Is one $150 bow worth another?

September 1, 2011 at 04:51 AM ·

Elise. 

You might find some answers by searching on bows, Pernambuco, and carbon.  Doing so is how I discovered v.com when I was in the same situation.  Generally, at the price you mention, carbon fiber are supposedly a better deal than wood.  Many people have recommended Glaser bows in that price range.  When I did my own search, I decided I wanted Pernambuco and found a nice W. Dorfler bow.  There is really no way to predict whether a bow will be light or heavy, or how it is balanced.  Most bows in your price range and up should have their weights given by the seller, and you should ask.  The big flaw (that I know of) is non-straightness of the bow.  Even a bow that meets all your criteria might not sound the best with your violin. All these things are reasons why it's ideal to try lots of bows before you buy.  Since you aren't near a luthier, try to find one that is willing to send you several to try at one time.  Regarding Pernambuco vs Brazilwood:  according to Wikipedia, they're the same species of wood.  Bow makers use the term "Pernambuco" for a better grade.  (Anyone want to elaborate on or correct that statement?)  Regarding Chinese vs German (and you might as well add Brazilian): It's not clear to me.  There are some Chinese companies who are well known for making good but inexpensive bows.  When I bought my Dorfler, I was comparing it to a couple Chinese bows of the same price and I was more comfortable with the Dorfler.  The old v.com articles on bows will address this, too.  Best wishes!

September 1, 2011 at 06:38 PM ·

Thanks Francesca. I have been googling and reading and all that... and the more I read, the more I have no idea! I'm thinking I'll have to do the trials by mail. I was hoping to avoid that since the mail takes a month each way, though. :)

September 1, 2011 at 07:07 PM ·

If you can't try out various bows, I'd suggest ordering a carbon fibre bow...like a Coda.

Bows are also very individual and I actually use my cheaper ones more than my more expensive ones because they're balanced better for my hand.  Hard to tell until you have a chance to play with them.

Last summer I bought an inexpensive violin outfit to have as a spare and for outdoor use.  It came with an inexpensive CF bow...and I quite like it.  I never would have bought it on my own, since I prefer wood (mentally)...but now that I have it and have used it - I'm very pleased with it.

September 1, 2011 at 07:12 PM ·

...double post...sorry...

September 1, 2011 at 07:52 PM ·

One month away?  Where are you?

September 1, 2011 at 10:46 PM ·

http://www.long-mcquade.com/products/1129/Band/Orchestral_Strings_-_Bows/Presto_Bows/Carbon-Fibre_Violin_Bow_4_4.htm

This is a good bow for the money , I recommend it to my students.

 The K.holtz FG bows are weak at the tip, but  you are able to play a slow sautille (bouncing bow) with them which is important when learning this technique.

http://www.eastmanstrings.com/eastmanstrings/bows/kholtzfg.htm

September 2, 2011 at 07:34 PM ·

Cool, thanks for the suggestions. I'm in Canada's Northwest Territories and our mail is pretty slow. Everything here is pretty slow, actually. Plus if I order from the US, I have more options, but then it has to go through Customs.

September 2, 2011 at 10:24 PM ·

Thanks for bringing this subject up. If you dont mind, instead of starting a seperate post I'll just jump on here.

I also am in the market for a better bow. $300 is my max. Ive been looking at the Arco Nouveau "quantum" for $289. Any one own or have any experience with these ? Also i cant seem to find where theyre made.  Any suggestions are appreciated.

Oh, a little about me. Im in my 3rd year and all my current bows are of the beginning student type, worth no more than Im guessing $50

September 3, 2011 at 08:14 PM ·

Well, the deed is done. I've ordered a Jean Tabary Prism bow.

I was initially against the idea of a carbon fiber because of the many people who say "you can definitely hear the difference" and particularly one guy who claims the CF bows are weaker in the lower harmonics. What I love about my violin is that it's stronger in the lower harmonics than the higher ones so it doesn't have that "angry cat" sound that many violins do. In the end however, sound economic arguments were made for the CF bows: rarity of good wood, lower cost of labour with man-made materials, etc. Plus saving the rainforest and also, consistency. I'm a carpenter by day so you don't have to tell me twice that wood is variable. One guy wrote that any wood bow under $500 is a crapshoot, you have to try and see. So it seemed that I could get a better bow for my money by going with carbon fiber.

The reason I picked the Tabary Prism is mostly that I found a Canadian supplier that had a reasonable cost of shipping and listed it as "on sale". By looking around I found references to these bows priced as low as $130 but I could not actually find a retailer that had that price, most were between $225 and $350, and that's quite a big range for the same product, so I was worried about getting ripped off. But the retailer I picked was selling it for $169 (marked down from $250) and that was the lowest price I could find. I hope it's genuinely a $250 bow discounted to $169, not a marketing ploy, but she seems trustworthy. There were also a lot of happy testimonials on the site.

One last dilemma was the colour. The Prism bows come in very bright colours, which looks good on the page, but when it came to buying one, I realized it's a bow, not a sports car. My favourite colour is blue, but my violin is a very red shade of brown and blue would have clashed, as would green, purple, pink and red. So, I went with yellow, or "heart of gold" as the manufacturer calls it. I'm not into yellow, but if the colours is true to the web picture, it should look good with my instrument.

Well, alea jacta est, I guess. The bow ships on Tuesday... I'll let you know how it turns out. In any case, it can't be worse than my old one, and it's very durable, so hopefully I won't have to go through this again for some time. I've actually been trying to make a decision for three months. At least now it's done.

Thanks for your suggestions.

- Elise

September 3, 2011 at 09:23 PM ·

Hello  Elise in Canada!

Elise (in Canada)

[why do I feel like there's an echo in here?]

September 4, 2011 at 07:29 PM ·

Hi Elise in Canada!

- Elise in Canada

I echo your echo. :)

September 4, 2011 at 11:44 PM ·

I think at this price you are going to be getting a carbon fiber bow and probably need look at nothing else.