new bow needs rehair?

[shwashwa]

i just got a new chinese bow (reviews to come) and the hair doesnt have any powder rosin on it, so it's having a hard time absorbing the rosin i'm trying to put on, although i'm able to get enough on to play around with the bow. also, the hair doesnt look all that great. i'm having alittle trouble getting the bow to grab compared to my normal bow. do you think a rehair with some fresh powder rosin as a base would improve the grab? i want to evaluate if the lack of grab is due to the hair or the balance...

[shwashwa]

bump

[Phil Rowan]

A new bow requiring a re-hair isn't the most uncommon thing (I recently bought a French bow for quite a bit more than what I'm guessing you paid for yours, and got it re-haired almost right away). Just out of curiosity, what kind of rosin are you using?

[Andrew McGregor]

Sometimes new hair can be a bit oily, if you clean it with some alcohol on a rag, being very careful NOT to touch the varnish with alcohol, the rosin may well stick better.

It could also be that the hair is awful and needs replacing.

[shwashwa]

i'm using oak rosin. isnt it standard to put a coat of powder rosin on first?

[PaulCannon]

I never have my newly rehaired bows "powdered." I hate it when they do that. It's completely unnecessary and takes forever to get out.

This is one of the reasons I like Pops. Even on fresh hair, put on five or six swipes of the good stuff and it's stickier than molasses. Just keep putting more rosin on until it starts to stick. Play on it between swipes to make sure you don't over do it.

[Michael Eisenman]

A bowmaker recently taught me how to rehair bows. He recommended that I prepare the bow for the customer with powdered rosin to give the customer's rosin something to stick to. I use an old toothbrush to lightly brush some rosin into the fresh hair. That's how I do it.

Less work for the customer results in happier customers, and that's what it's all about. If the customer doesn't want me to do it, that's fine with me.

Michael

[Jed Kriegel]

I never powder the hair. I was taught not to, as some customers don't want anything but their own rosin on the new hair. I suppose it could be handled case by case, but there is nothing wrong with nice new unpowder rosined hair. Alcohol is a good idea before applying any rosin, but once you've started slathering, alc. will work against you. I would suggest more rosin. or better hair.

[shwashwa]

got it rehaired (and powdered) and it seems to be grabbing alot better. i'm messing with the balance now. the tip is alittle lighter than i'm used to, so i taped a dime to the tip. it feels more like what i'm used to now. (maybe even too tip heavy now) once i'm certain that's the balance that i like then i'll have my luthier make the change. all in all a very good bow for the little money i paid for it. my luthier thought so too, and he's kind of known for the bows in his family makes.