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Double Bass Carbon fibre bows

#81
Brought the Coda home to try. It's a Revelation model, if that matters.

Side by side with my Erich Steiner, here's what I'm hearing/feeling. And I'll again reiterate, I'm not a prolific orchestral bassists.

The Erich Steiner: More complexity in the overtones. Maybe a touch more projection. But I feel almost like I'm fighting the bow. But it's purely a matter of feel. Nothing wrong with the sound.

The Coda: A little less complex, maybe mellower. But more focused. Feels WAY BETTER. Playing with it is effortless. I feel like I'm cutting through butter with a hot knife. I'd describe the weight and balance as perfect.
 
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#89
I'm not sure if "fragility" applies. The Arcus bows are hollow core carbon fiber and (don't quote me on this, I'm no scientist) the carbon is spun out in lines, as opposed to woven or braided as in other brands like Glasser, Carbow or Metropolitan, which mainly have solid cores (i.e. the "tube" of the stick is filled). So I guess that while in some theory of physics a solid core tube of carbon fiber is less "fragile" than a hollow one, there is nothing that I have seen or heard that indicated that Arcus (or other hollow core bows) are more prone to crack or break, therefore making them more fragile. They come with 30 year warranties.
 
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#90
Funny you ask about dropping a carbon bow. This was from last year; approx. gig #3 of owning, middle of the first set.

The carbon bow will endure very rough handling when you drop it; the ebony frog, not so much.

broken frog.jpg
 
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#92
LouisF said:
This is why I switched to Arcus bows: better than having (as I've written about elsewhere) a trumpet play knock your $5K Kolstein bow off the stand, crack it, and take out 40% of the value of the bow!
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Unfortunate accident, or easily avoidable accident?

If it's the former, I'd have been forgiving; if it was the latter, I'd have been openly forgiving once they were putting something forward to cover the repair.
 
#94
For my 75th b-day, I splurged on an Arcus S7 - I could tell from the minute I took it out of the package that it was a huge step up from the S6. The "feel" and balance were much closer to some of the fine wood bows I've had and it gets a much fuller and more nuanced sound out of the bass; more volume and warmth. Excellent spiccato and balance. Yesterday I got to test drive it at a pops concert at Disney hall - Holst, Beethoven, show tunes etc - and it was a very rewarding experience. I had to work much less to achieve much more.
 
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#95
LouisF said:
For my 75th b-day, I splurged on an Arcus S7 - I could tell from the minute I took it out of the package that it was a huge step up from the S6. The "feel" and balance were much closer to some of the fine wood bows I've had and it gets a much fuller and more nuanced sound out of the bass; more volume and warmth. Excellent spiccato and balance. Yesterday I got to test drive it at a pops concert at Disney hall - Holst, Beethoven, show tunes etc - and it was a very rewarding experience. I had to work much less to achieve much more.
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Ever think about making some comparison recordings?
 
#97
In August, I am planning to take some time and do a shoot out with the Naturbow, An Arcus (if anyone will let me take one on trial) and my Les Korus bow. It really surprises me there isn't already a video of someone doing that.
 
#99
garrett2 said:
You need to take some time with the Arcus, as Louis has suggested elsewhere, in order to get the fullest sound out of it.
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I appreciate that. There are many reasons why someone might want a carbon fiber bow. The Arcus may be a miracle bow for someone with hand issues. That is great. I am not interested in taking anything away from that.

As someone who teaches and studies the bow, I am not interested in changing my technique or replace my main stick. I just want something that plays great to teach on and occasional perform with. I plan to make my shoot out to focus around someone with similar needs to myself. (I would be more than happy to trade out my nice wooden bow for a carbon fiber if it sounds/plays better.) There are many basses, many hands and ways to play. I've just always wanted to hear an Arcus a/b ed with a similarly priced pernambuco bow.

Arcus makes some pretty radical claims in the copy on their website. I mean, a bow that lasts for ever and sounds/plays better than pernambuco? Who wouldn't want that but I am definitely skeptical... but who knows! It seems worth it to give it a shot. I could be convinced.

I will say I have been very impressed with interactions with Olivier at Carbow. He is helpful and seems very interested in player's experiences of his bows. He also has made zero outrageous claims about his bows other than they sound good and play well.
 

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