Rehair bow or invest in a new bow?

July 28, 2012 at 08:02 PM · One of my friends at Juilliard prep plays on a $50 bow from China... when she brought it to a famous violin shop to have it rehaired, they refused to rehair it (since a rehair would cost more than a new bow) and so she just bought a new $50 bow instead.

July 28, 2012 at 09:16 PM · refused to rehair it ????????? what if that person really liked the bow and wanted it rehaired regardless of the bow worth. I think it is alright to suggest, but if they refuse then they would lose my business

July 28, 2012 at 10:11 PM · Get it rehaired. Tell the luthier it cost you $500.

July 28, 2012 at 10:14 PM · Or you could try synthetic hair - there's a couple brands of it that are particularly successful (a bowmaker I know rehaired a Millant with synthetic hair); they don't feel exactly the same as real hair, of course, but synthetic hair lasts much longer.

July 29, 2012 at 12:51 PM · Kate - one of the pieces of violinist CW is that you get more bang for your buck by upgrading your bow than by upgrading your violin. If you have the money, you might want to consider whether you could play better by taking that $50 and putting it together with a bit more and getting a better bow. Ask your teacher and luthier if this makes sense for you.

July 29, 2012 at 03:20 PM · I highly recommend getting a new bow if you can! I recently changed mine and the only way to describe the difference is that it was like magic. I was blown away by how much easier it was to play! The bow I went with in particular was the codabow NX. It's an amazing bow for the cost. That said, you'll want to try different bows on your violin to see if you like the sound.

July 29, 2012 at 05:28 PM · I'd suggest that you go to your local violin shop and try a bunch of bows, then you will get a good idea whether your bow is worth rehairing.

As to violin shops refusing to rehair cheap bows - I have heard that cheap students bows are often a pain (if not impossible) to rehair because the mortises at the tip and the frog are cut crudely, and some even have the wedges glued into the stick so it's impossible to rehair...

July 30, 2012 at 07:42 PM · If I were you i would ask myself two questions.

1 - How much did you spend on the bow(s) in question?

2 - Do you absolutely LOVE the bow?

And if the answer to question one is less then $50 and the answer to question 2 is not an absolute yes then BUY A NEW BOW.

You sound like your playing leval is such that you need a better bow anyway.... it would be worth it and fun too!

If you want to order a couple from me you can play them for free with no obligation and see if you might like one to buy.

here are some of the Bows I could send you.

YourMusicSupply.com BOWS

July 31, 2012 at 03:16 PM · My luthier uses old bows to stake her tomatoes. I kept my cheap bow that couldn't be rehaired because the plastic on the tip broke, and use it for bow exercises that build dexterity. That way I don't have to risk breaking a good bow. I may also repurpose the bow some day--on its own, the shape and wood grain are interesting. At the very least, you could put it away to pass on with your violin if you sell it some day and don't want to part with your current bow.

July 31, 2012 at 07:54 PM · Invest in a new bow. It's less grief.

August 1, 2012 at 11:52 PM · "I've encountered a luthier who refused to work on violins worth less than $15000 (I think that was the amount stated to me). Is this common? I understand why a cheap bow might not be worth the trouble to rehair, but is there a reason for such a cutoff for violins, if there are decent instruments that play just as well at "lower" prices?"

A $1000 repair sounds a lot more reasonable for a $15,000 fiddle than for a $500 one. I don't do that, but many luthiers discourage repairs on low priced instruments. The "cutoff" varies tremendously, depending on overhead, skills, earning expectations, etc, besides those who just don't want to do repairs.

August 2, 2012 at 02:54 PM · The best use I've found for old/junk bows is to give them to someone who's doing bow workshops. It happens that Lynn Hanning is not far away from me; she happily took a half dozen odds and ends to use with her students, including a rather delicate bow with a broken tip that will give some student an interesting practice job.

My feeling is that one should never just toss a bow out; there is surely someone who can do something useful with it.

September 5, 2016 at 07:31 PM · I agree with Tom Holzman. Upgrading your bow is the cheapest way to upgrade your sound. I recommend buying a new bow and considering an upgrade. From personal experience, I can tell you that a new bow can make a tremendous difference.

September 5, 2016 at 08:43 PM · If you're truly deciding between a rehair and a new bow, that means you're not considering a good bow, because the cost difference is a factor of 50-100.

September 6, 2016 at 12:09 AM · Wonder how this 2012 thread got revived. :-)