Advices and suitable FH for Nittaku Violoncello (and differences with Violin)

[Dayel]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and I play as a modern defender: spin-focused all rounder, flat smashing easy balls on the forehand, chop from mid distance and deceptive play at the table, including twiddling on the backhand to attack and confuse.

Having got a huge discount on it, I gifted myself a Nittaku Violoncello, so I have a few questions before starting to use it.

1) Is it the case as I read that it's just an XL version of the Violin, or does it have anything making it a tad more defense-oriented?

2) What type of rubber would suit such a blade on the forehand, given my play style and me being a lower intermediate player, coming from a Bluestorm PRO 2.0mm on a Defplay Senso Classic v3?

3) I wouldn't expect to do much experimenting rubber-wise, apart from trying out initially 2/3 long pips I have in store. Apart from that, I substitute rubbers once a year approximately. Would you advise me to seal it with blade-specific products like the Donic sealer?

Bonus question: how come that there are so little reviews about this blade, and pretty much all of them are at least a decade old?

Thanks in advance to anybody willing to help me out on this, and apologies for the long message

 

[Dayel]

Let me come back to my own post with some impressions after having played for a month with my Violoncello.

In comparison with the Defplay Classic Senso v3, together with being 23 grams heavier, I found it way crispier, especially when playing punch shots with long pimples: it gives you great feel and the ball tends to go right where you are aiming.

Chops are less arched and deeper than the Defplay's, although they are still loaded with spin, which was something that I was already able to achieve with the Defplay, but for instance not at all with the Diode V, which is totally rigid and tough to impart spin with.

With regards to the forehand though, I found it naturally a bit faster but less forgiving compared to the Defplay, which menans that most likely I will have to tune down the forehand rubber and get something more controllable than the current Bluestorm Pro 2.0mm, as otherwise I tend to make mistakes and lose confidence in my strokes.

In a nutshell, if you add that the sound of the long pimples on the Violoncello is simply lovely, I think it is a nice middle ground blade for a modern defensive player. It has a rather hard outer layer but is still flexible enough, gives a good feeling for the ball and enough control, so it is very good for both the mid distance defense and for the close-to-the-table play. I would rate it as ALL to ALL+, if the Defplay Classic Senso v3 is DEF, and the Diode V is OFF-

 

[PoppaChubby]

Why violoncello ? they should have named it the Viola, I thought japanese people had better classical music knowledge !

 

[ZFT]

Nice review @Dayel !

In your view of Violoncello having a relatively hard outer yet being flexible enough means it should work extremely well with sticky or hybrids for your FH.

So something like a D09c (or insert ESN hybrid) would in effect be a tuned down Bluestorm Pro in the touch game to medium impact shots while having a much higher potential if you can hit through the harder sponge for strong attacks.

Also the slightly stickier topsheet should help you in backspin creation 😀

If budget is a concern, Xiom Vega China VM is a good choice. It is on the heavy side but shouldn’t be too much of an issue assuming you have LP on the other side.