Double Bass I'm a Beginner and Tried a Good Bow

[johnvic]

My bow is a $75 CF bow. I'm pretty sure it's a Glasser bow. Yesterday during my lesson my teacher had me try his nice wooden bow. I forget what he said it was worth but it was not cheap. What I noticed immediately was that I could feel the vibration of the string in my finger tips. I don't get that with my current bow. I had read that a good bow was very important. Feeling the string was amazing. He had said that there was some good wooden bows in the $500 range at Gage. So next year I may graduate to a better bow.

But I just had to post about this because it was such an exciting feeling and I figure you folks would understand.

 

[Mark Gollihur]

The bow is as much a musical instrument as the bass itself. Congrats on your discovery!

 

[SVT4001]

Be careful not to judge a bow simply by it's price point. I believe you can find good bows for under $500.00.

Joe

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Truth. The best bow I've ever had, which I love, is a Seifert I picked up for $100 on eBay.

Hitting your bass with a nice bow, and making it wake up and say "Wow!" is always a good time.

 

[johnvic]

I won't be running out too soon to buy a new bow. That may be part of my tax return budget!

 

[SVT4001]

Keeping the hair fresh on your bow can go a long way. I rehair once a year, some folks do it more often.

I use a very highly regarded gentleman who has high standards for the hair he uses, and turns over a lot.

Joe

 

[jefff100]

When I was first starting out i had a fiberglass Glasser bow. It was horrible. My teacher let me use his once and it was a similar revalation. The next day I ordred a wood bow of my own, it was not an expensive one, but a basic "shop bow". Cost about $165. as I recall. Money well spent. Eventually I would like to go into David Gage's in NYC and shop for a "good" bow, but for now I'm happy with what I've got.

BTW - I dont budget anything waiting for tax time....life is to short.

 

[Bisounourse]

Had the same experience in a DBass shop: looking for a bow (and being on a very tight budget); asked for a student's bow and played a 150 € one (on which I had to work very hard), a 200 € one (I still had to work, but it was an improvement), and then he handed me a 400 € one and boy what an improvement it was; it was as if the bow did much of the work for you, nice balance, and it made the bass sing... Bottom line: I'm saving money to get me a good bow.