One of the kinder is a fiddly-type and plays cello. She will visit me this summer in Korea and the plan is for her to continue to practice whilst here. Among the many reasons she will not be traveling with her cello is the fact she is getting upgraded to a 4/4 by the maternal unit. My plan is to buy a cello for her for the summer (and keep it here for the time being). Did some price checking and found most Korean cellos are all wood (not plywood) and run about $500 (USD). Chinese cellos are above and below this price, Romanians are not readily found and 10x the price when they are found. I hear most Chinese cellos are not as good as Romanians and I have no idea where Koreans fall on the spectrum. For a sure student cello, I think $500 is not bad but I know very little about these things. Does any one out there have any real experience/insight on Korean cellos for teen-students with respect to quality and value (or better, brands/craftsmans)?
Got a few weeks to figure this out. I will likely hold off on buying one until she is here and can pick the one she likes (wood grain, coloring, subtle nuances only a musician would notice in their instrument,...) so I expect she will have something of a more critical eye but if I can learn up some cello knowledge I can help make sure neither of us make an expensive mistake.
TIA