Double Bass contemporary bass bow makers

[LouisF]

Thanks -- I know Andy's a big fan of yours.

Louis

 

[Rob Thompson]

Updating the list a bit after a long silence. Hopefully this thread has been useful for people.

Added Joseph Liu, Donald Mackenzie, Evan Orman, Don Reinfeld (is he still active?), Howard Green, Alexandr Hendruk and updated price ranges. Any additions or corrections are very welcome.


Circa 1k
Tom Owen Link Removed
Ed Shillitoe (historical bows) [email protected]

Circa 2k
Don Smith (sold through KC strings, others?)
Zdzislaw Prochownik Link Removed
John Norwood Lee Website Unavailable - UltraWebsiteHosting.com

Circa 3k
Les Korus Link Removed
Marco Pasquino Marco Pasquino - archettaio / bowmaker
Eric Lane [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Brian Tunnicliffe Link Removed
Elizabeth Vander Veer Shaak [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Steven Reiley Guarneri House
Evan Orman [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Joseph Liu Link Removed

Circa 4k
Roger Zabinski Welcome - Roger Zabinski, Bowmaker - hand made bows for violin, viola and cello
Andrew McGill Introduction - Bowmaker McGill
Stephen Bristow Link Removed
Robert Dow Link Removed
Bernard Walke Bernard Walke Bows
John Greenwood John Greenwood
Bill Halsey [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Milan Oubrecht Milan Oubrecht - mistr smyècaø
Thomas Dignan Dignan Bows | Thomas Dignan, Bow Maker
Lynn Hannings http://www.lahbows.com/
George Rubino - Rubino Bows -
Howard Green Howard Green Bowmaker - home page

Circa 5k
Boris Fritsch [email protected] (website?)
Reid Hudson http://members.shaw.ca/reidhudson/bows/
Roy Quade (french only) Link Removed
Lee Guthrie (french only) Lee Guthrie Bow Maker
Armin Seebass [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Michael Vann Michael Vann, Bow Maker
Michael Taylor Link Removed
Jean Grunberger Jean Grunberger Archetier et Claudia Carmona Archetière

6k+
Sue Lipkins [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Pierre-Yves Fuchs (sold through Robertson violins)
Giovanni Lucchi - Lucchi Cremona -

Price range?

Donald Mackenzie [email protected] (508) 385-5896
Don Reinfeld Bow Repairs, Restorations, Custom Bows by Don Reinfeld, Bow Maker, in Rochester, NY
Alexandr Hendruk Alexandr HENDRUK - bowmaker
Antonino Airenti (historical bows) [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Lorenzo Lazzarato LAZZARATO BOWS - Costruzione archetti, violino, viola, violoncello, contrabbasso, archettaio, bowmaker, archetier, archetto, arco, bow, archet, liuteria, archetteria, violino, violin, viola, violoncello, cello, contrabbasso, doublebass, bass, musica,
John Clutterbuck John Clutterbuck in Bicester, OX26 6QH. Musical Instrument Tuning Repairs in Bicester - Touch Oxford
Rodney Mohr Mohr & Mohr Bows :: String Instrument Bows for the Discerning Musician
Jean-Luc Tauziede bow maker, bowmaker, bows, tauziede
Emilio Slaviero | Emilio Slaviero |
G.B. Hembree Bows – G.B. Hembree
Christopher English [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[geoffbassist]

Thanks crowsmengegus. Great resource.

 

[eugene360]

I suppose in the end, it's a case of "The Northern Hemisphere" rules...

Invalid Link Removed

 

[David Potts]

Not totally!! Here in Sydney there are two makers of bows for all the strings that are well known around Australia

Jim Ellender makes French and German bows from Pernambuco with good fittings for A$ 1695. He puts his care into the stick. www.irwinviolins.com.au/about-us

Jeffery A. Ellis hand makes stick and frog out of first quality materials. He asks A$ 4000 up front and returns your money if not satisfied. I have one of his earlier bows that really works well, pulling a big sound very evenly from end to end and finding more depth of tone than most bows I have owned and tried. Any others of his I have tried are very good too. Invalid Link Removed

DP

 

[eugene360]

Not totally!! Here in Sydney there are two makers of bows for all the strings that are well known around Australia

Jim Ellender makes French and German bows from Pernambuco with good fittings for A$ 1695. He puts his care into the stick. www.irwinviolins.com.au/about-us

Jeffery A. Ellis hand makes stick and frog out of first quality materials.[DEL] He asks A$ 4000 up front and returns your money if not satisfied.[/DEL] I have one of his earlier bows that really works well, pulling a big sound very evenly from end to end and finding more depth of tone than most bows I have owned and tried. Any others of his I have tried are very good too. Invalid Link Removed

DP

Thanks David for the compliments but I corrected a line. Should be; Full payment on delivery but this is refunded if not satisfied after a trial period of around 1-2 weeks.
Jeff

 

[nikijack]

Hi: I have a young friend, who is making quite good bows, Michael Brough, in Meaford, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]

cheers,

Jack

 

[Huy Nguyen]

I just recently bought a $2K bow from Steve Swan. It's made by Boyd Poulsen. Steve tells me he lives over here in central california. Very happy with the bow.

 

[Russell Bergum]

Looks like you need to add Emmanuel Carlier to the list. He just won THREE Gold Medals at the 2012 VSA competition (violin, cello, bass), and a Certificate of Merit for his viola bow.
http://www.carlier-archetier.com/#!__page-maitre-gb

Amazing.

 

[tyb507]

I'll add two Vermonters to the list:
Eben Bodach-Turner http://www.bodach-turnerbows.com/
And Harry Grabenstein http://www.hfgbowmaker.com/

 

[Rob Thompson]

Circa 1k
Tom Owen Link Removed
Ed Shillitoe (historical bows) [email protected]

Circa 2k
Don Smith (sold through KC strings, others?)
Zdzislaw Prochownik Link Removed
John Norwood Lee Website Unavailable - UltraWebsiteHosting.com

Circa 3k
Les Korus Link Removed
Marco Pasquino Marco Pasquino - archettaio / bowmaker
Brian Tunnicliffe Link Removed
Elizabeth Vander Veer Shaak [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Steven Reiley Guarneri House
Evan Orman [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Joseph Liu Link Removed

Circa 4k
Roger Zabinski Welcome - Roger Zabinski, Bowmaker - hand made bows for violin, viola and cello
Andrew McGill Introduction - Bowmaker McGill
Stephen Bristow Link Removed
Robert Dow Link Removed
Bernard Walke Bernard Walke Bows
John Greenwood John Greenwood
Bill Halsey [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Milan Oubrecht Milan Oubrecht - mistr smyècaø
Thomas Dignan Dignan Bows | Thomas Dignan, Bow Maker
Lynn Hannings http://www.lahbows.com/
George Rubino - Rubino Bows -
Howard Green Howard Green Bowmaker - home page

Circa 5k
Eric Lane [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Boris Fritsch [email protected] (website?)
Reid Hudson http://members.shaw.ca/reidhudson/bows/
Roy Quade (french only) Link Removed
Lee Guthrie (french only) Lee Guthrie Bow Maker
Armin Seebass [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Michael Vann Michael Vann, Bow Maker
Michael Taylor Link Removed
Jean Grunberger Jean Grunberger Archetier et Claudia Carmona Archetière

6k+
Sue Lipkins [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Pierre-Yves Fuchs (sold through Robertson violins)
Giovanni Lucchi - Lucchi Cremona -

Price range?

Harry Grabenstein http://www.hfgbowmaker.com/
Eben Bodach-Turner http://www.bodach-turnerbows.com/
Emmanuel Carlier http://www.carlier-archetier.com/#!__page-maitre-gb

Donald Mackenzie [email protected] (508) 385-5896
Don Reinfeld Bow Repairs, Restorations, Custom Bows by Don Reinfeld, Bow Maker, in Rochester, NY
Alexandr Hendruk Alexandr HENDRUK - bowmaker
Antonino Airenti (historical bows) [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Lorenzo Lazzarato LAZZARATO BOWS - Costruzione archetti, violino, viola, violoncello, contrabbasso, archettaio, bowmaker, archetier, archetto, arco, bow, archet, liuteria, archetteria, violino, violin, viola, violoncello, cello, contrabbasso, doublebass, bass, musica,
John Clutterbuck John Clutterbuck in Bicester, OX26 6QH. Musical Instrument Tuning Repairs in Bicester - Touch Oxford
Rodney Mohr Mohr & Mohr Bows :: String Instrument Bows for the Discerning Musician
Jean-Luc Tauziede bow maker, bowmaker, bows, tauziede
Emilio Slaviero | Emilio Slaviero |
G.B. Hembree Bows – G.B. Hembree
Christopher English [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Rob Thompson]

I made a bass bow WIKI, where the information can be maintained. It would be nice to get more info on some of the makers, and to add a section on historical makers.

http://www.talkbass.com/wiki/index.php/Bass_Bows

Does anyone think that the ordering by price is kind of useless? We could arrange by location, perhaps that would make more sense.

 

[NickyBass]

There is a list of about 40 or 50 bowmakers here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[MomTheRoadie]

David Orlin of Ann Arbor has told me he is making bass bows.

 

[SeayBass]

Donald Cohen makes nice bass bows, too. priced $4-5000

cohenbows.com

 

[iplaybass1997]

I started a NYC bows thread about this, but what do folks feel about Reid Hudson's gear on here. I haven't been crazy about his newer bows, but there's one over 20 yrs old at Gage's shop. It's pretty sweet. Anybody play that one?

 

[Steve Freides]

Admin, could we fix this link so that it works?

Thanks very much.

-S-

I made a bass bow WIKI, where the information can be maintained. It would be nice to get more info on some of the makers, and to add a section on historical makers.

http://www.talkbass.com/wiki/index.php/Bass_Bows

Does anyone think that the ordering by price is kind of useless? We could arrange by location, perhaps that would make more sense.

 

[PaulCannon]

It's here now: http://wiki.talkbass.com/index.php?title=Bass_Bows

 

[PaulCannon]

I started a NYC bows thread about this, but what do folks feel about Reid Hudson's gear on here. I haven't been crazy about his newer bows, but there's one over 20 yrs old at Gage's shop. It's pretty sweet. Anybody play that one?

I've tried maybe 14 or 15 Hudson bows, and they seem inconsistent. Most of them were in some way flawed and pulled a mediocre, slightly harsh tone. Two of them were very good, but still not as agile or clean as I'd like. None of them were particularly fun to use. I know many good players who think highly of Reid Hudson's work, but it's not for me.

When they were selling for $2 - 3k, they were a good deal and on par with Prochownik as high level student bows. Now they're double the price, but not double the quality.

 

[Steve Freides]

How does one go about updating the Wiki?

I'd like to see Gollihur's house bows listed, and also Cohen bows among the high-end.

-S-