Reccomendations for new bow?

MDEbass · #1 12-15-2008, 11:47 AM

Hey just won 400 bucks yesterday at a solo competition. I don't really need any new equipment or anything but I guess I could possibly use a new bow...so 400 bucks could help pay for a new bow. Anyone recomend a good German bow priced at $1000 max?...preferably lower...im in high school so i dont have a ton of money to spend. thanks

D McCartney · #2 12-15-2008, 12:18 PM

For that money you might take your time and try out everything you can find. Visit lots of shops.

dchan · #3 12-15-2008, 02:13 PM

Fill out your profile so that we know where you're located. That way, we can make some recommendations of which shops or luthiers to visit.

Dave Irwin · #4 01-19-2009, 12:52 PM

Have Tom Owen send you some bows to try.
I bought one from him for about $700 that blew away anything else I could find including coda and a few other carbons

Good luck,
Dave

Eli_Upright12 · #5 01-19-2009, 01:56 PM

Arcos Brasil from Roberstson and Sons violin shop, I know I mention these a lot when people are looking for student bows, but they really blow everything out of the water in the price range, in my opinion of course. Mine was 700ish and was much better than some other 1500 dollar bows.

Dave Irwin · #6 01-19-2009, 02:18 PM

--sorry double post

Have Tom Owen send you some bows to try.
I bought one from him for about $700 that blew away anything else I could find including coda and a few other carbons

Good luck,
Dave

JoeyNaeger · #7 01-19-2009, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eli_Upright12

Arcos Brasil from Roberstson and Sons violin shop, I know I mention these a lot when people are looking for student bows, but they really blow everything out of the water in the price range, in my opinion of course. Mine was 700ish and was much better than some other 1500 dollar bows.

+1 the few that I tried were really great.

foilracer · #8 01-21-2009, 09:55 AM

when you check bows remember to compare with CF bows.
Call String Emporium, Lemur or Quinn....etc. Talk with players who don't like and do like CF...be sure to compare two or three of your favorite bows "side by side" and have another player play your favorite bows "side by side"....listen close!

I like my CF bow.

bejoyous · #9 01-21-2009, 06:43 PM

I've got a Ken Smith Tecchler German Bow and I'd recommend you get one. I've got a review on here some place if you want to search for it.

Kaden · #10 01-21-2009, 07:42 PM

Last year i drove up to the Bass Cellar in Cinci and tried out just about all of the german bows they had but nothing stacked up to the Marco Raposo bows. I even had Tom Owen send me some bows to try out, they were good but the Raposos blew them away! I would definitely recommend that you try a couple of them out as well.

MDEbass · #11 01-21-2009, 07:58 PM

i checked out marco raposo's website...his bows look nice but i don't see any prices. How much do they typically run for?

ADissen · #12 01-21-2009, 08:54 PM

here is a french one for sale. comes out to around 1250 US dollars. figure itll be round the same for a german if not exactly.

http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2590.htm

Kaden · #13 01-22-2009, 04:31 PM

i bought mine for about $950. I think they usually run from around $800-$1,200.

Phil Rowan · #14 01-24-2009, 04:53 PM

I play one of these (French) and it's pretty gnarly, to say the least.
http://www.thomasmartin.co.uk/instru...bass-bows.html

robgrow · #15 01-24-2009, 05:15 PM

I tried a couple of Marco Raposo bows, which were nice, but ended up buying a Tom Owen bow from a fellow TB'r. It was by far the nicest of the Tom Owen bows I tried. Brand names only tell you so much... You really need consider every bow on an individual basis.

NewYorkBassist · #16 01-25-2009, 08:06 AM

Hey,
I just got a new bow a few months ago.. I tried out a lot at David Gage's, and really liked a Pfretzschner that they had (or rather I like Pfretzschners in general), but it was WAY above my price range, so I just kept looking, and eventually I found a bow that I really liked, and that reminded me a bit of the Pfretzschner, and got it. The one I bought is a Claude Marchande (German bow), it was a good deal for the quality, and if you want to check it out, I believe Tom Martin carries them (http://www.thomasmartin.co.uk/instru...bass-bows.html), but I got mine from Marvin Topolsky.
I have heard that the Carbon Fiber bows are really good, especially some of the new ones, but I haven't tried them out..
Also, when I was looking for a bow, Kolstein's sent me four to try out, and I didn't like a single one of them (probably just my just personal taste), and I had asked for a price range of $700-$1500, so since that is around your price range, I might stay away from them (again, just my opinion).

ADissen · #17 01-25-2009, 06:10 PM

how much did these bows from Tom Martin cost, if no one minds sharing?

NewYorkBassist · #18 01-25-2009, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADissen

how much did these bows from Tom Martin cost, if no one minds sharing?

Claude Marchande (which are Tom Martin bows) run between $1000 and $1500. I paid around the middle of that for mine. But considering the other two runners-up that I was looking at were $3000 and $4900 (which I liked about equally to the Marchande bow), I think the Marchande bow was definately the better choice. They're definately nice bows, mine will hopefully take me through college.