two years, then I would go purchase her an instrument.

String instruments are weird things though. She may end up sounding better on one instrument versus another. If you live near a big city you should be able to find a string shop that will sell you a finer cello for the same price as something from a generic music shop. Be sure to have her try lots of different cellos before deciding on one.

But that's for the future, if things go that far. In the meantime, yes, get the rental instrument, buy a good set of earplugs, and see what happens in a couple years.

I suppose another idea would be to take a couple of strings off the Alvarez, put a kick stand on it, and "voila!!" - Instant Cello!

FAX

Stradivarius.

I took the liberty of altering your post by two characters, Mr. FAX. This way you end up creating a clever pun. I hope you don't mind.