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Double Bass bow upgrade advice?

tony moore

tony moore

Apr 8, 2000
699
53
57
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
#1
i'm considering buying an extra bow and would like it to be an upgrade from the golihur bow i've been using for the last 5 years. i consider myself ok at arco, but still learning and really enjoy it. if it matters, i live in sohio with really cold winters and hot/humid summers. i have 2 basses, an old kay (modified with a solid top by someone long ago) and a chrissy hybrid, both strung with obli's. i play a variety of stuff from classical to pop/rock/roots. my upper budget limit is $500, but would love to find something for less.

any advice?

thanks!

tony
 
#6
I am interested in any advice as well. I gig regularly but I've never played arco at a gig - I feel I am ready to except that my bow sucks. It only cost like $125 so I guess you get what you pay for. It's always amazed me that a decent bow costs the same as a good bass amp cabinet, but I am learning that that's how it is. I guess $500 is my budget as well. Is there much of a market for used ones?
 
#11
I recently upgraded my cheap (former rental) bow to the Pernambuco bow sold by Lemur ($400). Night and day as far as how it feels in my hand. Really balanced and easier to grip.
Arco is a part of my daily practice routine, but I am still a relative beginner, thrashing my way through part two of the Simandl...
 
#12
I'd like to offer a counterpoint to the Finale hype on talkbass. I purchased and played a Finale for a while. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but it is just an inexpensive chinese made carbon fiber bow like most of the others available under different brand names. I would consider wood bows in the same price range (and a little above) or even the Codabow Revelation (American made and of a totally different quality level than the finale, speaking from my own experience with these bows).
 
#13
crowsmengegus said:
I'd like to offer a counterpoint to the Finale hype on talkbass. I purchased and played a Finale for a while. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but it is just an inexpensive chinese made carbon fiber bow like most of the others available under different brand names. I would consider wood bows in the same price range (and a little above) or even the Codabow Revelation (American made and of a totally different quality level than the finale, speaking from my own experience with these bows).
Click to expand...

Yes but the op stated that his upper limit was $500.
I think the Finale is around $350
The Metropolitan is around $800.
I don't think it's hype to say that it represents good value. Mind you I agree that a good wood bow will produce a superior sound but you will have to pay for it. In the meantime a CF bow might well service the OPs needs. ;)
 
#16
davidsaharbass said:
if you are looking for a carbon fiber bow, theres this great bow on worldofbow.com that i was recommended to use. supposedly this guy makes the bows in his basement, but they are absolutely fantastic for what they're worth. If you are a good arco player who is looking for a midgrade priced top notch bow, I highly recommend this:
http://www.worldofbow.com/product_info.php?products_id=181&osCsid=j013v26lksm536bnncindqbc22
Click to expand...

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. This bow is $119, is undoubtedly a chinese factory made bow, and probably of no lesser quality than the $340 Finale. If you want a cheap chinese CF bow, buy something like this is what I say. If you are going to spend close to $400 on CF, put in a little bit more an get something like a Revelation. BTW, I played a Revelation french bow over at Quinn violin today, and it played very nicely (almost identically to the Metropolitan IMO).
 
#17
I have a Worldofbow French bow I use as a "jazz or other" gig bow (so I don't have to have a heart attack if I bring my Marchand or Seifert and something should go down). It's not a bad bow at all, and I've been meaning to get it re-haired. That's one thing I would say for the OP and others in the same boat, whatever bow you get (and especially those from Worldofbow), get it rehaired by someone that really knows what's up and has excellent hair, and tell them to put on as much hair as possible.. my rehair guy (Nick Caraccio) said the frogs of the Worldofbow bows are funky in some way and require some sort of carving where the hair goes in (I really forget exactly what he said, but I trust him) that would add about $20 for the rehair.. maybe after some holiday bread comes in I'll finally get it taken care of.
 
#18
thanks for all the info and discussion guys!

i got a really nice message from a local tb'er suggesting tom owens' wood bows. he also offered to let me try it out at one of his local gigs. i'm hoping to do that soon.

and now i'm curious to give a carbon bow a try too. i'm not sure i'm good enough yet to really get the differences, but what the heck.

i do play arco at gigs alot, even tho' i'm not very good at it. i keep it simple and supportive, but it adds an awesome texture to lots of different ensembles and arrangements and not just classical.

thanks again!

tony
 
#20
I had the odd situation recently of the good bow being out to rehair and the other bow having the tip plate crack (who knows how and having to send that out), so looking for a cheap bow to use for a couple of holiday concerts, I order one of these $119 cf worldofbow bows.

It came right away... and yes, the frog is kind of clunky, but the hair was okay. Having owned a Finale bow, I'm pretty sure it's the same stick, but with a plastic wrap to balance (?) the heavier frog.

Not a bad bow for the money at all and I'll probably keep it for just such occasions.

Louis
 

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