This beautiful, robust example belongs to Tom Krainis – cellist of the Daedelus Quartet. This maker’s label is often put in questionable instruments as a catch-all for anything of obscure Italian origin. Though this one actually appears to be the rare real thing. Its a noble example that has been through quite a bit – with many crack repairs – worm damage in the wood and being dramatically cut down. Notice the photo of the upper
back/button area. You can see the abrupt squareness of the outline where the body length has been reduced.
The arching is bold and suggests greater breadth than the cello now has (which can be felt in the photos of the c-bout areas)
My work is to cut a new bridge and fit a new endpin and tailpiece along with inspecting and gluing any of the old crack repairs that need attention. This cello is an amazing example of the collaborative efforts of many luthiers (and players/owners) going to great lengths
over time to keep it functioning on the great concert stages in all the different climates that this cello performs in. In fact the cello ( with the cellist) is leaving soon for an extended tour of
Germany
