Bows...

March 4, 2008 at 1:17 PM

Well...how to write this I'm not sure.

In 1998, as I approached the end of graduate school, I bought a bow. This bow is a French copy of the work of James Tubbs - strange, no? A French bow that is a copy of the work of an Englishman whose work has been compared to "the very best French work".

As I have been taking care of my geese (so that I can continue to lay golden eggs) so to speak, I recently had a diagnostic done on this bow. In addition to regular maintenance (rehair, new grip, etc.) I asked Bryan Christopher at the Tulsa Violin Shop about recambering the stick, as there were a couple small bends near the tip.

Bryan is a young man - early twenties - and a very accomplished violinist in addition to being a very competent, thorough, and engaging bowmaker. He did say that he could work on straightening the stick a bit...and two weeks later it feels as if I have a new bow. Honestly - while it may seem frightening to have heat applied to a stick, Bryan's incredibly thoughtful and thorough work has resulted in this bow being exponentially easier to control than it was before.

More from the road,

Hey, I've been to the Tulsa Violin Shop several times to have work done on a violin in the past. Louis Lynch, I remember, was a nice man with great skills. He always let me play on the high dollar instruments he had in his shop, and I always left there dreaming of beautiful sounds.
Yes, Emily, that's it! It's truly a great place filled with wonderful people and great instruments! I've tried a few bows there and like you, left with beautiful dreams...
>Bryan's incredibly thoughtful and thorough work has resulted in this bow being exponentially easier to control than it was before.

Whew! You had to have been a teensy bit nervous at that moment of truth, after tightening the bow and just before applying it to strings, yes? Glad to hear it worked out well!

Violinist.com is made possible by...

Shar Music

Pirastro Strings

JR Judd Violins

Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases

Thomastik-Infeld's Dynamo Strings

National Symphony Orchestra

Violins of Hope

Violinist.com Summer Music Programs Directory

Violinist.com Shopping Guide

Colburn School

Metzler Violin Shop

Southwest Strings

Bobelock Cases

Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins

Jargar Strings

Bay Fine Strings Violin Shop

FiddlerShop

Fiddlerman.com

Los Angeles Violin Shop

Baerenreiter

String Masters

Nazareth Gevorkian Violins

Laurie's Books

Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.

Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn

Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine

Subscribe