<p>bassdad:</p>
<p>My impression has always been that basses are less expensive than cellos, violas, or violins. I wonder why?</p>
<p>Weenie,</p>
<p>that is true for top-end instruments, but I have seen the opposite for student and intermediate grades. Look at rental rates, typically $40-$60 per month for the cellos and $75 and up for the basses. A decent (not great, but OK for a serious beginner) carved cello can be had for under $1K. Basses in that league start at about $4K. A cello selling for about $5K would probably be comparable in intrinsic quality to a bass costing $10K. Basses simply take more time, more material and more expensive tools to make than do cellos.</p>
<p>Once you get into the high end, say $25K and above, the price starts to be influenced by things external to the instrument, like the maker's reputation, the fame of the previous owners and so forth. In addition, the cello world is more competitive than the bass world, the best instruments have more potential buyers thus driving up prices, and more of the really good instruments tend to filter further down into the hands of high school and college age cellists than bassists.</p>
<p>I think it is probably true that in most student orchestras, the value of the average cello exceeds that of the average bass but that is because the average cello is probably a much better instrument than the average bass. The average bass in most of the student orchestras that I have seen is a laminated mess owned by the school that was selected on the basis of durability over sound and has not had a change of strings or much maintenance at all in the past five years.</p>
<p>I think that most kids audition on cellos in the 10-20 K range and end up upgrading some time as under grads. There are a number of students, I am sure, starting conservatory with much more expensive instruments. My son upgraded this past year to an istrument valued in the low 20s and will likely need to go even higher at some point. And he owns a new instrument, not an old one. The older ones usually go for much more.</p>
<p>And then there are bows. Who would think that a piece of wood with some horsehair on it would cost so much? Top of the line new bows run around 5000. Antique bows can run to the many, many thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>And then there is the cost of maintenance and repairs. I don't know about strings, but for woodwinds, the costs of maintenance are eye opening. Some of our young musicians with mechanical aptitude should consider going into instrument maintenance. I suggested this to my D, but did not get a positive response.</p>
<p>When my son was in elementary school I used to haul his cello to school for orchestra. The secretary would always say to me, "I bet you wished he'd taken up harmonica." Yeah, that would have been a LOT cheaper! Ha.</p>
<p>My other son plays trumpet -- and that has been much cheaper.</p>
<p>My son, rising junior in h.s., actually ended up paying less for his first full-sized cello, a "Frank Denti" Chinese cello from LA stringworks, set up by our local luthier, than for his nice sounding 3/4 cello. I don't think he'll be auditioning for music school with a $20,000 cello, either; this one sounds really good and cost $2,500. Really. He was trying out cellos up to $20,000, too, and this was the best. With stringed instruments, it pays to look around and not get stuck on the label. By the way, I read another cellist's post on another site; he had the same experience and bought the Frank Denti.</p>
<p>Anyway, find a good dealer and look into rentals that go towards purchase or have good trade up policies. We first purchased my son a 1/4 cello from a reputable dealer, then struggled to find a 1/2 size from that dealer that we liked. Same went for going from 1/2-size to 3/4 and then 3/4 to full. </p>
<p>Still, Cellos2Go, Stringworks, and also you might talk to Claire Givens in Minneapolis. Even before that, visit the good dealers in your area, so you can try out cellos. Ask your teacher and read bulletin boards at music schools. Everybody grows and needs to sell their fractional cellos. Good luck!</p>
<p>My daughter frequently gets comments when carting around her bass, a stool, a music stand and her concert attire. "Don't you wish you played the flute?" is the most common and usually rates an icy stare these days. One of her favorites was, "Is that a trombone in there?"</p>
<p>My wife plays flute professionally and our experience is that the cost of maintenance and repairs on two basses is about equal to that for a dozen or so flutes. Part of that is because it is possible to do some of the simplest work on the flutes ourselves, but anything more complicated than changing strings on a bass requires a large work bench and some fairly expensive tools that you would not normally just have around the house.</p>
<p>Finding a practice room at IU auditions this past February was a real free for all. After a few dozen laps around the building, DD found one and went about her business. When she was ready I told her to wait in the room while I found the nearest bass player and guided him to the room. I never saw a more grateful grin in my life!</p>
<p>Doing laps with a double clarinet case was bad enough, but I can't even begin to image the agony of multiple laps with a bass.</p>
<p>'One of her favorites was, "Is that a trombone in there?"'</p>
<p>Not to stray too far off the topic, but I was once asked if my contrabassoon case was a coffin. I rather enjoyed it.</p>
<p>When my D was a beginning cello student, Johnson String Instruments in Newton had a program where if you bought one of their 1/2 or 3/4 sized instruments, you could get all your money credited back when it was time to upgrade to a full size. I agree with previous posters who say that you probably won't find anything playable for less than about $750.</p>
<p>If your son sticks with the cello, you will look back on those days as the "cheap" times. My D moved to a $3,000 instrument in high school, then a $20,000 one for college, and now, just out of grad school and beginning her professional career, has a cello that cost $36,000. Not quite a Steinway, but close. Now it's time to upgrade her bow -- probably another $4,000!</p>