Bow shopping horror

lloccmttocs · #1 03-26-2008, 10:38 PM

So I borrowed these two bows from Nahrmanns shop. really nice bows. One is really fancy with silver doo-dads and such. Well I played it and loved it. It articulates so easily I got the basis for a mozart stroke even though I just recently switched to french. I pulled out at my orchestra rehersal and tuned up. After 5 minutes of it being tightened the piece of wood that holds the hair into the tip decided it didn't want to be attached to the tip anymore! I had to put down my bass and go over to my teacher holding the poor bow and show him what happened. He said I did nothing wrong and it was simply either rehaired poorly or that the wood shrank over time. But now I'm worried that I'm going to get stuck with the bill to fix it. I called nahrmann's shop but he was sleeping so I'll call back tomorrow.

**Basschair** · #2 03-26-2008, 10:56 PM

Your teacher is right: you did nothing wrong, unless you tightened it to the point where the stick was straight and the hair didn't arc at all when touching the strings. It sounds like this isn't the case, and I'd be amazed if they tried to charge you for a rehair.

LouisF · #3 03-27-2008, 01:27 AM

Volker's a good guy. I'm sure he'll be fair.

Louis

drurb · #4 03-27-2008, 08:13 AM

Perhaps you should have waited until you could call and speak to Volker before posting here.

lloccmttocs · #5 03-27-2008, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drurb

Perhaps you should have waited until you could call and speak to Volker before posting here.

1 step ahead of you. I called volker, sadly he was asleep and talked to his wife. She said basically what he's going to say when I call today but I'm going to call anyway.

drurb · #6 03-27-2008, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lloccmttocs

1 step ahead of you. I called volker, sadly he was asleep and talked to his wife. She said basically what he's going to say when I call today but I'm going to call anyway.

A step ahead? Yes, I read your original post. You still have not talked to him. My point was that it would seem to make sense to communicate with him directly first before posting here wondering about whether or not he will find you to be at fault. So many times TB members consult the peanut gallery about issues that are between a customer and a luthier before the two parties communicate directly.

lloccmttocs · #7 03-27-2008, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drurb

A step ahead? Yes, I read your original post. You still have not talked to him. My point was that it would seem to make sense to communicate with him directly first before posting here wondering about whether or not he will find you to be at fault. So many times TB members consult the peanut gallery about issues that are between a customer and a luthier before the two parties communicate directly.

I was only curious if this had happened to any one else to ease the worries that I had while I waited for Volker to get back to me.

toman · #8 04-01-2008, 04:16 PM

Its no big deal at all. The plug just popped out; long story short is that it probably just wasn't fitted all that well. The hair should be un-damaged; the bow just needs to be put back together.

robgrow · #9 04-01-2008, 10:59 PM

I tried out about a dozen or so bows a few months back. The plug popped out on two of them (each from a different maker), which surprised me in both cases, but it does happen from time to time. Fortunately a local shop was able to put the plugs back in and there weren't any further problems.

KSB - Ken Smith · #10 04-02-2008, 09:25 AM

I never heard of this. How tight are you making the hair?

robgrow · #11 04-02-2008, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

I never heard of this. How tight are you making the hair?

I was very surprised to say the least, since I had never had this happen before, but out of about dozen bows I auditioned recently, plugs popped out on two of them almost immediately with only moderate hair tension. One was a Chinese bow, one not, so they were completely unrelated. Just a coincidence I suppose.

jimmyduded · #12 04-02-2008, 03:20 PM

this has happened on a bow we had in mr riccardis shop(it was haired by the maker, for all the talent he has in bowmaking i was surprised the wedge was so poorly fit), i was playing a scale and it popped out and i thought i broke the bow or something, really scary to look down and at first glance think you broke a 2000 dollar bow

jonn_ · #13 04-02-2008, 03:49 PM

6 or so years back i had a similar situation. I was trying out a couple bows that were ordered from a shop. I got them home and was comparing them. In my case, the plug holding the hair didn't come out, the tip of the bow broke right off . I had tightened the bow a fair amount, but I'm not an idiot- it wasn't over-tightened. We called the shop right away, and when we went back to the shop, told them the story and showed them the firewood they were understanding. If there was a flaw in the wood at the point in the stick that holds the most stress and it breaks under normal playing conditions how can you be held accountable. I think this probably applies to bad rehairs as well.

Considering I was shopping for a new bow because my previous bow had been knocked off a music stand (not by myself) onto a tile floor and was broken in the same place, I considered myself cursed in some way and have been quite cautious with bows ever since.

lloccmttocs · #14 04-02-2008, 11:13 PM

I forgot to write the conclusion which everyone might have guessed, he took it back without charging me anything. Phew, I ended up buying the other bow and really love it. It pulls such a great tone out of my bass. Thanks!