Are cheap synthetic hair bows completely worthless?

nd1084 · #1 08-17-2009, 02:06 PM

I recently started playing the upright, mostly pizzicato, but I'm learning to use a bow also. I bought the cheapest bow (German / $40) I could find because I am not committed to sticking with the bow, but playing with this bow is terribly painful. I am wondering how much of it is the cheapness of the bow and how much of it is me being a student. I am using Sherman's Rosin. The sound is so scratchy. It seems like no matter how fluid I am, I can't avoid getting the screeching sound to some degree. I do not have much money to spend. Are these cheap synthetic hair bows completely worthless?

bassist1962 · #2 08-17-2009, 04:09 PM

I don't know that the bow is completely worthless. However, you may want to try a better rosin, and check the threads for proper application. A cake of Pops or Carlssons is not that expensive.

Marcus Johnson · #3 08-17-2009, 04:30 PM

Maybe not worthless... but as a beginner, you should probably at least get into a bow with some real hair on it. Maybe you can find an experienced bassist nearby with a decent bow that you can try, just so you know how it could be.

I don't know about Sherman's rosin. As a beginner, you're likely to screech no matter what bow you're playing, unless you get some arco training from a pro teacher.

JtheJazzMan · #4 08-17-2009, 04:51 PM

Not completely worthless in the sense that it contributed to the daily income of some asian kid, but in a playing sense, yes, toss that POS.

I think you may end up in a catch 22 with arco. You say youre not sure whether you want to pursue it, yet if you dont buy a semi decent bow now youre not going to enjoy playing arco. Cheap scratchy unbalanced stiff bows are no fun.

Ed Fuqua · #5 08-17-2009, 04:54 PM

You can get plastic/fiberglass (NOT carbon fiber) bows with real hair, they ain't nothing to write home about, but they get you started. They run about $60 at Ideal...

damonsmith · #6 08-17-2009, 06:25 PM

You can get wood bows with real hair for under $40 on ebay.

JtheJazzMan · #7 08-17-2009, 08:55 PM

Lets not just jump at any bow though simply because it has "real hair".......

chancletarock · #8 08-17-2009, 09:03 PM

this is kind of an odd approach to take, but i just thought i'd share this:

i played on a sh*tty bass all through college, and then when i started bowing, i played for a year on a really cheap bow. the combination of the two produced a super sh*tty sound almost always at first, and then, in a painfully slow process, i ended up with a fairly decent tone on a lame instrument set up.

why do i mention this? cause when i got a pretty nice upright (upton hybrid) and a pretty nice bow (finale carbon), the sound that came out was ENORMOUS and the tone was waaaaaay more awesome than i would have ever expected to have achieved playing with good equipment.

the other side of that idea is that bad equipment can teach you bad form and injure you - which is not something to f--- with. but just a thought: don't worry too much about the quality of your rig starting out (although i'd spend more than 40 bucks on a bow)

Ed Fuqua · #9 08-17-2009, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JtheJazzMan

Lets not just jump at any bow though simply because it has "real hair".......

Why, do they scare easy? What if we're really really quiet?

JtheJazzMan · #10 08-17-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Why, do they scare easy? What if we're really really quiet?

Risk of myxomatosis

Slax · #11 08-17-2009, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

You can get plastic/fiberglass (NOT carbon fiber) bows with real hair, they ain't nothing to write home about, but they get you started. They run about $60 at Ideal...

I agree. That's the setup I have. I've been learning (be it slowly) for a number of years now and that's the set up I have and it definitely gets the job done.... At least in my world of practicing.

Best of luck.

**Damon Rondeau** · #12 08-18-2009, 08:40 AM

In answer to the original question, I would say YES, synthetic hair sucks. When you try out real hair, you'll notice a big difference in the catchiness of the hair. Synthetic wants to skate; real wants to grab.

Ed Fuqua · #13 08-18-2009, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JtheJazzMan

Risk of myxomatosis

I said "...really really quiet..." not "...vewwy, vewwy quiet..."

CamMcIntyre · #14 08-18-2009, 03:07 PM

I'd suggest either buying a bow with real hair or get yours rehaired...the rehair will cost at least as much as your current bow was.

I had a cheap bow rehaired and i liked it even more. I bought one of the Gollihur Brazilwood bows. It's not an amazing bow, but for $150-it's quite adequate for my needs at the moment.

fdeck · #15 08-18-2009, 05:52 PM

In my view, learning to bow is hard enough without being hobbled by synthetic bow hair.

Square Bear · #16 08-18-2009, 06:15 PM

cheap synthetic hair bows pretty much suck.. but aren't completely worthless. great for FF col legno passages as well as make-believe light saber battles on rehearsal break!

NebSgird · #17 11-02-2009, 06:51 PM

haha, in my experience, all cheap middle-school-owned quality bows are good for is, as someone earlier said, is having sword fights with. However, don't go out and buy a new one quite yet. Try a variety of rosins (i use Nymans, it's great), and see if you can borrow a nicer bow from a friend or something. If you decide to stick with bowing, a decent buy would be carbon-fiber. great tone, virtually indestructable, and fairly cheap.

NebSgird · #18 11-02-2009, 06:52 PM

oh, and synthetic bow hair? ick, never even heard of that. get some horse hair, for goodness sake.