KSB Bows

[flint]

I'll come back to this thread as time progresses to give my input and feedback as the bow breaks in and matures.

So-(unbeknownst to my wifey ) I just got a new bow from Ken. It's the Napoli model. It weighs in at 134g, and comes with black hair-which is a switch for me, having had white on my previous two bows (one crappy one that came with the bass and a much better Glasser Carbon Fibre from Lemur).

Also included in the package was a cake of Kolsteins All Weather rosin, so I'll be reviewing that here as well since I've been a Pop's man up till now. Although my teacher loaned me 3 cakes of stuff to try-carlsons (too powdery, but SMOOTH tone-quite a diff coming off the pops to the carlsons!), some cello rosin(WAY too powdery), and some other stuff that I'll have to look for as I can't remember the name right now.

I only had a chance to play it for a little while last night, but thus far I really like it. The bow has a quick voice, and is genuinely warm. The playing length is about 1" shorter than my other (carbon) bow, and I was worried about that at first, but I didn't notice that I was running out of bow too quickly in any passages.

Construction-the bow is brazilwood, and less "red" than the images on Ken's website suggest. The frog is a good, very black ebony and the mother-of-pearl inlay is even more figured than my more expensive carbon bow's. I was very intrigued by the amount of camber to the bow. It's more than I am used to, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. Side to side the stick is straight as an arrow. Finish is excellent. The bow also "rings" when tapped, which I think is a sign of the quality in the materials.

I'm going to bring my bow to my lessons this weekend and see what my teacher says. I'll get back to this thread in a couple of weeks when the hair and stick have had a chance to "settle in".

[flint]

Well I didn't think I'd be the first one to reply to my post, but I did start this thread as a place to post my review of the new Napoli bow I got from KSB last week. So here's a followup:

I had my first lesson, last night, since receiving the bow. My teacher was, quite simply, amazed at the bow's price point. She was thoroughly impressed with the performance of the bow, even though it still needs to 'break in' a bit. The balance was good enough that she thought the bow was lighter than it is. (134g) The spicatto performance was very good-something that I can't really evaluate well yet, so I'm glad she put it through it's paces.

I also have come to really like the Kolsteins rosin that came with the bow. It's the 'all weather' rosin, and I don't think I'd want the 'soft' here in the southeast. It's grip compares very favorably with the pop's, but it is just a bit smoother-not as much chainsaw buzz from the E.

All in all, a home run thus far. Anyone want to buy my glasser carbon bow? Maybe I'll just keep it as a backup.

[GuitarFreak664]

Thanks for this little review it's been really helpful considering I've been looking at that bow myself. Happy bassing!

how much for the glasser? *shifty eyes*

[Eli_Upright12]

Was this German or French? After a couple of months what is your impression of the bow? I have been looking at the German KSB bows they look great for the price.

[bejoyous]

I have a KSB Tecchler German bow. I quite like it. Here is my review from a year ago: Ken Smith Bow Review

[mattfong]

So I was about to make a new thread asking about the bow which the guy who sold me my new bass threw in, because I was curious about the black hair and the word 'Napoli' engraved on the side.

I kind of randomly opened this thread, and now I have the answers! It is a nice bow, though my arco technique is very rough because I'm a beginner jazz player and have been focusing on pizz.

Eli_Upright12: It's French style.