Pro Brazilwood bows? (LaPierre

Brian K · #1 04-20-2006, 07:39 PM

Today I began trying a M LaPierre bow that friend of mine is selling. It's light (120 -130g I think), and the stick is brazilwood.

I was unaware that really good bows were ever made of brazilwood, I thought only student bows were. Is this common?

Can anyone tell me more about LaPierre, and if considerations about buying a brazilwood bow for the price of a pro quality pernambuco stick? Thanks.

bk

LOBass · #2 04-21-2006, 01:21 AM

Brian,
I would doubt that the bow is made from Brazilwood, unless that is being used as a term interchangably for pernambuco, since pernambuco originates from Brazil. LaPierre bows (violin, cello and bass) have a very good reputation and are generally considered to be top quality bows. According to Chris Brown in his book "Discovering Bows for the Double Bass", Marcel LaPierre lived from 1907 to 1979 and apprenticed under Thibouville-Lamy and resided in Mirecourt. He made bows from before WW2 through at least the 1960's.

I bought a pre-war LaPierre French bow last year and really like it. It is also light at 121g and has an incredible stick that is very responsive and lively, plus produces a wonderful sound. The balance is very good and even though it is a light bow, I can dig in and get a big sound for those symphony pieces that require it. During the time I was bow shopping, I also looked at a new Zabinski, a Reid Hudson and two other LaPierres. Two of the LaPierres were head and shoulders above the other bows, and these were in the company of some high quality bows. LaPierre bows can be incredible bows, but they do vary, like many other brands. I would recommend that you compare it against other bows in a similar price range to see if it measures up. If you have a good LaPierre, you will never regret buying it.
Tom

Brian K · #3 04-22-2006, 11:54 PM

I would have agreed with your comments about it likely being pernambuco since it is a LaPierre, but a former owner, who is very knowledgeable about bows, told me it specifically that the stick was Brazilwood. Does anyone know the price range that Lapierre bows typically fall in? This bow has some chips out of the (original) frog that will probably need repairing, but the stick is in fine shape.

LOBass · #4 04-24-2006, 12:37 PM

Brian,
Perhaps others could chime in with their opinion, but I believe that LaPierre bows would be made of good quality pernambuco. At least that has been my experience. Given the time period that these bows were being made, he would have had access to a pretty good supply of pernambuco wood.

The three LaPierres that I demo'd were in the price range of $3500-$5500. I have seen other LaPierres for sale from time to time, and they seem to be in this neighborhood as well.
Tom