Recent content by MikeCanada

If it's a question of "should I get bow A or bow B?" then I wouldn't be all that worried about species other than Pernambuco, which is facing new rules/restrictions/other things in the near future. Bernard Walke makes great bows and more importantly he is no stranger to woods like Purpleheart...

There are a whole bunch of different problems, reasons, solutions, wear, time, wood, etc. happening at that end of the bow, so let's look at a few. It sounds like the eyelet (the brass/bronze part in the frog that the screw goes through to connect the frog to the stick) was loose, and you...

The hair should be even tension across the entire ribbon. Depending on how loose/old your hair is when you loosen it all the way and start to tighten it, it should all come together/to tension at the same time right from the start, not just at playing tension. Sometimes you will find a hair or...

Prochownik is now in Toronto, moved here sometime around the plague. I am not sure how things are currently working at the border for everyone, but it's often easier if you can "mule" the bow/instrument yourself. If you have proof it's yours and you aren't gigging, if it comes back rehaired...

While I've only ever handled about 3 very briefly, I've seen a bunch of photos. Just like Busetto corners which Prescott used as well, I think it's one of those high risk, high reward type things. We rarely remember the people who make copies I guess? They essentially started out bass making in...

Lots of them have been altered over time. Some restorers decided they "forgot to finish them" or "they looked weird" or something and cut them for aesthetic reasons, others thought that it changes the vibrations in the top, (it does, but Prescott was aware of that and accounting for it) etc...

I am not personally selling the bass in question. The seller is Canadian and wants to sell in Canada if he can, and we are currently looking at Ontario/Quebec to narrow things down a bit, as Canada is pretty big. If anyone is going cross-border shopping for an instrument I would recommend...

Thanks everyone, this has been helpful. I was aware of a few of these places and have been to/checked out a few of them too, but definitely some new places and names especially when I don't have a lot of experience in Quebec. I also know a lot of people tend to head south for instruments, and...

I have heard of Riedstra's over the years, but not for bass. Good to know. I'm also not aware of another shop/dealer in London/SW Ontario area, so that would also put them closest to Chandler. I am going to play the "I will neither confirm or deny the bass may or may not be a Peter Chandler"...

Thanks. Mario makes fantastic instruments and does great restorations, I assumed he wasn't really dealing instruments though. I heard about Fred Boiss through a google search. I definitely don't know much about Montreal which is why I was asking if there was someone I wasn't thinking about...

Thank you. I have heard of him/seen Paul mentioned around here before, and it's nice to see a bass specialist. I would assume the owner is looking at consignment. Most places are going to tell him some version of "we don't sell something like this every day, it's going to take some time" but...

I know a guy who's looking to sell a bass. I am not that guy. It is not my bass. I make no financial gain if he sells this bass. He is a friend, and asked "Mike, where do I sell my bass?" and I want a better answer than "uhhh..." He lives in the middle of nowhere and is looking to sell in the...

Powdered rosin is useful because when new hair has no rosin on it at all the rosin you are trying to apply doesn't have anything to stick to, so it takes a while to get your rosin on the bow. If you are using a cake of rosin, it will often "skate" across the hair and eventually find spots that...

The "tube" is called a "thumb leather" in the trade, as that neighbourhood is where your thumb goes on all the other bows besides German bass. It can be protective in the sense that some players are quite active with their thumb, some really dig in with their thumb nail, and some are growing a...

Hair under a microscope looks a bit like snake scales, or shingles on a roof. It grows with the "scales" overlapping, and when you put rosin on, the rosin gets stuck in the scales, kind of like petting a cat in the wrong direction. When we are using the bow, the hair is getting stuck in the...