silver winding on bow tarnished

August 29, 2005 at 12:05 AM · Sounds to me like silver plated copper wire

Don't know how much it would cost to replace in pure silver, but you wouldn't getthe same discolouration problems

gc

August 29, 2005 at 10:36 AM · I use a blue cloth with some stuff in it, available for polishing band instruments.

August 29, 2005 at 11:00 AM · I used to have the silver wiring on my bow as well, and it actually started unraveling. At my local music store, they didn't sell the winding but told me to get a leather one. It was about... $50 I believe. Well, $30-$50 at any rate depending on the store.

August 29, 2005 at 02:20 PM · $50 For a little scrap of leather sounds like highway robbery to me.

Why not get a small scrap of leather--it could be from a leather-goods store or cobbler--and glue it on with contact cement?

Or, keep the "silver" winding but first poish it, then clean it, then put a coat of lacquer over it to stop it corroding?

Or buy some silver wire from a jewelry supply store and re-wrap it yourself?

They could all be fairly simple projects which would get the job done and make the bow really "yours" at the same time.

August 29, 2005 at 02:49 PM · this happened to my bow too, I just took it to a bow maker and he put new wire on it, it happens because its not pure silver they use, rather its copper with silver plating

August 30, 2005 at 11:26 AM · Hi Danielle,

the discoloration is due to a reaction of your sweat and the copper wire. Since some people buy copper wristbands for health reasons, take it as a fringe benefit of playing the violin.

Seriously, you could apply some clear nail polish to the wire - taking off the nut first, to get the bow hair out of danger.

I wouldn't recommend to replace the wire with leather, since taking off the weight of the wire will interfere with the balance of your bow.

There are different materials used for the winding, like silk (lightest), fishbone (or imitation), copper wire w/ silver coating, silver wire and gold wire (heaviest).

A bow is a very fragile thing and plays a very big - though mostly underrated - role in tone production. Therefore I would refrain from "do-it-yourself" measures and see a competent luthier/bow maker.

Bye, Juergen

September 22, 2005 at 09:17 PM · Silver tinsel (real silver, not copper) is available at most reputable shops. They can replace your tinsel with new farly easily. Contact your local shop to check price, and make sure to let them know that you need silver not copper tinsel. regular tinsel (not sure about the coppe variety) can be cleaned with an oxy type cleaner (while silver cleaners will work, if they touch the bow they will destroy the varnish) but in any case try not to have any cleaning agent touch the wood area of the bow.

Angelo

September 23, 2005 at 05:08 AM · They're right. The scumbags put copper wire on it.

September 27, 2005 at 03:47 PM · To Brian: Make sure if you replace the winding with tape that the weight/balance remains roughly the same. Putting something lighter/heavier even by a gram or 2 can change the balance and possibly the playing characteristics of a bow.

Angelo