Cello Shaped Objects (or CSOs)

You have seen them. Maybe you wanted to get your child a cello for Christmas. You were surfing the internet and found a great price, perhaps A*****.com or somewhere else. You order it and when your child takes it to his orchestra teacher or private lessons teacher you hear the dreaded words--sorry, this is unplayable.

Yes you have just bought what is known as a CSO, or cello shaped object. The internet is glutted with them as cheap as $200-$300 dollars. And person after person is being suckered into buying CSOs.

Let me tell you about three such instruments. The first was actually a VSO (violin shaped object). Bought from a giant online store for less than $50 the parents were really happy their student would have a violin and they could avoid paying rent for one. The bridge was the wrong size. The strings couldn't be tightened, for if you tried to the back of the violin began to peel off from the pressure exerted by the strings. In other words it was unplayable. The child cried and the parents weren't too thrilled either. And the concert coming up? Fortunately this story had a good ending in that I was able to borrow a violin for the child for the concert. In the long run the child quit the violin.

And that is often the problem. After encountering a VSO or a CSO children (and parents) get frustrated and quit.

Another experience, this time a CSO, approximate cost just over $300 for cello, case, music stand, tuner, extra strings, yes all those great things. When I began to look at the cello again the bridge needed to be fixed ($50-$100), the soundpost was glued down (another $50+ fix), needed real strings ($80) and the bow didn't work (yet another $80 to replace). So if the person wanted to put another $300 or so into the CSO it would become playable--but for how long? CSOs rarely last very long because of the poor construction (often the parts you cannot see). Oh and the zippers on the case weren't working.

I had a friend show me a VSO--parts of it were made of plastic! Yikes!

One last story about a CSO. One of my students received it for Christmas. The cello won't stay in tune and the outside of the cello has some type of paper veneer that makes it very slick so the bridge keeps falling down. No way to fix that one. And if you put real cello strings on it, it would probably break the neck. So a great Christmas present has turned into a frustration to the student. So far she hasn't quit, but she can't practice either.

Please, please, PLEASE avoid buying CSOs. They are a waste of money, and will be quite frustrating for everyone involved.

Want to know about buying a cello, see my post on buying your first cello. Also see my blog post on buying vs. renting.