My friend who plays cello is wondering if there are..

[Blazemourne]

any cello bows that are in german style. If there aren't any is there a way to convert one into a german style?

[Vlasco]

I've never heard of such a thing, but there's probably a bass bow out there that might be small enough to work for cello. The frog can only be so small on a German bow before a hand won't fit in there, and then the entire bow might be too unwieldly for a cello. I'll look around a little and ask some of my cello friends and acquaintance if they know anything about it.

If worst comes to worst, your friend could always just try a standard bass bow, might be a bit hard however...

[bassplayer57]

One time I got a violinist to play with my bow. LOL!

[Ludwig]

Search for a gamba bow. The viola da gambas where played with bows similiar to the german db bows, this should work with a cello. There are no cello bows with german grip made any more, that kind of play went out of use 250 years ago (at that time, both types of bows were in use like for DB now).

[Silversorcerer]

I also have a friend who plays cello. She uses a french bow, but one shop tried to sell her a bass bow (german) and she thought that was near criminal. Personal preference to me. I think one could put a German frog on a cello bow and start there to see how that works. Otherwise a Baroqe viola da gamba bow is not a bad idea, but these are usually custom made and kind of expensive. Tension on the hair is applied with the fingers, so it is a different technique altogether.

Check this link for Baroque bowmakers and also check the for sale link at that site. I saw a few used bows for sale there at good prices.

[jfv]

There are reasons why this is not the case,
go study the instrument, how it is held, how
it is positioned with the players body. Watch
a pro cellist play with this in mind.