Carbon Fibre Cello: Seriously?

There are many persuasive arguments for choosing a carbon fibre cello, read on to learn why cellists are turning to these remarkable instruments...

Benefits of a Carbon Fibre Cello

Picture courtesy of Luis and CVlark Cellos.(Link below)

To begin, all my comments and observations are specifically to my experiences and I am not sponsored, supported or in any way connected with providers of Carbon Fibre Cellos.

The main two providers that I looked at that appear to have a reasonable presence in the market are Lois & Clark Carbon Fibre Instruments from the US and Mezzoforte Carbon Fibre instruments from Germany. There are others that are a lot cheaper, or hybrid or a lot more expensive.

It was loud (I first played it outdoors) and I felt the sound was consistent and well balanced across all strings. Mostly, it was so easy to play. I was using a student cello (Cecilio CCO-500) which had a pretty good sound but there were notes on the A string that just didn't sound good in the upper region. Problem solved with the L&C. But what really struck me was the smoothness on the carbon fibre fingerboard. I loved it.#loisclarkcello

Serendipity

Although I was leaning towards the Lois & Clark, it was possibly because there was simply more out there online to see and hear. It was actually serendipity that made the decision for me. Where I currently reside, there were few options to try out a CF cello (I couldn't find a store that stocked CF Cellos) and the idea of purchasing an instrument costing several thousand dollars unseen was a scary prospect.

I had the opportunity to buy a 2nd hand Cello in my locale and jumped at the chance to actually play a Lois & Clark (L&C). I felt this was á sign'! The seller was no longer able to play and that saddened me but she had a good heart and I purchased at a very reasonable price. I will always be grateful to her.

If you go to the websites:

https://luisandclark.com

https://www.mezzo-forte.de

And you will find lots of good points about why you should choose a Carbon Fibre (CF) cello.

''.....pry this thing out of my cold, dead hands.''

I came across Miranda Wilson, cellist and writer. while scouring the web for information that was both accurate and neutral (Miranda Wilson – Cellist and Writer (mirandawilsoncellist.com) where she presents some very strong arguments for a carbon fiber cello.

Having said that, Miranda's neutral position may have changed judging by the end of her article.

''I don’t intend to sell it at any point in the foreseeable future. Why? Because you’d have to pry this thing out of my cold, dead hands.''

Article: The way of the future? A review of my new Luis & Clark cello – Miranda Wilson (mirandawilsoncellist.com)

Sounds

Carbon Fibre Cello - Which One?

in TOPIC

Those who have spent time on this site will know that I play a Lois and Clark Caron Fibre cello. I have written about my reasons in another article here..., but here I wanted to say there are some options out there but for me, there were only two in the right price range.

One is the L & C and the other is the Mezzo-forte.

It is difficult to find many example online of musicians using these - or sometimes, simply using them well. But here are some examples of both.

   Luis and Clark Cello 

That Cello Guy

...And Scott Crowley

Mezzo-forte Cello

Played by Hajime Mizoguchi

Stan Orlovsky

Of course, you will find your own favourites but the above are  examples where I heard something I liked. Incidentally, I use my L & C on all my recordings - but am still working on best mic position and mix before I want to write too much about that.

Any other favourite examples of your own you can add?