- Size 4/4 (Full Size) high-luster varnish cello with inlaid purfling
- Hand-carved solid spruce top with flamed maple neck, back & sides.
- Ebony fingerboard, pegs, and tailpiece with mother of pearl inlaid and four nickel plated fine tuners
- Includes: hard and soft case, a Brazilwood bow with unbleached genuine Mongolian horsehair, rosin, bridge, cello stand, and extra set of strings
| Item Weight | 26.8 pounds |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 55 x 14 x 23 inches |
| Item model number | 4/4CCO-500 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | February 13, 2007 |
| Back Material | Maple |
| Color Name | Varnish |
| String Material | Alloy Steel |
| Top Material | Spruce |
| Number of Strings | 4 |
| Size | 4/4 |
7 reviews for Cecilio CCO-500 Ebony Fitted Flamed Solid Wood Cello with Hard & Soft Case, Stand, Bow, Rosin, Bridge and Extra Set of Strings, Size 4/4 (Full Size)
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Wonton –
Great condition. Very beautiful unit with the flamed back (it looks like they sanded some high spots and messed up the flames though, could have taken more care here. literally you see sand spots). The sides are not as highly flamed. The varnish is equally applied and not sloppy at all, especially around the edges. Overall I am very happy and impressed with the quality of this unit.
Real Ebony fingerboard was dyed. You can see splotches where they painted it. After playing with it for months, it still leaves black dye on the fingers. This is not the strings fault as I have washed the string thoroughly.
Pegs don’t fit well into peg box and have space around the holes. Need to bring to a luther to have the holes filled or new pegs cut to fix this. I am hoping that over time, the humidity will adjust and I don’t have to ream the holes again. Update after 3 months, this is going to be permanent. It stays in tune pretty good for the most part. But what a sloppy job and it will cost a lot to get this fixed by the luther.
Had to setup the bridge myself which is very easy. It sits really flush without need for adjustment or carving. Sound post was in the correct spot (no tool to measure though).
Came with a nice hard case with wheels, soft case, stand, rosin (light color, I used my own dark rosin), extra prelude strings. I’m not sure if this is D’adaario Prelude strings. Amazon doesn’t list it, but other Amazon vendors do (KKmusicstore), not on Cecilios website though. I tried contacting Cecilio about this and they never responded. Bad customer service on their part. I doubt they would even respond for their one year warranty.
The bow is straight and very heavy weight (should purchase a different one). When I picked up a carbon fiber one, it weighs only 1/3 the weight.
UPS delivered the unit two days earlier than expected. The box came damaged. The bow fell out of the hard case and wasn’t properly secured. I am not impressed with packaging and treatment by delivery companies. But it should have been packaged properly by the manufacture to prevent that.
Update (3 months later after purchase): The cello still sounds the same as day one. The metal strings on it are very bad. I would highly recommend changing them. There is a buzz on the C string if you don’t hold the string in a proper manner. The finger board was not properly cut. In hindsight, I would not recommend this unit. Save your money and buy something else. I was fooled into only reading the comments on Amazon.com that were good and did not consider the negative comments. In hindsight, my experience was very similar to what they had to say.
Update: April 2, 2016
I still play the cello regularly and decided not to upgrade it. I don’t perform or use it for RCM lessons/exams. It still holds up really. For the price and durability, I have increased my rating from 3 to 4 stars.
Johnf –
This is a review of the CCO-600 I received but as I received both the CCO-500 (returned) and CCO-600 I will include information comparing the two, as I found comparisons hard to find when I was looking at reviews for these instruments.
We are retired and purchased the Cecilio CCO-600 for my wife, who is just beginning to learn to play the cello. It is a beautiful looking and beautiful sounding instrument. We originally purchased a CCO-500 which had some non-shipping related damage and, after speaking to KKMusic (who offered to replace the 500 with another), decided to purchase the 600. The 500 was beautiful also and great sounding to our ears but the 600 had a fuller sound with more projection – I could feel the C string’s vibration in my body from a short distance away. Customer service at KKMusic was responsive and friendly.
I had a cello teacher look at and play both the 500 and 600. While he was impressed with CCO-500 for the price and thought it beautifully made he said the CCO-600 was much better, calling the 500 a “student cello” in comparison. The 500 had a shiny heavy finish which looks pretty and the wood used for the top, sides, and the bottom is lovely. The “flaming” is painted with tea stain, unlike the real flaming on the 600, but well done. The tone of the cello was resonant and deep.
The wood used in the 600 was obviously hand-picked, with the spruce top having close grains in the center and widening towards the sides. The maple sides and backs are gorgeous with their flaming (real flaming where you can observe the shift from dark to light to dark when you move the instrument in the light) and the oil finish does nothing to obscure the beauty of the instrument.
On both cellos, there were minor imperfections due to the hand carving and perhaps handling after the cello was made – the 600 has a sliver of one of the corners of the bout that has been glued back on, but you have to look close to discover it. The 500 did have a serious 3 1/2″ deep scratch along with the bridge being cut a bit too short, which is why we returned it.
As mentioned in the item listing both cellos had the bridge down and tied with a ribbon to the neck. I found them easy to install after watching a video by Linda West (https://www.lindawest.com/setting-up-a-bridge-on-a-cello-a/108.htm) – there is both a video and step-by-step pictures and descriptions on the page. Both cello’s sounding peg was upright and in place.
Both cellos, one shipped by USPS and one by UPS, arrived without undue damage to the boxes or contents. There seems to be some inconsistency in the packing process:
The CCO-500 barely had any packing material, just some wadded up heavy plastic and nothing else. There was no additional protection in the hard (cardboard?) case with the cello and the bow was in one of the bow holders in the case.
The CCO-600 had the box lined with 1/2″ thick pieces of styrofoam, then a combination of bubble wrap and air pillows. The fiberglass case itself was encased in a sleeve and inside the case was more bubble wrap protecting the cello. The cello bow was separately wrapped in bubble wrap
and placed in the box outside of the case.
We did spend $20 at a music store to have the footing of the bridge for the 600 sanded and fitted properly as it did not fit completely flat to the body of the cello. For $20 I figured it was worth having a professional do the job.
The 500’s bridge footing fitted perfectly once I set it up. I suspect the 600 might not have gone through a complete set-up process in Cecilio’s California site before being sent out. The nuts holding the fine tuners to the bridge were loose and the cello’s strings looked to be put in haphazardly; I need to unwind and rewind so they didn’t cross themselves in the pegbox. The 500’s strings were wound perfectly and the fine tuner was tightly affixed to the tailpiece. These items weren’t a problem and easily remedied.
I would recommend purchasing the cello through Amazon, as you won’t be charged anything if returning the instrument (at least through Prime). KKMusic on their site states there is a $69 charge for cello returns, plus the customer handles return postage. The KKMusic site does offer a couple of other knick-knacks for the same price. You might want to check out both sites as I see the price of CCO-600 on Amazon is now $999.99 and on KKMusic is $899.99 – the price I paid on Amazon a few days ago.
The fiberglass (or ABS) case that came with my 600 included a built-in handle on the head of the case for hauling around if you’re dragging the case using the wheels. I noticed this handle in the Cecilio video but not on the pictures here at Amazon or at KKMusic. The case is fairly heavy, somewhat a chore for my 5′ 3″ wife to haul in and out of the car.
The hard case for the 500 feels like heavy cardboard covered in simulated leather vinyl with a plush red interior. The interior material seems to be the same with both the 600 and 500 hard cases.
When talking with Customer Service at KKMusic (which is the distribution arm of Cecilio – same physical address in California) the rep told me, after checking with someone else, the wood used in the Cecilio cellos was aged from 3 to 5 years. The 600 description states the wood is aged at least 7 years, so her information may have been for the models under the 600. There wasn’t anyone that could give me a definitive answer even though I ended speaking to a supervisor for 20 minutes – she offered to contact the people that would know, but that would still just be someone’s word. The 600 certainly uses a better grade of wood all around, but of course, there is no way to tell actual aging of wood used in any instrument. We are very pleased with the fit and finish of the 600 we received – I went over the instrument inch-by-inch, using a magnifying glass at times.
I think a begining student would be happy with either cello. I went with the step-up so we wouldn’t be looking for something better in a few years.
THX1138 –
First off, this is my first violincello, but I learned to play the violin 40 years ago. If you have absolutely no knowledge of orchestral string instruments, I would advise you not to buy this. Go to a local string shop and rent a student cello from there and get some experience first. You might spend $50-$75/month to rent, but in some cases you can rent to own. You’ll get a cello that is already setup, and possibly higher quality, if not more dinged up, and some “history” if you’re into that feeling.
If you are up for an adventure, then read on!
First, I bought the package that came with a soft case, hard case, a “cello stand”, entry level cello, bow, one extra set of strings, and a rosin cake.
Things you will need to buy on your own:
1. a chair. playing the cello requires a certain playing position, and so you can’t use just any chair. You want one that tilts you forward, is the height that allows your legs to bend at a 90 degree angle at the hips and the knees, and maybe has some padding but not too much. You don’t want anything that swivels either. You might have a chair like this already at home, but if not you will need a solution. Don’t try to make do with a chair that is too low or high, or tilts you backwards, you’ll hurt yourself and be super fatigued after practicing, and will grow to hate playing.
2. a music stand. You can get a cheap foldable stand for holding paper music
3. a proper cello stand. Yes, the package I bought came with a “cello stand”. So why do I suggest you need to get cello stand? The one pictured in the product page, and that I received is actually a guitar stand. This is a problem for several reasons. First, it sits low to the ground. You have to push the end pin back in to use the stand. Do you want a stand you can set your cello in briefly during practice or performance? The guitar stand isn’t going to do it. Second, it rests on two lower arms and the back of the cello rests against a foam pad at the top of the stand triangle. Because this is a guitar stand, the contact points are very close together as the body of a guitar is much smaller that that of a cello. These contact points allow for your cello to be knocked off easily. Third, there is no place to hang the bow, because guitars don’t use bows.
4. peg dope. no, not weed for your pegs. this is a compound you can apply to keep the pegs from slipping, if you have that problem. Mine appear to be fine, but I also already have peg dope for my violin if the need arises.
5. end pin holder. OK, you may not need one right away (see below for a discussion of the end pin on this cello), but the strap type of holder are less than 10 bucks, and you will need one eventually, and more immediately if you’re playing on a hard floor. Plus it helps you be consistent about your cello placement as you’re learning (the strap type specifically).
Expect to spend another $100 dollars or so, more if you need a chair. You’d need these things no matter what, so just plan to get them somehow.
OK, now a review of the components of the kit:
1. the stand. See above. It’s a guitar stand, give it to a friend who plays guitar and get a proper cello stand if you want/need one.
2. the soft case. This is more of a dust cover than a case. It has minimal padding, and there is no extra padding around the bridge nor for the scroll, so those sensitive components could be easily banged around if you use the soft case for transport.
3. the hard case. The hard case seems nice, it’s a zipper style case covered in fabric. I has wheels, a carry strap, and a handle. It’s velour lined o n the inside, but no padding. It has two sets of velcro straps for holding up to two bows. It also has a useless latch and lock combo that came with no key, and the clasp is on a fabric wing that could be easily cut off. Not really sure why there is a locking latch. It’s acceptable for this level of cello, and this is the case I would use to take it places.
4. the bow. It’s a typical entry level bow, and relatively heavy, but serves the purpose.
5. the strings. These are cheap strings. If you’re learning, just use them till they wear out and replace with better ones.
6. the cello. It’s made of real wood, it’s cello shaped, and it has a finish in all the right areas. It looks decent, sounds decent, and I had no major quality issues. The finish on the back of mine has fine scratches all over it, I’m guessing from shipping. The tailpiece is aluminum with one piece fine tuners, which is nice. Mine has an issue with the A string, the tuning screw will pop off the tuning lever if it’s turned down too much. The other thing about this cello is the end-pin. First, it’s pegged into the body, so it cannot be easily removed out from the end of the cello. Second, it seems to be a solid stainless steel rod, so its heavier than it needs to be. Third, it’s not sharpened, and because the end pin is pegged into the cello, it can’t be easily sharpened. The rubber cap over it seems to be meant to be used directly. It’s effective at preventing slipping on carpet, but on a hard surface probably not, once it’s covered in dust.
The setup. OK, this is where I said you’d need to invest time. The cello comes with the bridge down but pre-strung. Surprisingly the sound post made it all the way to me via UPS still in place. Normally the string tension through the bridge would ensure the sound post stays put. How it was shipped and didn’t fall is a mystery. The bridge does at least appear to have been fit to the body, but you will have to properly place it. (A funny aside, after I bought this, I saw the ad by Cecilio for their cello. Hilariously, the bridge in that video is set in the completely wrong place, so don’t use that as a guide!) After setting the bridge, you will properly tighten the strings and tune them, then go through a week or more of making major tuning adjustments as the tailpiece gut stretches out to it’s final shape. By major tuning I mean using the tuning pegs, not the fine tuners. If it continues to slip out of tune after a week or two, you might need your pegs fitted or try adding peg dope. If you’ve never used a tuning peg before or set a bridge, or have slipping pegs, then I suggest you take it to a string shop and let them do all that for you. They’ll need to keep it for a little while. You can have them put tapes on it too. That will cost you extra money, so factor that into your cost and value purchase decision.
Future upgrades. If you find yourself enjoying the cello, then you can, in the future, invest in a better balanced, lighter bow, which you can use on this cello or a better one that you upgrade to after a few years. Strings will be a must anyways, so get better strings when the cheap ones have served their purpose (you’re a beginner, so you’re not going to be playing Bach’s Cello Suite #1 anytime soon), and hear less tinny music from your cello. I don’t suggest spending any money on planetary gear tuners as they will be rather permanently affixed to this cello, nor do I suggest you need a different tailpiece, unless it breaks.
I hope you enjoy your cello journey!
Amazon Customer –
Good instrument for the price. Arrived in good condition with sound post intact. Probably, not for a beginner as some set up is required – bridge, and rosin needs sanding to deliver residue to the bow for it to catch the strings properly. As a violist who always fancied a cello this was a great purchase. Lots of accessories and the sound is very good.
Marc –
Very good value. Expect to visit a luthier to make some minor adjustments. On mine, the fingerboard wasn’t planed exactly right, which caused the two lowest strings to rattle. It was easily remedied by replacing the bridge. I’ve played on a $1400 cello and a $700 cello before, and this Cecilio sounds much closer to the $1400 one after that fix and some better strings. The hard case is a must! I highly recommend it as a beginner’s cello, but be aware there’s a bit of a gamble.
NaoDay –
Beautiful for a beginner cellist!
Claude R. –
It look good but found some scratches on the cello return for refund