Tight bow, loose bow

[rprowse]

I've just put solo dominants on my bass and have started fooling with bow tension (again)... I talking about hair tightness. I think I'm heading towards loosening the hair for more friction, less pressure. Any thoughts?
Richard

[Cory Palmer]

It depends on the bow. I have two bows and one works better with tighter hair and the other with loose hair. Loose hair works well with stiffer bows. Also, you will need more rosin the looser the hair is. Tight hair doesn't need much rosin.

[jallenbass]

In my experience a tighter bow produces a brighter sound and a loose bow darker.

[D McCartney]

Hmmm, reading this, I think I need to start playing around with the hair tension and see which I like best. Good post.

[JoeyNaeger]

The hair on my bow has recently gone pretty limp, and I absolutley cannot stand playing it. I can pull a pretty decent tone, but it doesn't articulate well at all. Of course the hair is looser than what most would consider loose so that probably has a lot to do with it. I would say in general, I prefer the bow to be tighter but for fat spicatto notes, a tad looser seems to work a little bit better for me.

[rprowse]

Originally Posted by D McCartney

Hmmm, reading this, I think I need to start playing around with the hair tension and see which I like best. Good post.

Playing on the Doms with a pretty loose bow has become the norm for me now and I'm really enjoying the sound. I'm not using much rosin but, obviously, the rosin brightens up the sound when I apply it about every 3 days or so. I always try to Remember what Gary Karr says, "A long slow bow'.
Richard