Rosin on New Black Hair

[Rayzorx]

I just picked up my bow after having it rehaired with black hair. I use Kolsteins rosin.
The counter guy at the shop told me that I before swiping any rosin on, I should take some of the Kolsteins and crush it up into a powder, and then rub the hair through it. He said that this helps impregnate the new hair with rosin, and prepare it prior to swiping.
Has anyone heard of doing this and is this good advise or bogus?

[davidzgeorge]

hey Rayzorx - my bow repairman sometimes puts a white powder on my hair when he does a rehair. now he knows that I hate that powder, so doesn't do it anymore. some rehairers put that powder on new hair which supposedly helps it grip your rosin when you start applying it. i, personally, hate that white powder. i think your repairman's suggestion of crushing some Kolsteins into powder is probably similar to the white powder that I've seen. My advice is to abstain from doing that. You will need to rosin your bow frequently after the rehair until it gets worn in...just have to be patient.

[Basschair]

Originally Posted by Rayzorx

I just picked up my bow after having it rehaired with black hair. I use Kolsteins rosin.
The counter guy at the shop told me that I before swiping any rosin on, I should take some of the Kolsteins and crush it up into a powder, and then rub the hair through it. He said that this helps impregnate the new hair with rosin, and prepare it prior to swiping.
Has anyone heard of doing this and is this good advise or bogus?

Not bogus, just one approach. I use it more for VvC bows, and will put a smidge on a bass bow once in a while. It really is a matter of preference. Bass rosin is usually sticky enough to apply right from the cake onto new hair. There are types of rosins that are very fine, and using powdered rosin makes it easier to get the first layer on.

[Rayzorx]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I think I'm going to abstain from the powder approach and go with swiping from the cake.

[toman]

What is it with bassists and luthiers, always into the white powders...

[Bob Branstetter]

Originally Posted by toman

What is it with bassists and luthiers, always into the white powders...

The white powder is actually powdered violin rosin. On thicker black hair, you can usually get away without using it since the hair is less likely to break if the (bass) rosin grabs it. On white hair, I always use it since it give just enough grab that the bass rosin will go on the hair ribbon without grabbing individual hairs so easily. I always warn my customers who don't want the powdered rosin that they may have some hair breakage the first time they rosin up the bow. Otherwise, they might be inclined to think that the hair or rehair job is inferior.

[Silversorcerer]

I use black hair on my bows of preference. In the past I used white. I don't like having powdery stuff on my bows, so I use bass rosin to break the hair in regardless of color. It really only takes a couple of days for it to start grabbing right, and after about a month, I add very little rosin. I love a good flat ribbon of black horse hair.

[toman]

Originally Posted by Bob Branstetter

The white powder is actually powdered violin rosin. On thicker black hair, you can usually get away without using it since the hair is less likely to break if the (bass) rosin grabs it. On white hair, I always use it since it give just enough grab that the bass rosin will go on the hair ribbon without grabbing individual hairs so easily. I always warn my customers who don't want the powdered rosin that they may have some hair breakage the first time they rosin up the bow. Otherwise, they might be inclined to think that the hair or rehair job is inferior.

It was a joke, silly.

[Rayzorx]

I went the route of just swiping the new hair with Kolsteins. After about 6 hours of play time, it seems to be working just fine.

Thanks again for the responses!
Ray