Violoncello da Spalla strings by Warchal!
The C string is on pre-order on Kickstarter!
Hello! We are excited to announce that this week we launched our Kickstarter project to pre-sell the first batch of Warchal C strings designed explicitly for Violoncello da Spalla!
Our most faithful readers may remember that we went on a long road trip across Austria in August, but we didn’t want to share the purpose and destination.
We drove 2000 km in a weekend to Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, to meet Bohdan Warchal. We introduced our Violoncello da Spalla to him and showed him how to play it. We went there with four spallas, with four different string setups, so that he could try everything on the market. It didn’t take much, a high-level violinist as he is, but it took even less to understand our problem. While we have fantastic historical strings and some superb modern hand-made strings of such a high quality that exceed expectations of even only five years ago, we didn’t have a well-balanced set of pure modern synthetic strings. The only set available was unbalanced and not performing at the same level as others.
So, he took the challenge and agreed to develop new strings for Violoncello da Spalla! We had to leave Daniela’s personal instrument with him for months, which was a bit of a hard separation for us, but we married the cause, so we went on!
In just a few weeks we received the first samples, which were already very good! A C string very easy, ready, with brilliancy and clarity, giving to the whole instrument more breathe and a more powerful sound. With this string agility comes natural. Yes, an agile C string for Violoncello da Spalla!
After successfully developing a C string, Warchal request was to test the market before investing in developing the whole set, and he asked us to buy 30 strings. So, we settled a Kickstarter project to pre-sell the first batch of C strings.
We decided that if we can pre-sell 12 strings in one month, we can buy that first batch and cover ourselves the shipping costs for these strings. When we sell 20, we will plan another trip to Warchal to leave him the instrument again, so that he can develope the rest of the set.
Here is the link to the Kickstarter project
This new Warchal 5th string perfectly supplements the only available modern, well polished synthetic set, amending it’s weakness.
Why this interest with modern strings when we have a choice of handmade strings?
First of all, the Violoncello da Spalla is a modern instrument as well as a baroque one.
There are people (like Daniela for example) who love to spend time practicing with handmade strings to hear the sound they had before the 20th century, and understand the technique they used.
But there are other people who travel the world in tournée (read: ever-changing climate conditions and little time to practice), who live in extreme climate conditions, or who spend a lot of time in recording studios. Those people want strings that work, with no hassle, no noises, no surprises. Reliable strings that work no matter what. These people need modern strings made with advanced technology.
Other people simply want to enjoy music, so they want the easiest strings possible. Also this people needs modern strings.
Until now, there was only one choice of modern strings. And this one set is not working at best.
This caused often the feeling that the Violoncello da Spalla is not yet at a quality standard, or that it is mainly a baroque instrument without the qualities required for modern performances, if not using amplification. Nothing is more far from true! It is probably the most versatile of the bowed instruments, but you can’t enjoy it if you don’t have performing strings!
In four days from the launch, the project is already 67% funded! We are not surprised, as we knew how wonderful the da spalla community is, and how this of a good modern string was a longtime need for the many modern players. If you don’t have a good string, you can’t enjoy your playing, you can be fully in the moment.
However, we were very sorry to see and understand that Kickstarter was probably not the best platform for managing this pre-sell, as many found it difficult to order.
Here is a little tutorial on how to obtain your Warchal C string.
Order=pledge
String=reward
So what you have to do is pledge for a reward.
Unfortunately there is a box to pledge without a reward, a sort of a free offer. This was not meant to be there, but we learned too late that it is not possible to remove it. We are not asking for random money for support, but we are pre-selling a product to facilitate its full development.
So, pledge for a reward, which is a C Warchal string, that will come with an elegant Warchal cleaning clothe as a thank you for participating in this adventure.
If you are looking at that “support” box on the right, you have to scroll it down (from the box, not from the center, it’s two columns scrolling separately) to see the strings.
Otherwise, the most simple thing is to click on the button to the right side of the introductory video. It will directly take you to the page with the rewards. Click on one of them, randomly in the box, and the button to pledge will appear.
If you have any question or troubles pledging, just ask us in the comments section!
What will you receive and when?
You can expect to receive your string with a branded Warchal cleaning cloth as a thank you gift for participating in the initial project stage. What you will receive is not a prototype, but Warchal’s fine production.
You will be a part of history in the making of the full potential of the modern Violoncello da Spalla.
Worldwide free shipping
As a special “early bird” offer, we will ship worldwide for free.
Taxes and invoicing (we all hate papers and taxes, but please read this, it’s very important)
You will receive a regular invoice with your string.
⚠️ If you are outside the European Union Community you will have to pay customs when you receive the string.
⚠️If you are in Europe and you don’t have a Vat number, we will have to pay Italian vat taxes. In this case, please pledge for the “VAT included” reward. If you are Italian, with or without vat number (partita iva), you will have to pay vat taxes, so please pledge for the “VAT included” reward. It counts for a discount on taxes anyway, but it will help us not to be bankrupted!
⚠️If you have a European or Italian vat number make sure to communicate it in the survey that we will send you before shipping.
What happens next?
After a few weeks, we will get in touch to ask for your feedback. This is fundamental for us, because not everything about sound is objective, techy and measurable. Only you can tell if you like the string or not and if you wish to have a complete set.
If we get a positive response, and achieve enough sales, we will plan to travel again to Slovakia to leave Daniela’s instrument at Warchal for the development of the other strings. This will take several months. In this moment is hard to tell if another kickstarter project will be needed to support us, but we will keep you updated.
The crucial moment is now
We hope that you are as excited about this groundbreaking project as we are, and you are ready to jump together with us in this adventure!
Risks
No risks from your side. If the goal is met, you will be charged and you will receive your C string. If not, your credit card won’t be charged. As simple as that.
Pre-order your Warchal C string here, and help the development of the new Warchal set for Violoncello da Spalla
We met the first goal of 12 strings in only 5 days!
But there’s still one goal to meet, 20 strings, so that we will plan to go to Banská Bystricá again to leave there my instrument to develop the full set!
Congratulations! That's an amazing project!