This nice older German Cello developed a long soundpost crack…. happening during the 15 minutes it spent in its case during the walk through (cold!) Pittsburgh on its way to the Grad School Cello studio. The top of the Cello is in rather poor condition… and it bears this handwritten inscription. showing who repaired it and when. Judging that the cracks on the top were rather clumsily repaired…and the date..I wonder if this Cello wasn’t brought back from Germany from the Second World War… and into the hands of someone completely unknown ..who really wasn’t unto the job. Its interesting to wonder abut the history of instruments based on the clues and evidence that can be seen…So the old Post repair was just a slab of spruce glued down across the grains. not the carved, insert patch that is the way to do it. I removed the old patch …glued and studded the new crack….and fit a proper post patch. A few take aways come to ind ..always have insurance on a Cello…and maybe one more reason not to live in Pittsburgh!…
