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Double Bass Great Historical German (style) Bow Makers

#4
Picking this up out of the dark ages - any one know anything about the bows of Otto Pfreztschner, who I think was HR's son (unlike AG, which was a company brand I believe). Also, anyone on Milan Oubrecht's work (who is Czech, but makes great bows, I'm told)?

Thanks
Louis
 
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#5
LouisF said:
Picking this up out of the dark ages - any one know anything about the bows of Otto Pfreztschner, who I think was HR's son (unlike AG, which was a company brand I believe). Also, anyone on Milan Oubrecht's work (who is Czech, but makes great bows, I'm told)?

Thanks
Louis
Click to expand...

Hermann Richard (H.R.) Pfretzschner's sons were named Hermann and Berthold Walter, who brought the shop into its golden age before WWII. Berthold's son Horst ran the shop after the war and was quite a fine bow maker himself, even specializing in bass bows, but quality control proved difficult after 1963 in the GDR.

There is an excellent facebook group documenting the history of the German bass bow tradition called "german bass bows" with plenty of documentation and photos of fine german bows.
 
#6
And to answer the original question:
Albert Nürnberger is undoubtedly the finest german bow maker. Pre-War Pfretzschners are also outstanding, but vary wildly in weight and model. August Rau, Adolf Schuster, Paul Weidhaas, EM Penzel, Gerhard Walter Renz, Kurt Dölling, and then the Schmidt family round out my list for finest historical makers from Germany.
 
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#7
Why are fine German bows less expensive than fine French bows (or at least it seems that way to me)? Is it just that the great French bow makers make violin and cello bows which look like French bass bows, these are more expensive due to the market, and so the bass bow prices are higher by association? Or is it that there are more French bow players?
 
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#8
I think it’s sort of a two-part reason. The first being that in the larger market, the term german-made is synonymous with mass-produced instruments and bows of little artistic consequence. Germans basically flooded the market after 1850 and well into the 20th century as music education became commonplace and thus the need for affordable instruments became more pronounced.


That’s an unfair attribution because many of the founders of the great bow dynasties studied with great French makers and later often produced bows for the very same makers, who then used their own stamp on them. I have many violin colleagues who prefer their bows by Knopf or Nürnberger to their Pecatte or Voirin French bows and for good reason. The material is often better and workmanship equally pronounced.


As far as bass bows, there is been close to zero official research on the subject, so there isn’t really an official way to categorize the quality of a bow by X maker. Of course, those who spend a lot of time with great bows can, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect the market value. That’s slowly changing, however.
 
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#10
Does anyone have informations about Gerhard Walter Renz? I have a nice bow stamped Renz, but I can't find any informations. I have no idea how old it is.
I just sold my Doelling to pay my new Arcus S7:crying:
 
#12
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8F9A2789-16BB-449C-ADB0-98FB40B6E14A.jpeg
 
#16
Yes, you are right. I don’t know if they play like Ludwig Streicher in Vienna, but it must be crucial for them to have these frogs. Anyone knows for which bowgrip these frogs were made?

For my Playing style it is not necessary, but very comfy.
 
#17
16fuss said:
Yes, you are right. I don’t know if they play like Ludwig Streicher in Vienna, but it must be crucial for them to have these frogs. Anyone knows for which bowgrip these frogs were made?

For my Playing style it is not necessary, but very comfy.
Click to expand...

That is a findeisen frog. It was designed for followers of theodor albin findeisen‘s teachings. He was former 1. Solo bass at the Gewandhaus orchestra and taught at the Leipzig conservatory. Many great bows after the 1920s feature this frog model.
 
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#18
Ah, now I remember. When I showed my professor in Weimar (I studied there, very close to Leipzig) showed my first Bow with findeisenfrog I said: look, it has a findeisenfrosch! He said: nice bow, but Findeisen did not invent this! He sounded a bit angry. He was 2nd generation lifetime professor in Weimar. I guess, his father had some beef about bows with the other cats.:laugh:
 
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#20
I'm looking at taking an H.R. Pfretzschner bow out for trial; it looks to be a post WWII bow, @131gr. But the stick, so the (very reputable) dealer claims, is Brazilwood, nor pernumbucco (though they come from the same tree, I believe). The bow is priced accordingly @ $2500. Can anyone think of any reason not to check out a Pfretzschner brazilwood bow? Thanks.
 

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