Lost Love - A take-home trial gone wrong

This is a story about a cello I fell in love with.

I had been mildly shopping around for a new cello for almost 2 years. There was nothing wrong with my Chinese made student model but I just wanted a great cello....I figured, I play on it almost everyday..why not? My close relationships to a few violin shops in town only threw more fuel to this fire.

One day, a shop showed me a restored early-1900s American cello by a not-so-well-known American maker. When they brought out the cello for me, I fell instantly in love with it. I was always a sucker for looks I suppose. This instrument was beautiful. The back and sides were made of bird's eye maple and it was one striking-looking instrument. I HAD to have it. Of course, it was kinda above my price range...details...details...

I took it home for a trial just before Christmas. My teacher played on it and loved it....as did the cello quartet. The sound was gorgeous...with a deep and mellow tone that comes with age. One night, after playing duets with a friend, I set the American down on my stand. The house was quiet and I was sitting at my computer. All of the sudden, I heard a loud squeal that lasted a couple of seconds. It came from my dining room where both cellos were. It had been a dry winter and I figured the pegs must have slipped. I looked at the Chinese...pegs in tact. I looked at the American...pegs in tact. Hmmm. I was pretty sure the sound came from one of the two cellos so I started looking around. And then I saw what it was...

It was the American. The wood on the front of the cello had split. There was a crack about almost foot long from the bridge area down to the bottom. I was in shock. What happens when an instrument is damaged in my possession during a trial??? hmmm I put the instrument back in the case. It was too late to do anything at this point...I would have to wait until the morning.

I called the shop in the morning and told them and I would bring the cello in (figured I would save the detail about the crack when I got there hahaha). I got to the shop and the owner (whom I hadn't met) greeted me. I told him that I had the American out on loan but.....it cracked last night. I got a funny look from him before he opened up the case to take a look.

Turns out that the wood had not cracked. The front seam came apart. They never did anything to the front when they restored the cello and I guess it was old glue. Apparently, the glue is intentionally not super strong so that the instrument has some wiggle room to expand and contract. With the low humidity as of late....the seam just broke.

He said that it could be repaired by middle of next week and asked me what I wanted to do...The shop had called me earlier in the week saying that someone wanted to try it out. I said that I liked the cello and go ahead and repair it. When I got home, I guess I was distressed from what had occurred and wasn't ready to do such a big purchase a few days before I left town for the Christmas holidays...so I called him back and said that I wasn't ready to move on it and that he should let the other person have a go at it. I would call him when I got back from vacation in a couple of weeks and if it was still available..I would give it another try.

When I came back from Christmas, the American had been sold.