Franz Winkler bow info

[Steve Boisen]

The double bass I recently purchased came with a French style bow stamped "F. WINKLER" with an arrow through the name. It is also stamped "MADE IN GERMANY". A Google search yielded a few other bows by this maker and they seem to be of good quality. Does anyone know more about them? Any idea what this bow might be worth?

- Steve

[stefaniw80401]

I also have a Winkler french bow with the arrow stamp. Bought it for $400 in 1989. Dunno what it's worth now, but Aaron Robertson, of Robertson's Violins in NM likes it. I've had it rehaired countless numbers of times since '89. I've even had a German frog fitted on it for couple of years, then put it back to the original French frog. While it was a "german" bow, one of my section mates offered $1,500 for it. Perhaps I should have sold it then.

[Steve Boisen]

Thanks for the info. I've found a few other other F. Winkler bass bows on the internet and they were priced around $1,500. I'm debating what to do with mine since I play German bow. My initial thoughts were to have it re-haired and cleaned before selling it to finance the purchase of a German bow, but maybe converting it to a German frog is an option. How did the conversion turn out with your bow?

- Steve

[stefaniw80401]

Originally Posted by Steve Boisen

Thanks for the info. I've found a few other other F. Winkler bass bows on the internet and they were priced around $1,500. I'm debating what to do with mine since I play German bow. My initial thoughts were to have it re-haired and cleaned before selling it to finance the purchase of a German bow, but maybe converting it to a German frog is an option. How did the conversion turn out with your bow?

- Steve

The "conversion" result was very good, except that the stick length behind the frog was a bit truncated. I bought a factory frog from some luthier supply house for like $60, and it fit perfectly. Brian Robertson raised his eyebrow a bit, but did the switch for me no problems.

[bassmanchu]

I have an F. Winkler bow as well. I paid $280 for it back in 2007. It's been a good bow. 138 grams. It's bright and clear, has a nice sautile stroke, but not much in the way of grab, consistency or power.

A luthier here in CT said he's seen several violin bows by that maker (workshop?) that are "good student level bows".

I've liked it for a while, but it's caused some technical issues that I was blaming on technique all along. It still outplays any bow in the $2-500 range.

I just picked up a D. Muniz - Brazil - that blows the Winkler out of the water in terms of volume, bounce, control and tone. Doesn't do sautille as well, though. It's alway a tradeoff at that price point. Great buy, though. Haven't looked back.