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My daughter is starting cello at her elementary school in the fall, she is 8 years old, renting a 1/2 scale cello.

In the process of renting the cello I need to decide if I should rent these two items:

  1. Xeros Endpin Anchor: Cello (Strap)

  2. NOVA Ideal Stop - Cello (Stop)

Are they necessary for her to learn?

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    thanks for the help. after looking at the cost of buying vs renting either the strap or the cello stop, i will just buy one. worst case scenario i sell it if she quits. – b3ko Aug 2 '18 at 19:01
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    When I was a kid playing cello, we called the second product you linked to a "cookie". I thought of it as an essential, so I just threw it in my case with my rosin and mute and so forth, because you can never predict what kind of floor you'll be playing on. Like you ended up deciding, just buy one, because they're cheap. I never used a strap, and it seems like it'd be a bigger fuss to have to adjust its length to get your position right, when you can just shift the cookie around to wherever you want it. – mlibby Aug 2 '18 at 20:54
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    Given the moderate prices of these items, and the fact, that you can keep them even when changing instrument sizes, I can't imagine, that renting is the financially most attractive solution. – guidot Aug 3 '18 at 6:55
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You need to ensure the end pin (the support below the cello body which rests on the floor) is on a surface where it can't slip. Otherwise, the player will get into bad habits because you can't hold the instrument in the correct playing position and move your hands and arms freely at the same time!

So whether you need one of this type of device (you certainly don't need both) depends mainly on the floor covering where she is going to practice at home. If that is a carpet or soft floor where the pin can "stick in" without slipping, you don't need one. If it's a hard wood or vinyl floor then you do. The most portable devices use a chair leg to anchor the support, so they can be used anywhere (the cello is played sitting down, of course).

I assume the school itself will have suitable flooring for playing there - otherwise the device wouldn't be considered an "optional accessory" but "essential".

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    Regarding your last sentence, the store and the school might not communicate at all. The store might just want to make all the money it can from the rental. – Todd Wilcox Aug 2 '18 at 18:51
  • @ToddWilcox yeah the rental is not through the school but a business. they sent home a whole packet of instructions, but nothing about this. can't even imagine going through this process not knowing anything about music or instruments. – b3ko Aug 2 '18 at 18:55
  • How about using a suitably-sized carpet scrap that will reach from the front two chair legs to the desired peg location? – supercat Aug 3 '18 at 2:46
  • she might find herself playing at different venues other than home or the music school, so flooring is always an unpredictable situation. I'd buy one of the two just in case; it's not that much money and the non-slip is definitely worth it. – kat Aug 7 '18 at 14:34
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Most cellists I know use a strip of some kind over a stop. Something to keep the cello from sliding around is necessary to keep it at a proper position for playing. The flooring is not predictable, and where school groups meet to rehearse is not often the same space they perform.

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  • Can you clarify, when you say a strip over a stop what does that mean? – b3ko Aug 2 '18 at 21:54
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    They prefer the strap/strip. I rarely see cellists using stops. – Heather S. Aug 2 '18 at 22:27
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I'm not a cellist, but a few things are apparent to anyone who knows about the cello and music equipment rentals:

  • Both of those products seem to do the same thing in two different ways. No matter what, I doubt you need both of them. One or the other should do.
  • The strap type (that is held in place by a chair leg) is the more certain way to stop slips, but it will take longer to set up and put away than the simple friction stop. The friction stop can just be dropped in place and picked up.
  • Having to constantly keep her cello from slipping will definitely be annoying for your daughter and hinder her learning, but whether she will have to deal with that depends on the kind of floors she will be playing on. If there's an end-of-year recital on a stage, that will probably be hard wood and slippery enough that a stop will be helpful. The orchestra room might be carpeted and a stop might not be needed at all on carpet. You might ask the orchestra teacher for a recommendation if they are available to ask.
  • You can order those products from amazon and you might pay less overall than renting them for a year.
  • You also should be able to go back and rent or buy them after your daughter confirms that slipping is a problem. If the store renting the instrument is trying to say you must rent one of them now or never, they are trying to strong arm you into it and personally I would rather pay to own one than validate such sales tactics.
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  • The store would rather you rent a device you don't need, than have you return a broken cello after it fell out of the player's control because the end pin slipped! These things cost peanuts compared with the cost of the instrument itself. – user19146 Aug 2 '18 at 18:53
  • @alephzero Sure, although the store won't bear the costs of the broken cello. The renter will. Having rented a violin before, I've found that store rentals are almost like car purchases: they make their money on the optional extras - polish, cloths, whatever. So I tend to take all such recommendations with a grain of salt and try to evaluate for myself whether such items will really be worth the cost. And you can always go back later to get them. I think the asker is thinking the same thing, hence coming here to ask. – Todd Wilcox Aug 2 '18 at 18:56
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    @alephzero and toddWilcox i bought the $4 insurance so i am not worried about the instrument breaking, but looking at the cost of the rental for the strap or the "stop" and i can just buy one for cheaper. can order one later. – b3ko Aug 2 '18 at 18:57
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No and no. Just find a nice chunk of non-slip rubber like material to put under the pin so she doesn't scrape up wood floors. Will also be good at school where they likely play on linoleum floor. If you have carpet at home, may not need anything. Always fun taking the cello home on the bus, I did for 4 years in grades 5-8 many years ago.

I had something like this, but was more of a dense foam rubber kind of material as I recall.

https://www.amazon.com/Tinksky-Endpin-Stopper-Protector-Non-slip/dp/B017AV22J8

More like this. Still have it in my cello bag I think.

https://www.sharmusic.com/accessories/endpin-anchors-stops/sure-stop-cello-endpin-stop.axd

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    yeah, bus stop is at the bottom of a big hill. kids barely make it up the hill without a cello, if anything makes her quit it will be that. i played the drums...if i learned anything being in a band it's be a singer. singer drinking and flirting while i lug my kit in, ugh. – b3ko Aug 2 '18 at 18:59
  • Still got to lug a mic and a stand. Not too many singers in the orchestra. That nice full sound of an orchestra on stage around you, that is something. – CrossRoads Aug 2 '18 at 19:03
  • we were a rock bank playing in bars...he didn't bring anything. one time the bass player and i were carrying his bass cab in and the singer put his beer down on it while we carrying it....yeah, we broke up because of him. – b3ko Aug 2 '18 at 19:13
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    I don't want to downvote since your experience may transferrable to the OP's situation, however from mine I really can't agree with the advice of just “some nice chunk of non-slip rubber”. Most rubber stops don't properly stick to the floor, so you always end up “chasing your cello” as soon as you move a bit – and that conditions you against moving the body, which is both bad for playing-fun and later for expressive freedom. When I can't ram my pin into a carpet or wooden floor properly, I always strap it to the chair. (Or else, play in Baroque position without the endpin entirely.) – leftaroundabout Aug 2 '18 at 20:44

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