buying a new bow for my son

[bryan holland]

I'm not a musician, but my 14 year old son loves his double bass, so I'm trying to figure out how to purchase an upgrade from his $24.00 bow to something real. Ideally, if I could find a bow some concert stud was upgrading from and I could get it at a decent price, it would be great. We're in Dallas.

If I can't do that, the only advice I've been able to get is "spend more money, get better bow". I've looked at the Upton bow's that are around $250, but his orchestra teacher says I'm not spending enough.

So here's the question, in layman's terms, how proportional is the sound of the bass to the dollars I will spend on the bow? Is there a point where the additional money does not give noticable value at this point in his learning?

thanks

[jallenbass]

Without being able to try out his current bow I can only say that the Upton or Gollihur $100 bows are pretty good. I would have no qualms about using one myself. If you can spend $900-1000 I would get a Carbow or similar carbonfiber bow. Those will easily last him through college.

[longfinger]

Originally Posted by bryan holland

I'm not a musician, but my 14 year old son loves his double bass, so I'm trying to figure out how to purchase an upgrade from his $24.00 bow to something real. Ideally, if I could find a bow some concert stud was upgrading from and I could get it at a decent price, it would be great. We're in Dallas.

If I can't do that, the only advice I've been able to get is "spend more money, get better bow". I've looked at the Upton bow's that are around $250, but his orchestra teacher says I'm not spending enough.

So here's the question, in layman's terms, how proportional is the sound of the bass to the dollars I will spend on the bow? Is there a point where the additional money does not give noticable value at this point in his learning?

thanks

$24 wow...

If his orchestra teacher is saying spend more than $250, then that means something. Ask his teacher again for specific recommendations.

I just bought a Finale Carbon Fiber bow... the one everyone writes about. I'm liking it quite a bit..

http://www.stringemporium.com/carbon...-bass-bows.htm

Think of this... in a mere 4-5 years, which is really nothing, your kid could be in university studying classical double bass. A good bow can help take him there.

[JtheJazzMan]

Arco is certainly difficult at best, and its always discouraging if youre new and fighting against equipment which isnt allowing you to play to full potential.

When you go for lower priced bows, you should probably factor a rehair into the cost a couple of months later, maybe sooner. Usually the horse hair is OK, but not top quality stuff like a professional bow maker would put on. My bow is probably worth around ~400 USD and a rehair improved it immensely.

I think its worth getting a nice pernambuco bow, something light if your son is 14. Around 135 grams. Others can probably give you opinions on lower priced carbon fibre bows, but Ive only liked the expensive ones. My first bow was a cheap CF one and I didnt like it. A budget of $400 sounds reasonable.

[Square Bear]

Agreed. Look into the finale bow for sure. Either a good carbon fiber or pernumbucco stick is what you should be looking at. Try before you buy, and be sure your son can audition all the bows he is interested in with his teacher. Good Luck!

[Phil Rowan]

+1 for the Finale. I've played a German Finale over at salcott's and was pretty impressed with it. If I could I'd pick up a French one up to use as a spare bow.

[Bobby King]

Those carbon fiber bows are good. If you can go a little more, I bought a nice German pernambuco bow from The Cincinnatti Bass Cellar for around $550. Sometimes they're willing to send you three or four to try out.

[SLivinghouse]

This queston is very common. Look through the extensive threads below.

[EJ_Dad]

If you can swing $750, Tom Owen is only a few hours north in OK.
But for a 14 yr old, a Carbon Fiber bow may be more practical, as it could handle less careful treatment.

[LouisF]

+1 for the Finale bow at @ $300. Really amazing for the money. One of my colleagues in one of the community orchestra's just bought an Eric Steiner-brand bow for @$350 and, from the brief test I had, it's a pretty good bow.

Louis

[bryan holland]

I think the reason this question is so common for non-musicians like myself, is the answers are soooo subjective and qualitative, which may be the baseline of music in general. us engineers always wind up trying to narrow everything down to zeros and ones to make a decision. You guys have given me three good names. I'll run them by his private instructor (of course his bow is $1200) and see what becomes of it. I'm kind of embarrassed to say I bought the original bass for $500, but I did have to put some $250 strings on it.

Makes that Fender Electric Bass of his seem cheap!

Thanks everyone!

[Andrew McGregor]

Well, I'm an engineer AND a musician... and the answers are, in my experience, expressed in words but those words have a very precise meaning, like wine tasting notes.

In any case, carbon fiber bows, except for the very cheapest, are uniformly a good idea because there is minimal sample variation, so each model is always exactly what it is. Whereas wood is a natural material, and so every wood bow has to be taken on its own merits; a good maker won't bother with low-quality blanks, but even then they're all different.

Also, Pernambuco is a protected species that can only be used for string instrument bows, which implies to me that since we do have an artificial alternative that is more than good enough, students (even advanced students) should be using carbon.

Electric bass was invented to be a cheaper alternative to the double bass for big band jazz and rock... and it worked. By now it's a different instrument with its on repertoire and capabilities, but for sure they're much cheaper, even taking into account the cost of amplification.

[KJPbop]

Greetings! You never mentioned whether your son is a French or German bow player; this info would help us assist you further. Good luck with your search! KJPbop