A.B. Dark Rosin for Cello

I was a bit apprehensive of ordering this offline, considering the only review at the time said it arrived broken. I took a chance anyway because I accidentally shattered my rosin and have a concert coming up soon. It also seems that there isn't a single place in this town that sells decent rosin, so I had to take a chance. It arrived in a bubble mailer package (one of those padded envelopes) and I thought for sure it would be broken. Luck was on my side though, and it was in one piece.As for the rosin itself, I must say it is quite enjoyable to play with. You can spread it on heavy and your bow won't get mired down, allowing for even delicate sautillé style right after application. My last rosin was Pirastro cello rosin which, while it provided good amounts of grip and a rich tone, would get bogged down for the first few minutes after application. A.B. rosin retains the grip without the weight, keeping the bow lively without having to worry too much about keeping the string from losing control and jumping into harmonics.There are really only two problems I can see with this rosin. One is that the packaging is quite horrible. The button that keeps the rosin cloth closed broke the day I got it. I would recommend breaking it off when you receive it and replacing the button with a key ring. It might not look fancy, but it works far better, and you won't have to worry about rosin getting everywhere if your button breaks off unexpectedly. Secondly is that it seems to not last quite as long as my Pirastro rosin. I found that after a two hour symphony rehearsal, the grip is starting to fade a bit, and I usually re-rosin before every rehearsal. Granted we are playing two aggressive, rosin-munching pieces at the moment, but I think the durability on the hair could be a bit better.Overall I would recommend this rosin to any cellist, it has fine characteristics that lends itself well up through high levels of playing.(String setup: Larsen mediums on the top with chrome Spiracores on the bottom)

NOTE: i’ve only been using this rosin for a couple months. I will update this review when I’ve been using it a bit longer.I am a beginning adult cellist (2 years). This is the first cake rosin I’ve ever used. I had before only been using the student rosin that comes in the little wooden box. My teacher, who’s been playing for 30 years, highly recommends AB Dark for Cello, and has used only it for years. He dissuaded me from getting the more expensive rosins with gold flakes, etc. I found this rosin a little more difficult to scratch up (?) than the wood box rosins, and I need to scratch it much more frequently. I was advised to carry a small piece of fine grain sandpaper in my case for this purpose. Which seems to mean that this rosin is somewhat softer than the wood boxes. It seems to stick better to the bow, without all those puffs of powder I used to get. So, yes, I definitely recommend it. I rated it 4 stars, because I need more time to see if it’s a 5. But I’m happy with it. And my teacher would rate it 5 stars.

Yum. I love this stuff. So much that I've been known to give my viola bow a swipe of it when it's really dry in winter...... Yum! Very grippy and smooth, but you can drag a really slow pianissimo with it on an open string, and you will think it's velvet instead of sound.

good quality.

Must've broken in the mail, as soon as I saw the package I figured it would be. Not enough to protect it in a thin envelope, should be shipped in a box or something.Will rewrite review if and when I get a functioning product.

:)