Why does my Coda GX sounds so terrible?
I bought a Coda GX bow untested back in 2012 based on its good reviews.It produces so much noise which makes playing unbearable. I can barely hear my doublestops higher up on the fingerboard. It plays worse than the free bow i got from a $150 Yita violin.
What could be the cause of this?
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Replies (26)
How old is your bow hair?
What ckind of rosin are you using?
I wish I had one, I only got to borrow one when my pernambuco bow was in the shop.
Instead, as i already reported in a post here (unnoticed, i believe) few months ago i tested several new Codabow bows in Mondomusica fair (Italy) and saying "delusion" would not be too adequate.......
In particular i didn't like the GX at all. It did not have "sound" ..... I liked a bit more the Marquise and the Luma.
Two stands apart, the Musing bows were 100 times better ......
Writing of my CF or other composite bows:
My ARCUS Concerto bows for (violin, viola and cello) generally provide a nice strong overtone quality when that is what I want to produce - especially good for hearing myself and blending in ensemble.
My Rolland Spiccato bow (from Rolland's Paris days) seems to produce a better quality of sound on one of my violins than any of my 7 other violin bows (4 pernambuco, 2 CF and one hybrid) but not on the other violins.
My CF Durro cello bow produces a nicer over-all sound on my oldest cello (1877) than my other 7 cello bows but not on the other 2 cellos. The CF Durro bows were sold at about the same time the Coda bows were introduced and I ended up buying 3 of each brand (vl, vla & vc). Over the years I ended up giving the Durro viola and violin bows away to others in my family, but the brand was very competitive with Coda at the time (~20 years ago) and less expensive.
My viola and cello Coda Bow Classics are not remarkable on my instruments, but there is nothing wrong with them and I still use them sometimes. Maybe it depends on the state of my hearing on those days - maybe the weather! I gave my violin Coda Bow to my son several years ago and he recently purchased several newer Coda bow violin models for himself after trying them and other CF brands.
My Berg Deluxe violin bow is a non-wood bow and probably the best handling bow I have, but not the best sounding on any of my violins. For what the d_mn thing cost it should be best at everything, but at the time I bought it for its handling qualities.
Bow choice is very instrument and player dependent.
My violinst trio partner for 20 years used Coda Classic and Rolland Spiccato bows on his $150,000 Enrico Rocca violin while his Lamy remained in his case. Some other people didn't like his Coda on their violins but liked it on the Rocca when they tried it. He ended up using the Spiccato pretty exclusively.
If a non-wood bow works for you choose it! If not, don't!
Like Andrew said: depends on the player and the instrument. I never would have thought I'd prefer the CodaBow to my beloved pernambuco, but my pernambuco is a better fit for my other violin. So, CodaBow it is until I can afford a suitable pernambuco upgrade for this other violin.
In general, if you buy a CF bow, you should test multiple bows of the same model in order to determine which you like best (the feel is very slightly different within each model), as well as which produces the best tone on your violin.
If you like the way your GX plays, consider whether you can do a lateral trade at a violin shop. You will probably have to pay some money because your GX is 7 years old, but you may be able to trade for a different GX that sounds better on your violin.
I have Coda GX and thought it was a bit "scatchy".
Slackening the bow seems to help.
And it still has enough "bounce" in it.
But there's no comma. "Try it, slacker" means something else entirely!
Turning back to the topic of the thread, I was thinking about the sound the OP is getting with his bow. As many of you know, this is something I have a hard time understanding. However, I recently learned that one of my colleagues, who is a decorated mechanical engineer with expertise in the transmission and coupling of mechanical vibrations, and who I have sat next to in countless committee meetings, is also a violinist! So I'll be asking her how that might work.
The OP seems to have ducked out, though.
Surely, we can only compare two bows for sound (as opposed to balance etc,) if they both have hair the same age, from the same horse! with the same rosin.
Then we can compare weight, balance, springiness etc, which also have an effect on tone.
It's what I wanted - a good piano sound (strictly speaking, 4 barely distinguishable ones, lol).
Total of 24 sounds, but I only like 6, which is enough, although a better jazz organ would have been appreciated.
Also I think the action is a tiny bit heavy - you notice it on trills - but apart from that, the competition I'd seen had made me feel this was value for money.
The alternative is a Roland, which has its fans, but I'd seen a video which made me prefer the Yamaha. I'd played the P45 at the Yamaha showroom in Soho a few years ago, but I haven't played a Roland.
Oh, the Yamaha has no visual readout, just audio, which needs getting used to, unless you have an iPad, in which case it becomes much easier to operate. There are videos that demonstrate how that is done.
If you haven’t lately I would take it to a luthier and see how the hair is holding up. Maybe it just needs a little TLC.
