Finale arrives

[fcleffer]

Since I know close to nothing about the world of arco, I have no quality-related comments about the Finale French bow which arrived today, very quickly after ordering from String Emporium on Wednesday. (I'm in Berkeley, CA)
Here are a few general first observations, and then a request for advice.

1.As compared to a $70 fiberglass French Glasser which I have, the Finale French style carbon fiber bow is about an inch shorter overall, as is the distance between the tip and frog.

2.The width of the hair surface on the Finale is perhaps 1.25 mm wider than the Glasser.

3.The Finale at 134 grams feels heavier than the Glasser.

Do any of you arco-experienced players have strong opinions as to how to break in the bow... specifically, how to introduce the rosin, which I have not yet applied? I have on hand Nyman, and Pops, which is considerably softer. The Nyman is actually very hard.
Thanks.

[Square Bear]

my advice on rosin is don't use too much in general. especially if you're using pops (what i use) 2-3 swipes is plenty for a full day of playing for me, which means anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. just apply it like you normally would in long strokes from frog to tip. Those finale bows are pretty good, i'm thinking now i should've picked one up just for the hell of it when i was at steve's shop looking at basses. enjoy!

[ole Jason]

You'll probably get a lot of different opinions on this.

Bows don't really need to be broken in imo. Go ahead and give the hair two or three swipes of the rosin and go at it.

[Andrew McGregor]

All you will find is that it needs rosining a bit more often as the rosin gets distributed through the hair. Go for it!

[SteveFreides]

Originally Posted by fcleffer

Since I know close to nothing about the world of arco, I have no quality-related comments about the Finale French bow which arrived today, very quickly after ordering from String Emporium on Wednesday. (I'm in Berkeley, CA)
Here are a few general first observations, and then a request for advice.

[i] 1.As compared to a $70 fiberglass French Glasser which I have, the Finale French style carbon fiber bow is about an inch shorter overall, as is the distance between the tip and frog.

-snip-

Thanks.

Comparing those two bows doesn't really do the Finale justice, IMHO. (You didn't ask about this but I'm offering my 2-cents-worth, anyway.) If you're going to get into the world of arco, you also ought to try an inexpensive wooden bow, and then you'll see how the wooden bow is way better than the Glasser, and how the Finale is way better than your $250 wooden bow.

Just my opinion - couldn't resist throwing it out here. I went through the Glasser, then a composite, then a $250 wooden bow, and finally the Finale about six months ago, and I love the Finale. The prices of these bows, in ballpark terms, are $50, $150, $250, and $350.

-S-

[fdeck]

My used Finale arrived yesterday. So far I am quite happy with it.

I gotz me some ŜЌЦĿŁ ŠΜΔŞΗĨИĠ/βΘИΞКЯŲŜĦÏИĞ tonez.

Seriously, though, it seems like a serious improvement over my old "unknown" student bow that might be a 1/2 size for all I know, and also over a newer brazilwood bow.

I experience less "falsing" and can play over a wider dynamic range on a setup that is widely considered to be less than ideal for bowing -- a plywood bass strung with Spirocores. It's a pleasure to play really quiet and still have it sound decent.

The case that came with the bow is nice, and it saved the bow from destruction, as the outer packaging was destroyed by FedEx.

[bulmer]

I too just received a Finale carbon fiber bow in the cross-hatch pattern. I am very pleased so far with its weight and balance; for me this represents a move to a lighter more responsive stick from my quite heavy brasilwood bow (sorry, I don't have exact grammage!).

Some previous threads asked about the quality of the hair which I would say is decent quality salt-and-pepper hair although not too coarse. I would also say that while the quality of the hair is quite decent, I thought that quantity is a bit lacking, probably only 1/2 to 2/3 the amount of hair I am used to getting on a $65 full rehair. I also lost about 8 hairs upon the first tightening, some coming loose from each end. The rest have held solid after a weeks worth of woodshedding Ludwigs 9th.

I am definitely pleased with it and it represents a great value. I must say the case is very solid but too heavy for me to want to carry around so I will use my older wooden case.

Steve