I played cello in a symphony with a guy who's cello from either the late 1700s or early 1800s - I don't remember which war it was supposedly played during. Sounded amazing, it had a few small repairs but nothing too major that I was aware of. FWIW he kept it humidified. Remember too string instruments are made a bit different then a guitar + the use of a sound post would have giving some solid support against the soundboard shrinking. Less bracing also could free it up to move a bit more freely. With an X brace I would think that different places on the top/back are under more stress because they are fighting against bracing... sort of a brace tug of war. I would be curious the impact of one of those belly bridge doctors long term... along those lines, I pulled out my old cheap student cello last fall - I had it in storage for around 6 years in a dry climate and was sure there would be some issues, but it looked absolutely fine... I remember thinking that was interesting for sure.
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