Correcting the measurements of the cello

This cello is a little bit too big. Let's see how we can correct it.
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[@nazarnozhak3696]

Great job maestro! It would be great to hear this cello before and after. I need to say that you are making really good videos, they were one of the sources I used to build my first violin. Thank you!

[@maestrokimon]

Thank you so much for your kind comment! Unfortunately, the cello is already gone to a client!

[@LadyTigerLily]

When I was in high school, I had a friend with a cello that had similar problems. Given that we were not able to go to a luthier and had very little money (most of our instruments were hand-me-downs or second-hand), it was not feasible to find a luthier to correct these problems. There are not many luthiers now, and probably even fewer back then, who specialize in violin-family instruments. Guitar luthiers are quite easy to find, by comparison. My friend is a violin teacher, and her luthier is 2 states away, and it's difficult for her students to fix problems with their instrument rather than buying a new one or working around problems as best they can. It makes me wonder how many students get discouraged when they are just learning, not knowing that it is a problem with their instrument and not their habits or skills, especially back before there were so many online resources.

[@tatianachentsova]

Many of them are. It is also impossible to play double stops if players fingertips are wide or small and neck is narrow (22 mm) or thick (25 mm). One need 6,5 mm between string slots another 5 mm, but most violins nowadays have 23,5 mm neck for 5,5 mm string distance. Bernd Musing’s latest video is about it.

[@maestrokimon]

That definitely is a problem Meghann. I have had many clients in the shop that had bought cheap instruments mostly online without knowing what they were spending their money on that had a hard time to play on the instrument. Hight nuts and bridges and badly working pegs is the most common together with poor quality strings. People underestimate the playability of the instrument. But I also understand that not everyone has the possibility to spend more to find a good instrument.

[@LadyTigerLily]

@@maestrokimon I'm very thankful that my teacher (who was also my ensemble conductor) was knowledgeable in how to make small corrections to our instruments, even if she didn't have precise measurements to give us. The experience was by eye and by feel, so while not very scientific, she knew what minor adjustments could help, like changing to a different set of strings, using peg paste or chalk to adjust the tension on the pegs, bridge placement or height adjustment, etc. I'm also thankful she instilled good habits like cleaning and maintaining humidity of our instruments after each time we play. It didn't occur to me that not everyone knows to do this.

[@tatianachentsova]

@@maestrokimon While my violin with 22,5 neck was restored during this summer I played double stops on 200$ Chinese violin with 25 mm neck and 18 mm between strings easily, first time in my 62 year life.

[@josegiraldo4477]

Love your work, a small correction, thumb position is when you press the strings down with the thumb as a playing finger all over the fingerboard, what you refer as thumb position is actually the forth position.

[@Cellcarl]

Thanks for great video! I love your chanel and I’m thinking about to build a violin. Sorry to say but the position as you refer to is the 4th position. A thumb position is when you raise your thumb to make it a ”playable” finger on the fingerboard. Best wishes Carl, cellist and teacher (sweden).

[@agwbcfjc2]

Bravo Maestro! Wonderful craftsmanship!

[@maestrokimon]

Thank you so much!

[@wouteranthierens]

Great work maestro! My first idea was to separate the pegbox from the neck and shorten the neck, but this solution is perfect

[@maestrokimon]

That wouldn't work, Wouter. the shorter neck will miss the large part that connects with the pegbox. The only way to correct it is by making a new neck, shorter. But that is to much work!

[@eatpeach2355]

@@maestrokimon Will that work if it was a violin?

[@maestrokimon]

No, same problem...

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

When the Baroque Cello was converted into a Modern Cello, they had to extend the scale length by either getting rid of that old neck & putting on a longer one, or by making an extension for the existing neck, the Gut Strings were replaced w/ Flatwound Strings which last longer, easier to bow, louder & more focused sound, fine tuners were added, & quite possibly the friction pegs were replaced w/ Mechanical ones to handle the tension.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

The problem w/ this particular Cello was that is the scale length was longer than it was supposed to be, so we corrected it.

[@dingfabian5387]

Thanks for that ! The thumb position is higher than in the corner. this position is called the 4th position :)

[@ericksonlk]

Ended up visually pleasing also. I didn't expect it could look so nice. I have an old German violin with the opposite problem: the string length is a about 5 mm shorter. Maybe I could use a variant of this solution on it.

[@maestrokimon]

You cold move the bridge 2,5 mm downwards and put a narrower nut, or a nut that goes over the sides of the pegbox.

[@ericksonlk]

@@maestrokimon Thank you.

[@milagrotorres5960]

I hurt my left hand due to problems in my cello. The angle was too low and the bridge and nut too high. The Luthier is a country away, so not very cheap to afford since said country can just be reach via airplain. So, thia videos are helping me towns. Curiously, none of my previous cello teachers talked about any of the measurements of the cello

[@paulb5700]

This was interesting! Thank you! I always look forward to your videos!

[@maestrokimon]

Thank you very much Paul, good to hear!

[@martinlouden9005]

You're a true master of your craft!

[@maestrokimon]

Thank you so much!

[@Ramplcro]

If it's not too rude i would ask you 2 questions - What difference would it make if you didn't cut the fingerboard, but just glue the nut on the correct position (on the fretboard)? And second - as someone that plays only guitar i know that the width (taper) of the neck/fingerboard makes a slight difference. Is that a problem for the cello? Other thing that i want to point out is that if the whole string path in longer than on regular cello, with the correct pitch strings are going to feel a little loser, easier to play which i think is a pretty cool.

[@ronwhitehead3824]

The neck width is only minimal .the right thing was done here. The thumb postion must determin where your fingers fall etc. There is a ratio for the neck finger board length to the body finger board length and no matter what the size of the cello is it always applys.

[@leemason4024]

Thanks for another very informative video, Maesro!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Generally speaking the scale length on a 4/4 Size Cello is 27.5 inches.

[@williamh123456789]

Nice, a new video! Great work

[@maestrokimon]

Thank you!

[@Technostiel]

How would you repair a crack in the ebony fingerboard?

[@maestrokimon]

It depends how it's broken. You can send me a couple of pictures so I can see it and tell you more. [e-mail]

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

I think the reason why the scale length was longer is because it came from a time when the measurements weren't yet standardized.

[@user-iq7iw5rs5g]

why dont you move bridge a little far to solve thumb ?is in order to not spread so much the fingers???

[@maxxvidzs]

Great Video! I want to know if it is possible to convert the fingerboard of a 4/4 Cello to a 7/8 using this method? if yes, then kindly explain briefly. Thanks

[@wood-side-story]

Great​ video​ ❤What​ lenght​ should​ the​ vibrating​ string​ be for​ a​ 7/8​ cello?

[@user-iq7iw5rs5g]

67.2cm

[@mccypr]

Thanks! Cool stuff! Happy Christmas and New Year! 🌞😎✌️🎻🎅🏻

[@maestrokimon]

Thank you! The same to you, all the best!

[@leemason4024]

What do you think about a cello that has a too short string length, of 686mm? Should i move the bridge towards the tailpiece to achieve 695mm? Or should i leave it alone? Currently the bridge is at the "normal" location, aligned to the notches in the "f-holes".

[@jorge-manuel-fernandes]

Hello maestro Kimon; I would like you to explain how to know the correct size of the bridge to place on a 4/4 cello (90mm,92mm,94mm,96mm) of the bridge. I still don't understand how to find this measurement. Thank you very much.

[@maestrokimon]

Just measure the distance between the upper two holes of the ef-holes.

[@jorge-manuel-fernandes]

@@maestrokimon , thank you 👍

[@tuliangchen6814]

Hi Maestro, I have small hands and has difficulties with my pinkie reaching D on that A string in first position. What consequences will it be if I shorten the vibration length by 1 cm to 68.5cm. I have been toying with whether to use this T-nut for a number of years but I have no idea what by shortening 1 cm would do to my otherwise "Standard length " cello. Some luthier's view is that using T-nut should also be in conjunction with shifting the bridge upwards towards the fingerboard. Any advice ?

[@maestrokimon]

As I say in the video, the thumb position is very important. If you want to shorten the length, you should do it equally on both ends to preserve the correct position for the 4th position. That means a T-Nut and moving the bridge. But then, you should also move the sound-post as it will be farther away from the bridge. But that is something that you can do later, after playing on the instrument. If you as satisfied with the sound, you can leave the sound-post where it is.

[@tuliangchen6814]

@@maestrokimon Thank you maestro !

[@leemason4024]

How does an instrument get to be so oversized? Did someone replace the neck at some point in its life?

[@cleomeniszosimas7697]

Μαέστρο σε τσέλο 2/4 ποιο πρέπει να είναι το μήκος της χορδής; Πήραμε ένα για τη μικρή αλλά μου φαίνεται πολύ μικρή η διαφορά από το 1/4 που είχε μέχρι τώρα. Ευχαριστώ πολύ.

[@maestrokimon]

Το1/2 είναι 60εκ. και το 1/4 είναι 53,5εκ αλλά μπορεί να έχει κάποια διαφορά.