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Double Bass German

H

Holly Wright

Mar 20, 2006
67
0
35
The Woodlands, Texas
#1
Yet another question!


I have been reading up and asking questions about switching from French to German. That bit I don't need help with :D


I'm looking for a German bow that is under $200 but preferably under $100 (I can go a bit higher, but I have to do work around the house to get it that way...). I know not to expect the best bow in the world or something close, but I would like something half decent.

Pierce's thread about the Glasser colour bows made me remember how much I wanted a colour bow (I remember seeing on of the high school kids playing with a blue bow on a pink violin and i was amazed)

I am wondering. I can find the very cheap bottom range Glasser Bows for $50, but they are only in brown. This will do me fine, I am not a professional and until I get more money, a crud bow will suit me. I would just prefer to work my butt off to work for something special.

Does anyone happen to know the prices of colour Glasser bows, preferably the Premium Fiberglass or the Advanced Composite Bows. I don't really want to get the standard Fiberglass because, among other things, I absolutely hate the plastic tube grip.

I am fine with working for a bit more money, and I have messed around with a German bow enough to be 99% positive I will be able to master (or come close to) the bow hold.

Prices and if possible, online stores that sell these bows, the only online store i know of that sells them is www.swstrings.com and they only do standard French.


Thanks much
 
#2
Holly Wright said:
Yet another question!

I have been reading up and asking questions about switching from French to German. That bit I don't need help with :D

I'm looking for a German bow that is under $200 but preferably under $100 (I can go a bit higher, but I have to do work around the house to get it that way...). I know not to expect the best bow in the world or something close, but I would like something half decent.

Pierce's thread about the Glasser colour bows made me remember how much I wanted a colour bow (I remember seeing on of the high school kids playing with a blue bow on a pink violin and i was amazed)

...

I am fine with working for a bit more money, and I have messed around with a German bow enough to be 99% positive I will be able to master (or come close to) the bow hold.

...

Thanks much
Click to expand...

You want an inexpensive German bow... fine, but then
dont be wasting your money on a colored fiberglass
thing, that is unless you really want your playing and
appearance to be something of a joke... :rolleyes:

The lowest price bows that have a chance of sounding
like something would be either Upton or Gollihur. The
first is $99, Bob's is $148.

I play French but I have a Gollihur german bow, and it
sounds pretty good for its price, I would suggest that.

Personally, I would try mastering your French bow hold
instead :hiding:

Good luck,
 
#3
Even if you decide to get a German bow, it doesn't mean that you can't practice both. As endlessly stated in recent threads, the techniques benefit eachother in many ways.

Go with the Gollihur (German) bow. I have one as my "extra" (for those just-in-case scenarios). Simply put, it is great. Since I play German exclusively, I cannot vouch for the French Gollihur bow, but I am sure it, too, is great as well.

I have old Glasers lying around from way back when I was new to the bass. They don't compare and are therefore catching dust somewhere in my room/studio/closet/basement.

Alex
 
#4
kontrabass said:
Even if you decide to get a German bow, it doesn't mean that you can't practice both. As endlessly stated in recent threads, the techniques benefit eachother in many ways.

Go with the Gollihur (German) bow. I have one as my "extra" (for those just-in-case scenarios). Simply put, it is great. Since I play German exclusively, I cannot vouch for the French Gollihur bow, but I am sure it, too, is great as well.

I have old Glasers lying around from way back when I was new to the bass. They don't compare and are therefore catching dust somewhere in my room/studio/closet/basement.

Alex
Click to expand...

I was given a Glaser with my first bass, even had that
POS synthetic hair, what an aweful thing to give to a
new player :)

My teacher who teaches Rabbath and specializes in
French (obviously), plays a mean German as well, so
sure its good to know both.... I started playing German
and switched because of Rabbath, and its WAY harder
starting out on French, but for that reason if I were
14 I would do that first, just my opinion :)

Have fun Holly!
 
#5
For All-state tryout we have a Rabbath etude and a Libon etude. I don't plan on leaving French, just forgetting it for a little bit so I forget the bad habits.

I'm thinking outside the money box now because I just got a job. (Its a baseball coaching job so im looking up rules :D), also, this job has given me reason to drop band, which stops me having to buy a flute and pay the $450 band fee. I think with this break, i can now be completly serious about this.

About the Upton and the Gollihur. What are other comments about these. I know from experience (yes, im 14, but I have a little bit of experience) that one person can get a really good product whilst someone else can get the same thing but it be set up badly, or just plain made badly.

I got a cheap french fibreglass bow with my Palatino. It came needing a rehair but I did not know this (first bass, I had been playing violin for 4 years but I was never told about rehairs. I had it 2 years and got it rehaired for $40 and it is now better than the cheap Glasser bows the school has. I don't really want to end up having that problem again, can you recommend somewhere that hairs their bows well? Or should I get a rehair as soon as i get it? I don't really want to do that, because the nearest place I know that rehairs half decently is about 40 miles away. I got it rehaired thorugh the school and schools out for summer.

Dont think the questions stop here :hiding:
 
#8
Both the upton bows and the Gollihur bows come with real horsehair and will not need rehair. I have not played an Upton bow, but I can vouch for the quality of their horsehair. Not to be biased (I had one of my good bows rehaired by Eric, and My Outdoor Concert bass is an Upton Hybrid):smug: But one of my students bought a gollihur bow, and I was very impressed with the quality in relation to the price.
Disclaimer: This is not a paid Endorsement! (I wish...);)
 
#10
Holly Wright said:
Yet another question!


I have been reading up and asking questions about switching from French to German. That bit I don't need help with :D


I'm looking for a German bow that is under $200 but preferably under $100 (I can go a bit higher, but I have to do work around the house to get it that way...). I know not to expect the best bow in the world or something close, but I would like something half decent.

Pierce's thread about the Glasser colour bows made me remember how much I wanted a colour bow (I remember seeing on of the high school kids playing with a blue bow on a pink violin and i was amazed)

I am wondering. I can find the very cheap bottom range Glasser Bows for $50, but they are only in brown. This will do me fine, I am not a professional and until I get more money, a crud bow will suit me. I would just prefer to work my butt off to work for something special.

Does anyone happen to know the prices of colour Glasser bows, preferably the Premium Fiberglass or the Advanced Composite Bows. I don't really want to get the standard Fiberglass because, among other things, I absolutely hate the plastic tube grip.

I am fine with working for a bit more money, and I have messed around with a German bow enough to be 99% positive I will be able to master (or come close to) the bow hold.

Prices and if possible, online stores that sell these bows, the only online store i know of that sells them is www.swstrings.com and they only do standard French.


Thanks much
Click to expand...

Fortunetly you can find german bows that will do the trick in the cheaper range unlike french bows. Just out of curiosity, why the switch? Does your teacher play/teach both bows?
 
#14
@Snakewood

My teacher is not my teacher yet. I know of who to call and about him. I just need an income.

The switch is because I play violin, I switched from violin to bass, and having a similar bow and no teacher, I hold a french bass bow like a violin bow. You can see the problem. My hand is really crunched up, and although I have managed to change to pinky over, I never can seem to be safe with the stick for fear of it dropping so I hold it really tightly. If I switch to German, I *hopefully* will forget all these bad habits when I switch back. It is my goal (with no time limit) to eventually learn to play them both well. But as with me playing violin (I stopped for two years and relearned it. I now don't rest my wrist on the button, or slouch, or all them other bad things I used to do.) it was very hard to try to fix these problems (I had done them thinking they were right for 4 years) when bass shoved violin out the way I found a solution to my dillema.

German bow (from when I messed with it) seemed a lot easier. I dont know why, it just did :bassist:
 
#15
Holly Wright said:
German bow (from when I messed with it) seemed a lot easier. I dont know why, it just did :bassist:
Click to expand...

I changed to German for a few reasons:
1. The pain in my bowing arm was terrible (my first concert involved long ff tremelos on some Beethoven piece). I also wasn't getting enough power/dynamic variation.
2. I found a DVD of the Berliner Philharmoniker playing under Karajan. The entire section was using 5 stringers (except the solokontrabass, Rainer Zepperitz) and german bows. Right then and there, I fell in love with the bow.

I still have that an old french bow.. still hurts tremendously when I play nearly anything.

-Alex
 
#16
kontrabass said:
I changed to German for a few reasons:
1. The pain in my bowing arm was terrible (my first concert involved long ff tremelos on some Beethoven piece). I also wasn't getting enough power/dynamic variation.
2. I found a DVD of the Berliner Philharmoniker playing under Karajan. The entire section was using 5 stringers (except the solokontrabass, Rainer Zepperitz) and german bows. Right then and there, I fell in love with the bow.

I still have that an old french bow.. still hurts tremendously when I play nearly anything.

-Alex
Click to expand...

If you have pain playing French then you are more than
likely doing something incorrectly. It reminds me of Sax,
its something that is easy to do poorly :)

My teacher says it takes a year to get the proper wrist
fluidity and hold working. I've been at it a quarter of
that, and I'm getting glimmers. And you absolutely
NEED a teacher, someone that can literally hold your
arm and wrist and move your body in the right way.

As for volume, well it comes with everything else being
done right. Listen to Rabbath if you have doubts about
getting volume and dynamics with French :)
 
#17
jfv said:
If you have pain playing French then you are more than
likely doing something incorrectly. It reminds me of Sax,
its something that is easy to do poorly :)

My teacher says it takes a year to get the proper wrist
fluidity and hold working. I've been at it a quarter of
that, and I'm getting glimmers. And you absolutely
NEED a teacher, someone that can literally hold your
arm and wrist and move your body in the right way.

As for volume, well it comes with everything else being
done right. Listen to Rabbath if you have doubts about
getting volume and dynamics with French :)
Click to expand...

I agree with you entirely, but am not sure whether your arguments are directed to me or to bassists in general.
I can assure you that my bow hold and technique are indeed quite correct (my teachers can all attest to this as well as conductors who have asked me to use French). I have not found the time to develop those muscles needed for French, though I hope to set some time aside when I can. In essence, I am not going to risk any sort of unnecessary pain at the moment.
I am also a very aggressive player and find that German bow fits my musical playing better (though one can argue that with time and practice, it would not matter which bow you use).
 
#18
When I picked up a German bow last September I decided I was never going to go back. I was so frustrated with French bow. I wasn't able to get the dynamic contrast that I wanted, I had to squeeze instead of applying weight, the wrist movement was just too frustrating, and I couldn't get the grasp of everything happening through my pointer finger. I took lessons from a guy for a little over a year and he was a great French bow player, but it just wasn't working for me. When I picked up a German bow, everything just felt natural to me. It was like the bow was an extension of my arm and it was more musically satisfying. After working with a German bow for about a year I realize that I am going to be working for many more years but it is was right for me.

Holly - my advice to you is that without a teacher the switch won't do much for you. Like you can have pain in your arm and develop bad habits, you can develop them very easily with German bow. Without a teacher it is going to be very hard to learn any bow technique. I said it in a previous forum, when approaching bow technique on your own, proceed with caution. Just because there is no pain doesn't mean you are more comfortable doesn't mean you are doing anything right.

With a German bow you can still squeeze and you can still tighten up.

Will your sound be larger quicker? Yes
Will your sound be a little more focused quicker? Yes
Will your technique be good quicker? No

Good luck with your experiment in German Bow.

-Nick
 
#20
German bow felt very natural to me since it sits right in the hand.

I have a student that has a Glasser German bow. It seems like a very good beginner bow. It's definitely not going to be good for any advanced bow strokes and it doesn't have an amazing sound but no bow in this price range is going to be anything great.
 

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