Double Bass Carbon fibre bows

[PBandJazzBass]

Very true. My local shop let me bring it home for a few days to try out before I bought it.

 

[Brilee]

Arcus's claim about the S5 is that "it sounds like traditional bows that cost twice or three times its price" so the comparison is fair.



For $2k more you can now get an S9

I was thinking of comparing price ranges, not Arcus's inflated press releases.

S9! When I got mine, S8 was the top. Reminds me of Spinal Tap "This one goes to 11".

 

[Opus_Pocus]

I just received two Coda Marquise german bows (one with black hair, the other with white hair) for trial from Coda. A local shop will also lend me an Arcus next week. I'll probably hijack this thread and post some comparisons with my Coda Infinity. I've been curious for a while how they will stack up.

 

[LouisF]

The Marquise German bows are both fairly new (I looked last month or so before order my S7) and fairly heavy (for my taste) @140 gr. Looking forward to your comments. Thanks

 

[LouisF]

Any results on the Marquise/Arcus test?? Thanks!

 

[srbbass]

I'm demoing an Arcus French Silver S7 (background, white hair). Balance point comparison to an older Finale Bow (foreground, black hair). Day 1, liking what I feel so far although it's taking a minute to get the rosin to a point of fair comparison. The white vs black hair I also need to input to my personal calculus.

 

[turf3]

In the immortal words of Daryl Van Horne, "My bowing sucks."

However, I practice arco and occasionally even pull out the "Ballad Ending Stick" on the gig. When my first bow, a used Glasser, needed rehairing, that was an uneconomic proposition - it would cost more to rehair it than to buy another one. And even with my "skills" I knew it sucked. Not as bad as my bowing, but I couldn't see spending even $75 or whatever for another one.

I also had stopped regular lessons, and I didn't want to go through all kinds of gyrations trying to carefully select just the right bow, for me to use in doing scales at home and playing two long notes at the end of "My Funny Valentine". So I just bit the bullet and bought a Coda Revelation sight unseen. I think it's been a nice bow. At least, a good model from a maker of repute, I reasoned, wouldn't be LOUSY, and just buying "some bow" it really could be lousy. Plus I really like the fact that I'm unlikely ever to damage it except in the remote case of a really severe accident - having watched my wife destroy two violing bows by accident, that was a bit of a concern.

Anyway, I like it as well as I'd like any bow, given my level of "skill". If I someday magically decide to seriously concentrate on orchestral playing, yeah, I might find after several years that it's not the best choice. I'll take that risk, given my age and my almost total lack of interest in playing bass in an orchestra.

 

[Opus_Pocus]

Any results on the Marquise/Arcus test?? Thanks!

Yes! I compared 4 different carbon german bows:

1. My existing Coda Infinity, newly rehaired with black ($995.00)
2. New Coda Marquise GS with white hair ($1,895.00)
3. New Coda Marquise GS with black hair ($1,895.00)
4. Arcus S8 with white hair ($6,295.00)

Really quick, here's how I would rank them, from best to worst:
4,1,2,3

I recorded myself, played some blindfold tests for other people, and otherwise woodshedded for about a week.

It's probably not surprising that I thought the most expensive bow was the best. I wound up buying the S8. I think the price is embarrassing, but it's the best bow I've ever played and I'm personally not interested in buying pernambuco. I trialed this one through Heaney Violins in Mountian View, CA, who were very helpful and didn't push the sale. The bow plays easily and makes my bass sound the way I want. There are no gaps, no rough or sharp edges, and the frog fits nicely in my hand with the grip I use. The snakewood looks great. I am convinced that a lot of thought and care went into designing and making the bow. It costs more than 6x my old bow, and while it's significantly better, it's definitely not 6x as good. Expect diminishing returns.

The representative from Coda that I interacted with was very friendly and the trial process was done conveniently over email and mail. They were not pushy with the sale and the bows arrived carefully packaged and completely unused. The sticks have a very distinctive look that catches the light almost like flamed maple:



That said, I had some issues with the Marquise GS bows themselves:

1. The hair was short enough that even if I loosened the screw until it made a gap, the hair was still tighter than I would want to play. This was the case for both Marquise bows.
2. The Coda website claims the Marquise balances closer to the frog than the Infinity, when in fact the balance points for all three Coda bows were the same from what I could tell.
3. The Coda frog has always felt too small and curved for my hand. I believe the frogs are identical on the Infinity and Marquise. I prefer a more perpendicular frog that contacts more of my palm.
4. Most importantly, the Marquise sound was very dampened. I had a lot of trouble getting a fortissimo out of the bow even after several days of trial. I played for a few people and they unanimously found the Marquises to be duller in both volume and tone than the Infinity. Getting the string moving was a chore.

I like Coda and I appreciate them developing more options for bassists. I personally didn't care for the Marquise and found it inferior (or at best similar) to the Infinity. The Arcus S8 is on a different level both in price and quality.

 

[LouisF]

Thanks. It pretty much confirms my own finds with S7 and the rest of the cf world. Arcus is more expensive, but worth it, I think.

 

[5stringDNA]

Anyone familiar the Fiddlerman hybrid CF bows? If the tone is a little darker with the veneer as discussed, that would be a plus- I just need something that is a little above the junky Holtz fiberglass bow that I just can't stand to practice with anymore.
Fiddlerman Hybrid German Style Double Bass Bow

Or would I be better off with the Raven at Gollihur?
Raven Carbon Fiber Bass Bow

Trying to make up my mind while they are still both on sale!

 

[LouisF]

Either seems like a good choice and both are reputable shops. Both bows seem a bit heavy at 140 gr. For something a little lighter (under $200) see: D Z Strad- Model 603 - Carbon Fiber German Style Double Bass Bow (3/4)

 

[5stringDNA]

Either seems like a good choice and both are reputable shops. Both bows seem a bit heavy at 140 gr. For something a little lighter (under $200) see: D Z Strad- Model 603 - Carbon Fiber German Style Double Bass Bow (3/4)

I had not seen the DZ line before. Any of them would be a significant improvement over my tip-heavy 144g fiberglass bow. I'm not in love with CF, but the sub $300 options seem to be better than cheap wood bows.

 

[LouisF]

A community orchestra mate of mine has one of the slightly more expensive DZStrad bows and he loves it. The Glasser cf bows (at about 2x the price) also come in around 140gr. The Finale (@$400) is @ 132-36 gr

 

[5stringDNA]

Well, I went with the DZ Strad 603... Unfortunately it shipped under full tension and the hair is half yanked out with the other half tightly strung making the bow unusable. It is lighter and more comfortable than my fiberglass bow for sure, but really frustrated to have to go through a return or get a re-hair immediately. I reached out to DZ and am awaiting a response.