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Double Bass Bow Tension

C

cws91096

Mar 4, 2012
16
0
Columbus, IN
#1
I've noticed that when other people hand me their bows to try, the hair is always rather looser then I have mine (they have it tightened to their preference, this isn't just a case of the bow being loosened when not playing). I especially notice this in my teacher. My conclusion is that I just have a preference for my bow hair being a bit tighter... But to the point, I am planning on upgrading from my codabow (which has served me well), to a bow more suitable to my bass, probably a $2,000-3,000 pernambuco bow. Is this high tension going to be an issue on a non-composite bow? I'm just concerned I'm going to dish out cash and end up with a warped chunk of wood...
 
#2
cws91096 said:
I've noticed that when other people hand me their bows to try, the hair is always rather looser then I have mine (they have it tightened to their preference, this isn't just a case of the bow being loosened when not playing). I especially notice this in my teacher. My conclusion is that I just have a preference for my bow hair being a bit tighter... But to the point, I am planning on upgrading from my codabow (which has served me well), to a bow more suitable to my bass, probably a $2,000-3,000 pernambuco bow. Is this high tension going to be an issue on a non-composite bow? I'm just concerned I'm going to dish out cash and end up with a warped chunk of wood...
Click to expand...
It's hard to say without seeing what you're working with. There is a range of workable bow tensions, and they all depend quite a lot of on the player and the bow itself. You may find with your new bow that higher tension is completely unnecessary. I don't think you need to worry about warping the bow unless you're tightening to the point where no camber is left in the stick.

I tend to adjust my hair often depending on the musical context. The tension greatly affects the response and articulation of the bow, and on some bows it even affects tone and timbre.

When the stick and the hair are at equal tension, I would consider that the default. If the hair is too loose, the stick won't flex at all. When the hair is too tight, the stick has to do all the work. You can test this by simply bowing an open string -- if the hair and stick meet each other halfway in the middle of the bow, you've found that neutral tension. Adjusting from there should have some reasoning behind it.
 
#3
By the hair and the stick meeting halfway, do you mean actually making contact? At the tightness that I have, there is a 1.0-1.5 cm gap when I'm playing (a bit less when playing something heavy like the intro to the Koussevitzky, and about 1.5 cm when playing something light like the intro to Bottesini's vocalise). I've experimented with lighter bow tension, but I find that I just cant get into the string or bounce off of it (I have a rather good bass that's well set up, so I don't think that's the issue.)
 

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