First bow... but the price...

May 22, 2006 at 4:39 AM

Well, I took home the JonPaul Avanti to try out. Trying it in the shop I liked what it could do. As I play on it more and more, I am liking it more and more. I haven't got the bows from my teacher just yet, as he only got in from China yesterday. He said that he liked to bow very much, except for one thing - the price.

The price my dealer is quoting me is $1600. That's about US$1200. He says the difference is that he's got to cover courier charges, insurance, possible rehairs if the hair isn't quite right, and storage. But surely, that can't be worth $600 more than the retail price of the bow. Personally I think he's overcharging, by a fair margin. My teacher thinks that for carbon fibre you shouldn't pay more than $500 (approx US$375), but I think you'd be struggling to find a good bow for that price.

What I'm thinking is that I'll look into ordering it from overseas, that is, if it's cheaper to get it delivered that way and if I decide that it's the bow that I want. By my estimations, I think I should be able to get it for about $1200 (US$900) which is much more affordable for my buget.

But anyway, I still have two more bows coming in, that should be here next monday, so that will be nice.

One problem with this Avanti is that it doesn't fit in my case very well. It's slightly too long. If I put it in, stick up, it won't fit, and the guard will disect the hair. It fits easier upside-down, but it looks like it's stretching the hair. Is it ok for me to store like this, or should I really get another case if I am to get this bow.

I play at a chamber music concert this Friday. Need to get myself a red tie, because I refuse to wear a red shirt. It makes me look sunburnt (And if i'm already sunburnt it makes me look like a tomato). So I'll have to go find one of them soon. I've got two quartets performing. In one, I'm playing first violin in the first movement of Mozart's Quartet K. 387 - the first of his "Haydn" quartets. In the second, I'm playing second violin in Haydn's "Sunrise" quartet (First movement as well). I'm looking forward to these performances, especially seeing as I'll be using this new bow for them. I had a bit of a play through them by myself this morning, and I've got much more control with dynamics and also starts of notes. I'm able to pull out the tone that I really like. It's great.

It's great, if just not so expensive.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on May 22, 2006 at 7:24 AM

Ben, I'd like to hear more about your personal experience with the Jonpaul Avanti bow. What did you like about it and why did you choose it? You can post your response here or send me an email -- whatever you feel more comfortable with. If you decide to buy it, I recommend that you buy another case for it. It would be a small additional cost, and it would be so important for protecting your very special bow. I checked prices for this bow online, and I suppose you did, too. I found prices ranging from $755-$795 (USD). My own experience is that local violin stores charge less than online stores for violins and bows.

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First bow... but the price...

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