Fractional violin bows

December 9, 2022, 12:09 PM · I see there aren't too many choices out there for fractional sized bows. I am looking for a 1/2 sized bow for my child around suzuki book 5 level. I would prefer carbon fiber so it doesn't get damaged easily. Any recommendations?

Replies (5)

Bo Pontoppidan

December 9, 2022, 2:14 PM · It will probably be easier to find glass fibre fractional bows.

Paul Deck

December 9, 2022, 2:30 PM · "Eastman BA301 Cadenza Viola Bow - 1/2 Size" at Sweetwater.com for $103. My full-sized bow is an Eastman Cadenza -- not the BA301, but still I found these are bows of good quality.

Susan Agrawal

December 9, 2022, 4:57 PM · We purchased a used (but rehaired) Coda bow for my kids when they had fractional violins. They only offer one, though, which I think is a 3/4. We used it with both the half size and the 3/4 size violin. We also used a Presto bow (I think in 1/2 and also 3/4) which was OK but not fabulous. Fine for a student, not so fine for someone trying to do advanced bow strokes.

James Kao

December 9, 2022, 10:02 PM · Looks like smallest codabow is 3/4. Didn't realize eastman cadenza offers fractional sizes, maybe because not many shops sell the smaller sizes. I had a mid tier cadenza many years ago, it was a good bow. That might be the best option.

Gene Wie

December 10, 2022, 11:20 PM · In finding a decent 1/2 size bow for my kids' violin, I ended up playing several dozen inexpensive brazilwood ones to find one that had adequate stiffness. That's usually the biggest issue.

JonPaul bows for a time did have some import models of fractional-sized bows in pernambuco; I don't know if they produce them anymore, but we did have a very decent 1/4 size bow from them.

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