Which cheap bow are you using?

[ole Jason]

I've been out of the loop for awhile. I've been surprised by how many good looking bows there are at the $130-180 price point. String Emporium, Yita, Upton, Gollihur, Lemur, etc.

I've read most of the threads but most of them seemed to be honeymoon reviews. I'm interested to find out who's still using their cheap bow. Has anyone tried more than one?

[wineaux]

Jason,

I used a Gollihur bow for about a year. I moved on when I found a vintage German bow that felt better balanced in my hand. I still make the cats hide, but I feel balanced and in control when I do it.

[jgbass]

I still have my Yita permabuco German bow, in the 100 plus price range as a backup. Its pretty good and it shipped fast from China without a problem. My Gollihur bow has been long sold.

My main bow is the carbon fiber Finale. I really recommend that you invest an extra 150-200 and just get a better bow like this. A better bow just makes for a better playing experience, more likely easier bowing, and a good bow should be just as important as a bass, and not something to cut corners on. If you got this bow you probably would be satisfied for life and not even want to trade up. It would probably save you in the long run. There is a lot of info here on this bow, just do a search.

Besides, its good for your cats.

[salcott]

Ditto on the Finale. So far, everyone who has tried it likes it better than my Lothar Seifert.

[Dave Speranza]

no complaints here with my $100 carbon yita music bow. for a jazz guy who is a hack with a bow - it sounded/felt better than my $250 wood bow, and at 25% of the cost of the finale, it's not a complete waste if i decide to keep it as a backup bow and buy the finale later on.

[gp_bass]

I use an older Gollihur brazilwood french bow that I bought off a friend of mine because it has magical properties (lots of grip with nice tone). I've since also bought several Gollihurs - some new, some used. None has matched this magical one, but one of the new ones came pretty close.

The one I use has also lost some of its magical properties since it was rehaired.

Gollihurs seem to vary a bit - not to the eye (they look incredibly consistent), but to the ear and the hands. They can sound and feel great, or they can be just... okay.

If I could preview or trial each one before buying, it'd be great and I'd probably buy a couple more. Of course this doesn't serve Bob very well given their low cost...

[shwashwa]

i hate to say this, but its the absolute truth... i have a reid hudson bow that is just awesome, but i just bought the ophelia carbon fiber bow (been playing it few several hours a day for 2 months now) from jeff bollbach. its a shen product i believe. the reid hudson stays in the case now. the ophelia just plays so darn well. perfectly balanced and gets the string going effortlessly. it is also very warm sounding believe it or not. it plays as well and sounds as good as the hudson and im not afraid that i will damage it in any way, and it's less that 1/10th the cost. i've played many carbon fiber bows from many makers, and this is the first one that really blows me away, and its not nearly as expensive as some of them out there. if you inspect the bow you can see that it is made with great attention to detail, which is something i believe that the shen company is very good at with the basses too. i dont know if i just got a particularly great example of their work, or if they're all as good as mine, but i think you should definately check them out.

[jgbass]

Originally Posted by gp_bass

Gollihurs seem to vary a bit - not to the eye (they look incredibly consistent), but to the ear and the hands. They can sound and feel great, or they can be just... okay.

If I could preview or trial each one before buying, it'd be great and I'd probably buy a couple more. Of course this doesn't serve Bob very well given their low cost...

I do not see why it would be a problem to preview a Gollihur bow. That is a reasonable request before buying any bow and any bass dealer will most likely be understanding of this.

[mkandolf]

I use a Gollihur French bow. Works out very nice for me, but I am not near very good with a bow. But it has gone through rough useage with a couple of musicals and survived.

[chop_1992]

I recently got a Metropolitan carbon fiber bow from David Gage and I really like it. I usually use an H.R. Pfretzschner which is very nice . . . The Gage Metropolitan is a bit heavier, but very balanced and has a great feel . . . reacts very well.

[Sam Sherry]

Did someone say, "Cheap bow?"

I'm extremely happy with my generic pernambuco French bow, about fifty years old more-or-less. It's more than I need (and, in fact, plays more in tune than I do).

That would be $45 from ShopGoodwill.com

[fergus currie]

25 years ago I bought a nice bow from Philip Venters in the Gramophone bar across from the Theatre Royal in Glasgow for 30 Pounds (40 euros)! He needed a drink and I needed a bow! I don't think he ever forgave me for taking advantage of him! I still use it as my orchestral work horse!
thanks Phil!
FC

[ole Jason]

I picked up an Ophelia carbon fiber bow from Nick Lloyd this week. For $200 this is a great feeling bow. It really is beautifully made with a great attention to detail. This is the first carbon bow I've owned... I was a little skeptical that it would sound fiberglass-ish but that's really not the case at all.

[emilio g]

I'm all about the $100 worldofbow.com carbon fiber bow. No idea who makes it or where it comes from, but its the best cheap bow I've played.

[EggyToast]

I still like my upton workshop bow. It's my backup when I ship off my main bow for rehairing, and while it's not amazing, it definitely gets the job done.

[fatgoogle]

I use a Chinese Yita french bow, and my teacher said for the price(60 pounds) that it was really good. He makes his own so im trusting his judgement there.

[chris1125]

I'm a clasical player who uses the bow quite a bit. For that price range I don't like anything. For a little bit cheaper (I think like 100$) the two bows I prefer are the Eastmen 100$ bow and the Upton 100$ bow, no prefrance btwn those two, there both great. If your willing to spend 200$ I would highly recomendthe Shen "Ophelia" carbon fiber bow. I have played all of the carbon fiber bows up to 1500$ and to me the Ophelia is so much better. It has weight but it's controlable. Unlike more expensive bows you can really project with this bow. My personal bow is a Marco Briere bow from Kolstien whick costs over $400 and I still prefer the ophelia in some situations.

[tornadobass]

I just picked up a Yita Music brazilwood German bow. It was $70 shipped from China...I ordered it on a Sunday and received it via US mail on a Thursday. This was the smoothest eBay transaction I can recall.

I've used French bows with occasional attempts at German, since everybody in my town uses German. The Yita bow seems decent enough to give it another try.

[fdeck]

If I knew what kind of bow I had, it might not be a cheap bow!

[drurb]

Very happy with the Upton shop bow for the price but gotta say I prefer my old German-made pernambucco. Then again, one costs quite a bit more than the other. (That would be the latter! )