Some good, some not so
Fiddlershop was excellent, no complaints there. Arrived very well protected.
Purchased as a backup for my very temperamental, hyper- resonant wood cello that squawks horribly when atmospheric conditions shift wildly; the EVO sound quality remained constant thru the storms here.
Comes with Aurora strings.
Good: cool, futuristic appearance, ?enticing for a soloist? Not so much for blending in with an orchestra or chamber group with wood instruments, perhaps
Sounds good from 10 or more feet away, tho maybe a bit less rich/complex tone than my Dimbath/Gill 374 wood instrument. The other cellists who played this instrument for me felt the same, incl my teacher, who is a pro.
Big voice.
Geared pegs
Feels very light, tho only 8 ounces lighter than my wood cello.
As with all CF cellos, they are impervious to weather changes, good for outside gigs.
Not:
Did not like the sound under the ear, so it was not enjoyable to play. Slightly metallic might be a good word to describe it; tapping it sounds like a metal drum.
No fine tuners, because of the geared pegs. However, I prefer both to be present, as they are on my primary cello, as most daily tuning requires only a small adjustment with the fine tuners - easier than geared pegs. Not a huge issue. Easier to tune than my bass viol :-)
Would have to get used to the feel of the instrument -it slips away from my pant leg (and is slippery in general, cannot safely handle the body with one hand, as I do with my wood cello). I had not realized that I apparently use the purfling to keep the cello in place while playing. Not a big deal.
Fingerboard slightly blotched / inconsistent in appearance, but looks like I can’t post a photo here. Hard to describe. Not a big deal, since it doesn’t affect the sound.
Bottom line: I reluctantly returned it due to timbre under the ear. I REALLY wanted to like it enough to keep it, but for me it did not work for me. YMMV, of course. Could be great if amplified in certain settings, like electric cellos, eg, but that’s not my thing.
