How long can I use one bow?

[Gustafsson]

I'm new with upright basses and I'd like to know how long is it possible to use one bow?

Thank you all for helping out a newbie!

-Gustafsson

http://www.myspace.com/grotesquegallery
http://www.myspace.com/sublimaatio

[butch1950]

As Long as it works. That seems kind of bland, but it is true. Some pros are playing vintage bows that were made God knows how long ago.

[Eli_Upright12]

you might need to rehair it though

[David Potts]

I would suggest upgrading your first bow before upgrading your first bass. You can make a bad bass sound better with a good bow. A bad bow won't help a good bass or your technique. Stay away from cheap fibreglass bows.

DP

[JoeyNaeger]

Originally Posted by David Potts

I would suggest upgrading your first bow before upgrading your first bass. You can make a bad bass sound better with a good bow. A bad bow won't help a good bass or your technique. Stay away from cheap fibreglass bows.

DP

+1

You can get a great bow in the 3-5 k range whereas that will only get you a mediocre student bass.

[jgbass]

Originally Posted by JoeyNaeger

+1

You can get a great bow in the 3-5 k range whereas that will only get you a mediocre student bass.

I have Sunrise Laguna from Lemur Music. A fine Chinese student bass in barely the 3K range. Really popular around here, possibly elsewhere too. I would call it anything but mediocre. In fact my teacher was very impressed with this bass. I know this is not what this thread it about, but I had to comment.

[JoeyNaeger]

Originally Posted by jgbass

I have Sunrise Laguna from Lemur Music. A fine Chinese student bass in barely the 3K range. Really popular around here, possibly elsewhere too. I would call it anything but mediocre. In fact my teacher was very impressed with this bass. I know this is not what this thread it about, but I had to comment.

I'm sure it's a great bass for the price, but I doubt it compares at all to a top tier Italian bass or something of similar caliber. I'm not trying to pick a fight. I just want to make sure my point is clear.

[R Sturm]

Ok, Gustafson, just like in your last thread where you got recommendations to look for new strings when you just needed a few swipes of rosin, here you don't need to buy a 3k bow.

Your question was presumably how long the hair lasts. If you have a new bow and you are starting to scratch a bit on your electric upright, you'll be fine for next 10 years. Over time you'll break hairs here and there and eventually you notice that what is left gets quite thin, maybe going in lock-step of what you have on your head. Anyway, you can't miss that but it'll be many years from now. Chances are your bow is a cheap one and the rehairing it is more expensive than the bow is worth, so then just throw it out and get another one when that happens.

If for some reason you get a real upright and become a classical bassists in between, that's a different story. Then rehairing is something you do a lot, every year or even more often, long before the hair gets really thin (because it doesn't hold rosin as well, it is worn unevenly, etc.). Then you presumably also have a bow that is worth rehairing. I practice with a bow, even play occasional classical gigs, but its years between rehairs for me.

[jayarroz]

40 to 60 to re-hair once a year. I'm going with black hair next time just because I think it grabs better, but that could be bull s*** !

[Eli_Upright12]

Originally Posted by R Sturm

Ok, Gustafson, just like in your last thread where you got recommendations to look for new strings when you just needed a few swipes of rosin, here you don't need to buy a 3k bow.

Your question was presumably how long the hair lasts. If you have a new bow and you are starting to scratch a bit on your electric upright, you'll be fine for next 10 years. Over time you'll break hairs here and there and eventually you notice that what is left gets quite thin, maybe going in lock-step of what you have on your head. Anyway, you can't miss that but it'll be many years from now. Chances are your bow is a cheap one and the rehairing it is more expensive than the bow is worth, so then just throw it out and get another one when that happens.

If for some reason you get a real upright and become a classical bassists in between, that's a different story. Then rehairing is something you do a lot, every year or even more often, long before the hair gets really thin (because it doesn't hold rosin as well, it is worn unevenly, etc.). Then you presumably also have a bow that is worth rehairing. I practice with a bow, even play occasional classical gigs, but its years between rehairs for me.

I don't think it matters whether your studying classically or not, its probably worth your while to rehair about once a year, or move if you play the number of hours that a professional does. No one should wait til the bow doesnt have enough hair to play to get a new one or a rehair, that is a couple years past the time to rehair.

[Andrew McGregor]

By the time you've done enough playing with the bow to wear out the hair, you've also done enough playing to know that you have... it'll start to lose grip even with fresh rosin, and you'll feel it. So don't worry about it yet.

[toman]

I don't think its really possible to "wear out" a bow. My favorite stick is really, really worn and has barely a speck of finish on it and it still plays great. It needs to be drilled and bushed for a new screw in the near future, but I guess that's inevitable; my luthier fitted a tight fitting knob/whatever as a stop-gap. I get a fresh rehair every year or so depending on how much I've been playing.

[Rodger Bryan]

I wanted to chime in on another thought relating to bows "wearing out".
A properly cambered bow will have roughly 4-5 mm of a gap between the plane of the hair and the bottom of the stick when the tension is fully released from the hair. Loosen the tension and place the bottom of the frog and tip on a table top to check it.

As bows are used over the years, the stick will lose some of the curve- which can be easily restored by a competent repair person. Bows that have been bent with steam in a mass production workshop will lose the camber faster.

[David Potts]

If I wanted to be silly I would say "About 45 seconds, then you have to take another one in the opposite direction !!"

There are at least three ways to interpret Gustafsson's original question. Maybe we all missed the point.

How well have we answered your question?

DP