Double Bass Ivory tips and alternatives

[MikeCanada]

I apologize for the wall of text to follow. It expands on the current options for bow tips for those interested. I am hoping to start a discussion about alternatives. Bow tips are largely an aesthetic choice, but they are also used to protect the wood of the head. Many of us have had tips replaced, and that is far superior to the alternative of a broken bow.

From a bow making perspective, the "ivory" part of a bow tip needs to be:
hard/durable
able to bend to and hold a shape
relatively easy to carve
glue-able
nonporous so as not to absorb/discolour from glue and french polish
aesthetically pleasing

Is anyone aware of other alternatives being used?
Does anyone have a bow with something different on it?
Suggestions for other materials that we might not be aware of?

Here's a run down of what I am aware of currently being used, and a few advantages and disadvantages.

Elephant Ivory: I am not aware of any respected bow makers in North America/Europe currently using elephant ivory. A few had some stock from before the bans were put in place that they kept for pedigree bows, but overwhelmingly bow makers have moved away from it much the same as tortoise shell frogs. It was used historically, and was great for its purpose: it can be bent to shape, carves and polishes well, protects the head/beak of the bow from impact, and it is aesthetically pleasing. It isn't an option anymore.

Silver/Gold: They are very strong and add more weight, which can be a good thing in the right situations. Disadvantages include being harder to work with and more time consuming which coupled with the higher material costs makes them an expensive alternative. They are also traditionally "pinned" to the head of the bow with handmade silver or gold nails, which can be dangerous because there isn't a lot of wood on a bow tip (particularly the beak) to pin to.

Mammoth/Mastodon/Fossilized Ivory: This has almost the exact same characteristics as elephant ivory, the animals are long extinct, and thanks to global warming more and more of them are being found on a regular basis. A lot of makers use it exclusively as the legal alternative to elephant ivory, although several reserve it for their own bows and "worthy" repairs, using something else for cheaper bows.

Cow bone: Used by many makers, it is an inferior alternative. It is often difficult to bend and will lift/straighten out occasionally, it is more prone to chips and does not carve as nicely, and because it is much more porous, it will easily discolour when it comes into contact with some glues and french polish. It has a different grain structure, but looks pretty close to ivory.

Tagua/Phytelephas/Ivory Nut: This is one that I don't have any experience with. It is a species of palm tree that produces a nut/seed that resembles ivory. They are used a lot for decorative carvings and jewlery and things. The major disadvantage is their size. They typically grow around 5 cm (2 inches) which makes a bass sized blank difficult to come by.

Casein: This is a plastic made from milk protein. It can have an artificial grain pattern added that often doesn't look quite right, but it bends, carves, and polishes well, and isn't porous like cow bone. It is plastic which bothers some makers and players especially for high end bows, who do not want a piece of plastic on a bow valued at thousands of dollars.

Plastic: These tips are basically just white/ivory coloured plastic. They look like that Gibson guitar binding so lovingly nicknamed "mother of toilet seat". They are cheap and easy to work with and great for student bows that need the protection of a tip, but aesthetically not a pleasing choice at all.

Ebony: Usually this is only seen in older/period bows, but a few makers are finishing bows with a thicker piece of ebony and no additional face plate. While ebony is very hard, it is also very brittle, which is not ideal for protecting the head.

 

[Nuggulux]

Because of the ivory ban recently instituted by executive order by President Obama, this is a VERY big issue in the strings world right now. There are thousands and thousands of violin bows with ivory tips that will be illegal to be sold or traded or brought across borders (even between states in some instances) if the order remains as originally written.

So, many bow makers have been examining alternatives. Several of the more progressive makers are going to a metal tip, silver or gold usually, which is going to be easy to adapt and adopt, compared to the trouble of sticking with an ivory-looking piece of plastic. Who wants to put a piece of mammoth ivory (which is still legal) or ivoroid plastic on a bow and trust a FWS officer at the airport with a valuable bow?

The sickening thing about the order is that despite the ban, a hunter is allowed to bring in two "hunting trophy" tusks per year. More than one bow maker has told me that one tusk is enough to supply a bow maker for several lifetimes.

 

[MikeCanada]

I have seen and sought out a lot of articles, blogs and such on the ban and read the official releases by the White House, USFWA etc. While they spell it all out in terms that it seems hard to argue with, there are some pretty big holes in how this is going to work in practice. There seems to be very little reliable information out there, an instrument passport "in the works" but not as major priority, and many, many issues with it. Bows having to go through designated ports which are extremely prohibitive to musicians travelling, (for example there isn't one anywhere on the border between Canada and the USA) documents are required that very few people will have, and the "grandfathering" system isn't realistic. One of the biggest problems I see is that there is no way to prove or document what you have if it is not elephant ivory. I am guessing that an appraisal from a reputable shop stating what materials are used wouldn't hurt, but how much does the average border guard/customs agent know about the reputable nature of bass/violin shops?

I think at least with modern bows we are going to have to find an alternative to even the ivory look-a-likes. While they are perfectly legal, they are used because they look like ivory. This is one of the reasons why I'm asking if people know of or have encountered something else on the tip of a bow, and trying to get a feel for how receptive people would be to it. I don't like the idea of replacing the ivory on old bows with metal tips because it's a dangerous operation even if performed carefully by a skilled bow maker. You hammer a pin into the beak of the bow to get it to stay there, and on bass bows there are mere millimetres of wood there. On violin bows, there often is more pin than wood. Likewise, the cost of a new gold or silver tip is just not in the cards for a lot of people. Own a $100 student bow with a plastic tip on it? Now you need to get a $200-500 precious metal tip on it. There has to be something else.

The fact that you can still get a permit to go hunt elephants, and then bring home a head to mount on your wall is a pretty troubling display of how friends in high places can influence policy. This might be a radical thought, but something tells me that actually gunning down an elephant hurts elephants more than the sale of pedigree bows. Looking at the comment sections of many of the articles that have been posted, people tend to be firmly seated in either the "Musicians are monsters! How on earth can you complain about a ban that is supposed to save the elephants?" or "How can you over night determine that a legally purchased piece of art or instrument is illegal and cannot be bought, sold, or travelled with?" camps. I think there is significantly more grey area, but trying to make something black and white makes for "better" political policy.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

If you have a plastic tip on the bow, you can use the red-hot-needle test to prove that it's not ivory. Dunno how you'd prove that your mammoth/mastodon ivory isn't elephant ivory.

Are some tips really held on by pins? I thought they were all glued on. I've never seen a really expensive bow.

 

[MikeCanada]

I guess melting your plastic tip would be a favourable alternative to the bow being taken and destroyed but unless you want to do that every single time you cross the border, it doesn't seem like a practical solution.

As far as pins go, that is how metal tips were traditionally attached. Glues are better than they used to be, but finding something that bonds well between metal and hardwood is challenging.

 

[LouisF]

FYI. From the American Symphony Orchestra Leaugue:

Ivory Rules for Instruments Eased, Not Yet Fixed

May 15, 2014, Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) today announced changes intended to ease international travel with musical instruments, agreeing that “common-sense” solutions are needed to address the unintended consequences of the recent African elephant ivory ban. The policy changes are a step in the right direction - in direct response to urgent appeals from the League of American Orchestras and other stakeholders - but are far from a complete resolution to the challenges faced by musicians intending to travel with and purchase existing, legally-crafted instruments that are essential tools of the trade.

A policy order was amended today to allow travel with instruments purchased prior to February 25, 2014 that contain African elephant ivory. New rules announced earlier this year prohibited most traveling musicians from entering the U.S. with instruments that contain small amounts of African elephant ivory. Following a new Obama Administration effort to protect African elephants by combating illegal trade in ivory, the director of USFWS ordered strict enforcement procedures related to the Endangered Species Act and the African Elephant Conservation Act, and this order went into effect immediately on February 25, 2014. The original order prevented travel into the U.S. with instruments purchased since February 26, 1976 that contain African elephant ivory. A great many musical instruments containing African elephant ivory, while legally manufactured and acquired, have been legally purchased after 1976, and would have been completely prohibited from entering into the U.S. It is not uncommon for professional orchestra musicians, particularly string players, to perform with instruments that contain small amounts of ivory, most frequently found in the tips of bows.

Under the latest version of the rules, a musical instrument that contains African elephant ivory may be brought into the U.S. if the instrument meets all of the following criteria:

· The African elephant ivory contained in the instrument was legally acquired prior to February 26, 1976;

· The instrument has not subsequently been transferred from one person to another person for financial gain or profit since February 25, 2014;

· The person or group traveling with the instrument qualifies for a Invalid Link Removed; and

· The musical instrument containing African elephant ivory is accompanied by a valid CITES musical instrument certificate or an equivalent CITES document.


While widening the scope of instruments eligible for travel across U.S. borders to encompass instruments legally purchased in the past 38 years is an important step in the right direction, many serious concerns remain:

· It is unclear at this time what documentation will be sufficient to prove that an instrument was purchased prior to February 25, 2014. And, instruments purchased after that date, if they contain African elephant ivory, will be banned from entering the U.S.

· A reliable system has not been built for obtaining CITES permits and navigating complicated enforcement procedures at the very limited number of allowable U.S. ports of entry and departure, and across the globe. The costs, uncertainty, and risks associated with attempting to travel with permits is a barrier to international cultural activity.

· Upcoming U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposals to prohibit future domestic interstate sale and re-sale of legally-crafted instruments that contain very small amounts of African elephant ivory will strip essential musical instruments of their value, and render them unavailable for use by future generations of musicians.


USFWS Director Dan Ashe said today, “we have listened to the very real concerns expressed by the regulated community and have made common-sense adjustments.” Dialing back the limitation on the allowable purchase date represents a significant acknowledgement that the use of existing musical instruments that contain small amounts of ivory is not contributing to wildlife trafficking. The League is in ongoing dialogue with the Administration and key policy leaders to continue to seek solutions that address wildlife conservation goals while also protecting international musical activity.

See the following League resources for more details and ongoing updates:

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CITES Protected Species Travel Tips

For more information, please contact the League's Government Affairs office.

 

[MikeCanada]

Thank you, I had not seen this yet. While a step in the right direction, it still leaves a lot to be desired.

• As a Canadian, (or anyone outside of the USA) how do we travel to America with these bows? The USFWS/CITES permit that is cited requires an American address from what I can see.
• Points of entry: There are 18, none of which border Canada, and most of which are intended to be mass wholesale/import areas. This really doesn't work for people travelling with instruments.
• Resale: this is going to be tricky, because the authorities will likely assume that the value of the item in question is because it is made of or contains ivory, which in turn creates a market for (il)legal ivory. While this is much more the case with things like carvings and chess sets and such, bows in particular are valued because of their craftsmanship, tone, playability etc. and being "original in all its parts" is a huge part of that. While changing the date to when the new policy was implemented instead of 1976 was definitely a step in the right direction, what happens a generation from now?
• Ivory look-a-likes: there is still no clear information on this.

I am sure that there are some other concerns, but the big things that I would really like to have seen happen BEFORE this came into effect:

• A clear permit/instrument passport application system that can be accessed internationally. This could also address non-ivory by stating that a tip is cow bone etc.
• There is talk about the "passport" expiring. This is nonsense. Unless significant repairs have been made or the bow has changed hands, the only reason for an expiring system is for the issuing body to profit from what will likely be a costly renewal process.
• Access with the permit/passport at ALL points of entry. It should be no different than a human passport. There will most likely be clear identifying photos, and it should be easy for border guards/TSA/customs/whom ever regulates this stuff to say "this picture looks like that bow".
• Information about the future of the bows. If they cannot be sold as is, then plenty of people have just lost thousands of dollars in investments. If they have to be modified by putting new tips on, that still decreases value, and needlessly defaces art.

With that said, I am still curious about non-ivory, doesn't look like ivory alternatives that don't involve precious metal tips. Has anyone encountered anything? Does anyone have any suggestions for a material? It could potentially open up an opportunity for some really interesting artistic choices, but I'm drawing a blank on anything other than plastic that would fit the desired properties.

 

[LouisF]

This is from your fellow Canadian Mike Prochownik's site:

"As a result of an increased problem with customs regarding the control of imports and exports of wildlife products (such as pearl slides and exotic leather), I have decided to eliminate wildlife products from my bows and substitute them with product such a pig leather, abalone imitation and cow bone. (see picture)"

And he makes superb bows

 

[MikeCanada]

I am well aware of Zdzislaw Prochownik's wonderful bows. I have recommended them numerous times both in person and on Talkbass because they play and sound fantastic, are very well made, and cost a fraction of what several of his contemporaries are charging. My personal Prochownik was purchased after a trial of three of his bows and 6 by various other makers. A colleague of mine has one that he prefers to his Sartory, and another colleague has two. I have worked on about a dozen or so, and have yet to find one that does not impress me. His Massaranduba and Purpleheart bows stand up against anything else I have seen on the market, and I add that to the ever increasing amount of proof that "alternative" woods should not be seen as alternatives, but as equally valid options to Pernambuco.

The notice you pointed out on his site and his practice of using pig leather and cow bone have been in place for years. I have one of his slides currently removed on my workbench for a rehair, and the imitation abalone is exceptional. It might possibly have slightly less shimmer to it, but if I was not aware that it wasn't "real" I would be easily fooled.

His head designs have a very flat face, which helps to negate bending problems. Violin tips can have a quite pronounced curve to them in contrast. I would assume that the cow bone has been sealed with something so as to prevent discolouration, which is one of my other concerns with cow bone. It is working well for him, but I can still see it being problematic with an overzealous authority.

Thank you again. I am hoping that it does not seem that I am advocating for ivory use, quite the contrary, I am hoping to come up with something different. I just haven't found that solution yet.

 

[Berniez40]

I have an old Wusthoff bow with a pinned silver tip, and an old Francois Lotte with an ivory tip. The problem with old ivory is that it chips, and believe me I know this empirically everytime I look down at the Lotte. I rather love the feel of The Wusthoff, and the silver tip seems to have been gauged to a weight that enhances balance.

 

[bassics1975]

The Globe and Mail from Tuesday April 14, 2014 featured this on the front page.

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[MikeCanada]

There has been rather extensive blog postings, some good articles and a lot of questions, but few answers. It seemed like there was very little thought given to what the consequences would be for musicians, museums, collectors, and I'm guessing a few other fields as well, and the necessary changes have been rather slow to implement. I am still scratching my head a bit and I am not travelling with bows this summer, because I have no assurance as to what will happen if I do. I am hoping that sooner than later they develop the "passport" idea a little further, and make it available to non-Americans. Options for bows with ivory alternatives need to be put in place as well, and the passport system should be expanded such that ALL points of entry into the country are options instead of select commercial ports, so we will see where this goes.

I agree that the ivory trade is an issue and that there are numerous other poaching, (shark fin, big cats, whaling, tortoise, etc.) conservation, (pernambuco, ebony, rosewood etc.) and environmental (global warming, deforestation, pollution etc.) concerns that need to be addressed. Fingers could be pointed in a lot of directions and I would argue that all of these issues stem from unsustainable consumption fuelled by consumerism, but this is already flirting with politics a lot more than it should be.

 

[Tom Lane]

Hi Mike, perhaps a stupid question: I just purchased a used, older bow from a luthier. It plays better still than my current bow. How can I tell if the bow has ivory on the tip? It doesn't appear to be plastic. I paid about $1,200 for the bow, if that helps. Looking at it, it looks like it could be oyster or any variety of natural bone/shell-like material.

 

[MikeCanada]

It is a very good question actually Tom, and one of the big problems with this ban. Rants aside, everything besides the precious metal tips we use because it looks like and behaves like (bends, carves, polishes etc.) ivory. If the luthier was not able to tell you if it is or is not ivory when you purchased it, then you might be able to find a bow maker that can help you out. If the tip is original, then certain assumptions can be made based on the maker of the bow and its age, but if it is a replacement, it gets considerably more difficult. Mastodon/Mammoth ivory is practically indistinguishable, perfectly legal, and has very commonly been used in good bows since the ivory ban. Some makers stockpiled ivory before the ban and kept using it afterwards as well. While I am guessing there are subtle differences between elephant and mammoth ivory, I have not extensively studied or worked with either. Given how small a bow tip is, studying the grain for differences becomes even more challenging.

Cow bone and the other alternatives are easier to distinguish because the grain and how they polish are different. For example bone typically has to be treated and sealed because it is much more porous than ivory, and those differences are noticeable. A well trained eye should be able to make the distinction between ivory and bone, and although some of the plastics have come quite a far way in not looking like plastic, they are still pretty easy to spot. I have yet to encounter/work with the Tagua so I cannot really comment on that, and if it was oyster (which is highly unlikely but possible) it takes a different shine when polished that would make it easy to figure out. I will have to consult with some colleagues who were working with ivory pre-ban, and have since switched to mammoth to see what they have to say about distinguishing between the two.

 

[bassics1975]

One litmus test is the 'grain'. Ivory usually has faint lines that resembles the grain of wood. Older ivory yellows as well. The old method is to heat a pin with a flame and press it against an inconspicuous spot. If it is ivory, it won't burn or press into the material.

 

[robobass]

I'm curious on a few points.

1. Are there shells other than tortoise which are banned by FWS? And, does abalone or oyster shell look enough like tortoise that problems could arise?

2. Silver is actually pretty cheap, but I suppose no one wants to be pounding nails into the tip or putting synthetic glues on it either. What about using a synthetic glue to bond a very thin piece of wood to the silver or other metal, and then hide glue to attach to the actual bow?

3. What about some other wood besides ebony? There must be plenty of non-threatened hardwoods out there which would be quite beautiful and also strong enough for the job.

4. What does one normally pay to have a tip replaced? I had a new ivory tip put on my Chris English bow about twenty years ago in NYC. I think I paid $50 (might have been more), but presumably part of that cost was for the ivory itself. If I bring the bow to the US again I think I'll have my rehairer remove the tip (which I'll put in a drawer) and replace it with something which couldn't be mistaken for ivory. Not a big investment considering the hassle I might save myself.

There used to be (maybe still is) a big display of confiscated items at the Atlanta airport. I found it amazing some of the items which had been impounded. Especially a few wood sculptures decorated with some extremely tiny feathers which were claimed to be from a protected bird. I thought it questionable that these feathers could be positively identified. The point is though, that Customs and FWS officials can cause you a lot of trouble even if you're in the right in the end, so best to take preventive action to avoid any possibility of confusion.

 

[robobass]

FYI. From the American Symphony Orchestra Leaugue:

Ivory Rules for Instruments Eased, Not Yet Fixed

May 15, 2014, Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) today announced changes intended to ease international travel with musical instruments, agreeing that “common-sense” solutions are needed to address the unintended consequences of the recent African elephant ivory ban. ....

I just don't see how any of these "solutions" are anything but silly. To get a CITES permit you must provide a bill of sale, and state when the ivory was removed from the wild. If the bow was purchased used, then it may be impossible to determine how old the ivory is or where it came from. If you bought the bow thirty years ago, will you still have the bill of sale? What if you bought it privately and there never was one? How will they verify that the bill is legit? You could easily make one up bearing the name of a deceased maker, or use one from a different bow.

Consider the extremely limited locations for exiting and entering the U.S. with CITES permits. An instrument bearing a CITES permit or passport may only travel through a very limited number of designated ports of entry and exit where U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Department of Agriculture officials are on hand to inspect documents.

Now not only do you have to complete a seven page form and submit it with an application fee well in advance of travel, but you can only fly into certain airports, as Mike mentioned. I personally will just make sure I don't come in with anything which looks even remotely like ivory. How about a day-glow transparent orange tip? But, I worry about foreign musicians coming in to do concerts who may be totally unaware of the restrictions. I hope that CITES is making an effort to spread the word to foreign musical organizations and publications.

 

[50bass]

Just as a side note...Saw Christian McBride a couple of nights ago at the Victoria Jazz festival. Canadian Customs confiscated his bow at the border because it might contain ivory. Someone handed him a German bow at the gig, which he played French style, and still nailed it!

 

[MikeCanada]

1. I am not intimately familiar with the FWS/CITES/Other authoritative regulation bodies and exactly what they have restricted. There likely are other shells that are restricted and while the majority of the oyster/abalone shells used are commercially farmed, there are some species that are rarer than others. Tortoise shell is used as a frog material in bows, (I have never seen or heard of a tortoise shell tip before) and other than the plastic imitations, I have not seen a comparable material. The good thing is tortoise shell and ivory frogs can be removed and replaced with ebony frogs in order to facilitate international travel. A lot of collectors or performers that have valuable bows with ivory, tortoise shell, or damaged original ebony frogs chose to have a replacement made and keep the original in a safe/safety deposit box so that the bow can be sold as complete when they decide to sell.

2. Silver and gold prices are on the rise. As for attaching it, other than pins/nails, there still isn't a very good way to attach wood and metal. Wood shrinks and expands with humidity changes and time where metal does not, so the glue joint fails eventually. Metal tips are glued in addition to pins regardless. Silver tips are still usually affixed with an ebony liner, so putting a wood veneer between the silver and the ebony before attaching it to the pernambuco would create a lot of stripes up there visually. Hypothetically the ebony could be glued to the silver with a stronger adhesive and a weaker one to the pernambuco, but I have yet to see a wood-metal joint in bow making or any other application that is affixed with just an adhesive and not a nail/pin/screw.

3. Ebony is imperfect because although it is very strong, it is also very brittle. One of the reasons that the modern tip is ivory-ebony-bow is that ivory is soft and elastic enough that it should absorb some of the impact if the tip is struck/dropped. The ebony adds strength and an additional layer of protection. There are other hardwoods that could be used, with or without an ivory alternative/precious metal top or ebony liner and that is worth exploring. Most colourful hardwoods are harvested from rain forests that are rapidly shrinking, and a lot of "sustainably harvested" woods are coming from areas where large amounts of land has been clear cut in order to create tree farms. This is how "sustainable" eucalyptus and palm is harvested. Other issues such as whether or not the wood bends and maintains a curve well or how oily it is which effects the success of the glue joint would have to be addressed, but could likely be overcome.

Public opinion is also worth considering. Alternative wood bows are difficult to sell because everyone has been told that pernambuco is the best/only bow wood. Almost every student bow I have ever seen comes with a silver winding whether or not it is weight/balance appropriate, because it is expected. Any kind of different tip material other than ivory/imitations or precious metals have been looked at in the past as wrong" or not looking right, and it has made those bows more challenging to sell. Now, having something that clearly doesn't look like ivory could be a selling feature, especially as more and more incidents of confiscated bows arise. Coming up with a new standard material could be challenging to implement industry wide, but I think alternatives will be seen in the near future as a response to this.

4. Tip prices vary depending on the material and the pedigree of the bow. Typically plastic/imitation tips on student bows are around $100, mammoth tips on better bows around $200, silver $250+ and gold $500+ depending on the market value of the metals. Prices also can vary from shop to shop or maker to maker. Material costs and how easy/difficult the material is to work with, along with the amount of time involved and the risk of damaging the head if the file slips are all factors incorporated into the cost. Silver and gold tips are also heavier, which changes the balance of the bow as well. Considering how much of a gamble it is to travel with a bow right now, it very well could be worth the investment.

Other problems: Even if you wanted to comply with these insane rules, it is nearly impossible to do so. The number of points of entry is a joke. They are existing commercial ports intended for container ships and big business. Most of them you cannot enter into the country at via commercial airline, and there is not a single one on the Canada/USA border, which is the world's longest international border. It is unrealistic to expect every musician that wants to enter/exit the country to find a way to go through one of these ports, and if you make that effort but travel domestically, what is stopping them from seizing the bow then? There is no documentation you can get that proves your bow does not have elephant ivory on it. This would be a huge step in the right direction, especially for all of the bows that have cow bone or imitation ivory or even mammoth. There is no accountability/appeal process. If your bow is wrongly seized, it is gone, and you face the consequences of illegal import. While it would make the lives of Customs agents and FWS representatives more difficult and strip them of a certain amount of their untouchable authority, it would also mean that countless works of art, pieces of our cultural heritage, and the tools of our livelihood would be returned, instead of destroyed.

I apologize for the wall of text. You raised a lot of great questions, and it is a topic I feel quite strongly about.

 

[Tom Lane]

Maybe not quite on point, if so, forgive me. Ivory?