Stradivaris, Amatis, Guarneris, and more at the Smithsonian

By Andy Fein, Luthier at Fein Violins
Ivana Truong

This is Presidents weekend and maybe a few people have Washington, D.C. on their minds. Do you know the American people own a tremendous number of historic instruments? The collections of the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian are treasures of the United States and belong to each and every American.

The inlay on the Side of the Scroll of the Greffuhle Stradivarius violin

Cellos are Big. They Used to be Bigger.

By Andy Fein, Luthier, Fein Violins, Ltd.

If you've ever seen someone struggling down the street or up the stairs with a cello, your first thought might be "Wow! Those are big instruments!" Well, in the very long history of cellos, many of them used to be even bigger.

The 'Lord Aylesford' Stradivarius cello. A BIG cello

The standard body length of a modern cellos is about 750mm (29 1/2"). Before 1700, some monster cellos, even those made by great makers, were 760mm to 800mm (30" to 31.5"). These big cello were also proportionately wider in width. Think about that the next time you need to reach around your cello's upper bouts to play in upper positions!