Presto Impulse x Arcus Cadenza
Last week I met professor Charles Stegeman (Duquesne University) at a music festival in Brazil and I noticed that he uses a carbon fiber bow. I asked him to try it and he allowed me to, as much as he encouraged me to get one. The bow was an Arcus Cadenza Gold, as light as 50 grams. It just feels amazing in the hand, you barely notice that there is a bow there. It also makes amazing sound on the instruments, and you can do every stroke with less effort. That's what I thought after my 2-minute-trial.
Now I just read Andres Cardenes' (Carnegie Mellon University) review on Presto Impulse bow and it sounds as amazing as the Arcus, but thousands of dollars less expensive. So, has anyone tried them? What are your thoughts on these bows?
Replies (2)
Best carbon fiber bow I've tried is the sort sold by the high end violin dealer Philip Greenberg - they beat most bows in the price range below $5,000, imo. They're copies of a Dominique Peccatte that Greenberg has in his collection, and the handling is simply unbelievable.. I've compared mine to Codabows, Arcus bows, Berg bows, even the Rolland "Spiccato" bow - it was by far my favorite out of all the carbon fiber bows I've tried.
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February 7, 2013 at 07:42 PM · They aren't even remotely similar.
The Arcus bows behave in an entirely different way than "normal" bows in the traditional weight distribution. They have hollow sticks with a high degree of stiffness, and can take awhile to get used to. They play very well but the approach to bowing will be different. I played an Arcus Concerto model on violin for years before I sold it to finance an old French bow that I couldn't resist. ;)
The Presto Impulse is a carbon fiber bow with a wood veneer, in the "normal" weight distribution, and most players have no problem picking one up and using it right away. It performs well for an inexpensive CF bow (and by inexpensive, I mean bows under $1000).