Ktaxon Acoustic Cello

Craftsmanship is a little here and there, but over all I didn't end up needing to replace anything and it sounds great, a little hard to tune as someone who does it frequently, lots of little adjustments to the bridge, but otherwise great!

I purchased this cello as a practice instrument for teaching purposes, but the bridge came with almost no curvature. When bowing, two strings sound together constantly, especially on the G and C side. This is not normal for any cello -- even a low-cost student model should allow you to play each string individually. I contacted the seller, explained the issue in detail, and even sent photos showing the flat and asymmetrical bridge. Instead of acknowledging the defect, they insisted that the bridge was “normal” and told me that even if they sent a new one, I would need to “polish it myself.” This is not an acceptable response. A properly cut bridge is basic to making the instrument playable, and it should not be the customer’s responsibility to fix defective manufacturing. In the end, the seller tried to argue that all cello bridges are “one side high and the other low,” which completely ignores the problem I clearly showed them. This was disappointing and felt dismissive. I would not recommend buying from this seller. Even for a budget instrument, quality control and honest customer service should be the bare minimum.

Good value for someone just wanting to learn this instrument without spending a lot of money. Definitely beginner quality.

My previous experience with string instruments is a year or so with a Viola some 50 years ago, so I'm not a great judge of Cello quality. But it seem to me that Ktaxon has done a great job with this Cello. The finish is immaculate, and it sounds good when I don't screw it up. However, I think the bridge isn't curved enough (that might be me), and it's missing the tiny plastic bridge protector on the A string that keeps the string from slicing thru the bridge. I'm also not sure the Bow is high quality, but again, that might be me. Am I satisfied with the purchase? You betcha! It sounds good, and it's probably loud enough to annoy the neighbors (Bonus!). When you buy the Cello, and I urge you to do so, buy a mute with it. Edit after a few weeks with this Cello: I still like the Cello, but I've noticed a thing or two that needs to be addressed. If you look at the third picture on it's website, you can see the Nut (the part on top that the strings rest on) is huge. This matters because the A string is a thin steel wire that seems like it will slice your finger in half if you have to press very hard. And because the Nut is so high, the force you have to use is significant. Ouch. I took the Cello to a Luthier (stringed instrument tech/artist) to get it lower, and now it's much better. It looks like Ktaxon put a Nut that tall on because the Fingerboard is angled a bit too high, and it needed the clearance at the bottom. My second issue - which is too expensive to fix - is the Fingerboard is too high at the bottom, which requires the Nut to be high and the Bridge to be the maximum height. With the Bridge this high, the D and G strings need a good bit of precision on the Bow hand to avoid playing 2 strings at the same time. Which I don't have, but I'm getting there. My third and last issue is the strings. When I got the Cello back from the Luthier, I asked for a candid, no BS opinion on the Cello. He said the strings where "Terrible". I think that contributes to the issue with garrote-like tension of the A string. So, here's my 1 month-ish evaluation of this Cello: I still like it. I'm practicing with it almost every day, and I expect to keep practicing with it until I decide I need a better instrument, which I expect to be pretty soon. If you want to dabble in "learing" the Cello, this works, but expect to upgrade to a better Cello, or spend another $300 or so more to make this one worthy of an advanced beginner. Note on repairs: The Luthier charged me $70 to modify the Nut. I expect new strings to be between $100 and $200 dollars (Cello strings are expensive). Replacing or modifying the Bridge will be in the neighborhood of $170. And fixing the Fingerboard won't ever be worth it. Last note: Would I buy it again? Yes, I would. If you don't know how long you're going to mess around with Cellos, buy it, and mount it on your wall when you're done, it really is a beautiful piece. I wanted to start with the cheapest instrument so I could appreciate the better ones, and despite my criticism, it's been good to use it, curse it, and enjoy it.

I've had this cello for less than 3 months and I noticed today that suddenly the neck appears to want to detach from the body of the instrument. To be fair, I can't completely rule out the possibility that this is just a very thick coat of paint/varnish cracking, but the cracks do look concerningly deep. This is after less than 20 hours of playing time, it hasn't ever left the house, and the temperature in here is always 65-70° with no seasonal changes. It's a shame because the tonal quality isn't too bad for a budget instrument. The sound post made it through the mail without dislodging, everything looked great upon initial inspection. The pegs are loose in the peg holes like other reviews have said, but this is easily remedied with a drop of peg oil. The included rosin is bad, definitely buy a different rosin. I was planning on upgrading the bow and the strings but I think I'll hold off for a bit to see if the instrument makes it through another couple practice sessions first. I'll update the review to a single star if it ends up becoming unplayable.

A fine cello! Bridge seems as though it is a bit taller than it should be, but it is an overall lovely instrument for the price!

I’m a beginner cellist but not new to string instruments. Overall, this cello is not worth the trouble and I will be returning it. You get what you pay for, but I at least expected it to be playable. I assessed the cello myself and also got a professional opinion to confirm my suspicions. My largest concerns are that the pegs shift constantly and the strings the cello come with are very poor quality. Because of the constant shifting of the pegs, I can never be in-tune no matter how much time I spend adjusting them. I had to replace the strings with higher quality ones. Also, the notches on the bridge that set the strings weren’t wide enough, so my C string kept snapping off the bridge and fingerboard. This happened with both the original strings and the higher quality ones I replaced them with. My final but less critical issue was that the strings are not able to be centered on the fingerboard. I see this a lot with student instruments, so it’s not a huge deal, but on top of all the other issues it goes without saying that you should probably just spend a little more money buying or renting a better quality cello elsewhere. The only praise I have is that it didn’t arrive with any obvious cracks and the color is nice.

Très bien conçu le son est super et c’est facile à assembler,