well, can you guestamate? i mean, how wrong would i be if i were to say 'a cello is a cello regardless of what you pay'. why are the more expensive ones more expensive when the lower end ones are also using sitka spruce tops with ebony boards and all?

and aside from the obvious, whats the difference between 4 and 5 string cellos?

I don't know a thing, sadly. I haven't looked at buying new ones since I bought mine about sixteen years ago.

hey man,
just wondering if you're familiar with the cellos being sold on ebay now a days. some of them are being sold from 100-300ish dollars. i'm wondering how much work would be required in order to make them playable?

my gf used to play one about ten years ago, and i want her to get into it again...

worse comes to worse, it may be a furniture prop on the side of a room looking all pretty and stuff...

Saw that ages ago. Very true and hilarious.

you may enjoy this
YouTube - Pachelbel Rant

Honestly, it's best to go to like a violin shop and have her play it. Since they're acoustic instruments (and very hard to adjust if you're not a trained luthier) it's best to find one that plays and sounds good yourself. There are some good ones at that price point; plenty of crap too.

18 k? no kidding!
btw, on ebay, they have random cellos for like a few hundred bucks. like 99-300ish or so. i know, the price is ridiculous comparing to 18k cellos, but are they that bad and garbage? i want to get a cello for my girlfriend as she used to play it about 10 years ago. cant really afford the bigguns at 500 plus, so...yeah

I've been playing cello for about 14-15 years now, although I've been seriously slacking on the technique for the last 4 to 6 so I've backslid quite a bit. The cello in my avatar is in fact my old teacher's instrument; mine isn't quite so flamey or worn, and isn't worth $18k

the acoustic in your avatar. and in your profile, the flamed maple sides of it look even more beautiful! how long have you been playing cello for?

Acoustic, or electric? I only have one video of me playing cello, and it's my electric: YouTube - Guitar Meet Up - Cello Star Wars! (video was taken by Canuck Brian at his house without my knowledge!)