Gollihur pernambuco bows. Thoughts?

Many good things have been said about both Gollihur music and their bows here. I have had fantastic conversations with them and Mark is a member here, offering some great insight. I do not work for them, am not affiliated, and personally have not played the bows in question, but based on talkbass response alone I feel that they are a good bow for the price point. If you take advantage of the search function, you will find these bows have been discussed before, as well as others within your price range.

If you are intent on purchasing a wood bow and have access to a bass/violin family shop in your area, I would strongly suggest contacting them to see if they have something in your price range, and seeing if you could go in and try a few. While shops are typically very good with quality control even on their cheaper bows, each wooden bow is by nature different from the next and even under $300 one could very well jump out at you more than the others.

I do not know what your school bows are like, but if you are indeed playing on a carbon fibre bow instead of the Glasser fibreglass bow with the rubber grip on it, there is a very good chance that the bow is in bad need of a rehair and possibly other maintenance. Few school bows receive the care they should. I would not be so quick to dismiss carbon fibre as plenty of students, jazz players, pit musicians, and serious amateurs have them, and many seasoned pros keep one around as well. Take a look through the classifieds here too, and you might find something that interests you.

 

I play carbon fiber, I love my carbow! It pulls a really clear tone, and is the lightest German bass bow I've ever held. It works for anything from Schubert arrpegione sonata, bach cello suites, and even in my symphony orchestra it plays better than anyone else's in my section. My particular model bow is well above your price range (carbows sell for about $950), just don't write of a bow because it's not pernambuco. Check your local shops, and check out the upton bass bows, lemurs sunrise, and string emporiums, They're all more or less the same.

 

Henry P. -- I agree with the others here - you don't have to write off carbon fiber entirely. It's actually a very good material to make bows out of; light and stiff, with good "memory." However, the quality of both the material (CF) and the bows themselves can vary quite a lot. So the gist of it is that Carbon Fiber bows can run the gamut - from garbage to really nice. Kind of like basses! I could be carrying a half a dozen different CF bows under $300 from a variety of my sources, but so far have chosen not to because generally a wooden bow at a comparable price is superior in my experience - at least at your current price point. Now, you start getting into Coda bows and the Metropolitan from David Gage (made by Coda) and that's a whole new ball of wax. But they're above the price range you mention.

Just to clarify for your concerns, the primary reason our bows are affordable (not "cheap") is because we don't offer the common "we'll send you 3-4 bows, keep the one you like and ship the rest back" sort of deal. That's an expensive proposition, with shipping, insurance, and maintenance costs that we feel are unnecessary. Why? We've had the same bows from the same maker for over a decade, and like Mike said, you can read for yourself how they're usually received; we've found them to be extremely consistent from bow to bow. (I use one of the bows myself.) Certainly, there can be minor differences from bow to bow, but most variances are of the type that if you would notice/be concerned with such a difference, with all due respect, you're not looking in this price range. But all of that to say, that's why our bows are less expensive (but equal to or superior to) some of the other bows you may have found online.

All of that said, a recent ordering error resulted in us getting our most recent shipment of Pernambuco bows with plastic herringbone wrap instead of the usual silver wire. We're getting a corrected shipment sometime next month, but our stock of silver-wire-wrapped bows has recently run out, so all I have is a limited supply of the ones with the herringbone (they're otherwise identical to our "regular" stock bows). If you still want a pernambuco bow - at an even mo' better price - give me a holler.

 

I had one of the Gollihur pernambuco bows. I purchased it from a TBer, who was the second owner of it- having purchased it from another TBer. It's a great bow, now owned by one of my students, who LOVES it!

As for the Gollihurs, they are peerless! I don't work for them, nor am I affiliated with them in any way, except for as a very satisfied repeat customer. I highly recommend them!

Joe

 

Mark and Bob are most definitely two of the good guys.

 

Hi Henry - contact me off the board for pricing; don't want to gunk up TB with commercial talk. You can either PM me or use the "contact us" link on the website (preferred for quicker response).

 

I bought one of the aforementioned miswrapped pernambuco bows from Gollihur Music. I used the clearance price as an excuse to get a german style bow. It seems great. It has good hair and plays very well. All hail!