Bow wait?

ctregan · #1 04-05-2009, 08:43 AM

How long does it usually take to rehair a bow?

I only have one bow and I am looking for a fast turnaround.

jallenbass · #2 04-05-2009, 10:16 AM

I've had mine done while I wait. If there are no problems it should take around an hour.

davidAaronCarte · #3 04-05-2009, 11:21 AM

If it needs to take longer, you should be able to get a rental

Eric Swanson · #4 04-06-2009, 04:44 AM

The place I go provides a loaner bow while the rehair is happening (which takes about a week; they're busy). This "loaner" is a real club (heavy, crude, and cheap), but it gives you something to saw around with.

It might be worth asking if such a loaner is available. It sure makes me appreciate my bow when I get it back...

ctregan · #5 04-07-2009, 01:41 AM

Brought the bow in yesterday; they did it in one afternoon!

Nice job by Hosmer violins, Fayetteville NY.

archetier · #6 04-10-2009, 08:23 PM

I do quite a bit of rehairing for the San Francisco Symphony and other professionals. If I'm not overly busy, I can turn around a rehair in about 4 hours. This includes doing the work and the time it takes for the hair to dry.

The hair needs to be wetted during the rehairing process. I find that the quality of the hair job is better if the hair dries naturally. This takes around 3 to 4 hours. Some rehairers rush the job using a alcohol lamp or heat gun.

As a side note, rehairing bass bows is at least twice as technical as rehairing a violin or cello bow. It's particularly challenging to get all the hairs to be at the same tension because of the width of the bass bow hair ribbon. Also, because of the considerably higher tension on the hair, any weakness in the bow rehairer's skill will become embarassingly exposed.