Double Bass Say I want to get into making bass bows...

[Cyoder]

What specific tools would I need?

Is there any reading material I should look into?

Do you carve the stick to be bent already, or do you have to use a bending iron?

I know virtually nothing about making bows, and I have extremely little woodworking experience, so I'm not expecting to make anything amazing, I just wanna kill some time (or at least a hell of a lot of it).

I tried looking for guides online, but all I found were people selling bows, bowworks.com for materials, and all the actual guides and how-to's were about making actual instruments or cheap, rudimentary bows. Really nothing about the art of bowmaking. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bassics1975]

Bow making is a fine art whose secrets like those of the magician I would assume to be very closely guarded. A would-be bow maker is usually expected to be an apprentice to a qualified artisan for a great deal of time before being able to handle the craft on their own.

I have considerable experience as a fine carpenter myself and several years ago, I tried my hand at making a bow. Long story short...I would have had better results with rosin on an axe handle than I did with my monster creation. It looked OK but it did not balance, it warped easily and it just sounded terrible. I would have loved to have some insights myself at the time. There is much more to the craft than meets the eye. Good luck with the search.

 

[Bill Bentgen]

The Violin Society of America has occasional workshops:

Link Removed

 

[Eric Rene Roy]

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Contact bass bow makers looking for an opportunity. Be ready to travel and exchange your time for knowledge.

I had the opportunity to go to Chicago by Rodney Mohr. He got in LOTS of raw pernambucco and wanted to cut it all up into blanks. He was willing to give me room and board as well as teach me to make two bows during this time. I just had to get my butt to Chicago. I was young and dumb and let the opportunity pass by. Something I will always regret.

Point of the story...there are opportunities out there...look for them and be ready to move on them when they present themselves.

 

[bejoyous]

See what George700DL has to say about making your own bow. He made is own 3-stringer and folk bow in order to play Transylvanian stuff music.

 

[George700DL]

See what George700DL has to say about making your own bow. He made is own 3-stringer and folk bow in order to play Transylvanian stuff music.

I'm actually finishing up a custom viola bow for myself now. It looks more classical (conventional frog and all) but still has the weight required for this type of music.

I've never made a classical bow of any kind, because those are available everywhere. It sure sounds like fun though!

George

UPDATE: I just cussed up a storm, as I successfully destroyed a Chinese-made frog ordered online. The ferrule was jammed on there so hard that I destroyed the mother-of-pearl, cracked the ebony tongue, and scratched the crap out of the ferrule itself before pulling the ferrule off. I swear they must have glued that $##^#r on there But now I feel great that I destroyed that piece of junk. It was well worth the $27. So much for ordering pre-made parts. Time to make my own frog, as usual.

So, good luck with your bow-making OP

 

[Heifetzbass]

Does Reid Hudson still still do the bow making school in Arkansas?

 

[Cyoder]

Well, I've done more research, went to my university library and found tons of books on all sorts of really in-depth instrument construction (harpsichord, lute, viols, guitar, pipe organ [that was a little surprising], bassoon), but nothing on bows. I found a diagram that was a cross-section of a bow that was labeled, but that was it. I'll ask the guy who does my re-hairs about bow construction and apprenticeships next time I go for sure. He'll definitely know more than me about that stuff, and if that doesn't really work out I'll just ask other bow makers around here about the whole apprentice thing.

 

[BassinCT]

Check out the Summer Programs at U. New Hampshire. It is attended by people from around the globe. George Rubino and Lynn Hannings are the teachers.

I attended the bow rehair course with Lynn Hannings in the summer of 2008- I enjoyed it and I highly recommend taking something similar to this first.
Link Removed

 

[Cyoder]

I'll definitely look into that for next summer, but that's a while from now (or not depending on your life's pacing). Between school and practicing, though, I'm definitely gonna try and take advantage of whatever I can get around South Florida, possibly Central Florida, if I can make the time.

 

[Bowmaker]

UPDATE: I just cussed up a storm, as I successfully destroyed a Chinese-made frog ordered online. The ferrule was jammed on there so hard that I destroyed the mother-of-pearl, cracked the ebony tongue, and scratched the crap out of the ferrule itself before pulling the ferrule off. I swear they must have glued that $##^#r on there But now I feel great that I destroyed that piece of junk. It was well worth the $27. So much for ordering pre-made parts. Time to make my own frog, as usual.

If George had been shown how to remove a ferrule correctly then his money would not have been wasted. In my nearly 40 years of working on all values of bows I have never found a Chinese nut (frog) that was not capable of being dismantled - after all, it was made in the first place. And they don't make junk - I am not biased, I simply appreciate good workmanship, and that is not defined by national boundaries. Once you try making your own, you might appreciate the skill that goes into such an item. There are 'trade secrets' that make removing ferrules easy without scratching them in any way, and also removing reluctant slides. Often, changes of humidity cause fits to go tight - ebony is very reactive to that.

 

[Carl Hillman]

If George had been shown how to remove a ferrule correctly then his money would not have been wasted. In my nearly 40 years of working on all values of bows I have never found a Chinese nut (frog) that was not capable of being dismantled - after all, it was made in the first place. And they don't make junk - I am not biased, I simply appreciate good workmanship, and that is not defined by national boundaries. Once you try making your own, you might appreciate the skill that goes into such an item. There are 'trade secrets' that make removing ferrules easy without scratching them in any way, and also removing reluctant slides. Often, changes of humidity cause fits to go tight - ebony is very reactive to that.

Speaking of removing a ferrule correctly, here's an example of how NOT to do that. Note the gouges, where apparently some person used a pair of needlenoses to pry it off.

This was the result of a "professional rehair" from a violin shop in Dallas. (That's just part of the mauling they gave my bow. Boy was I pissed when they handed it back to me.)

 

[james condino]

"..............I had the opportunity to go to Chicago by Rodney Mohr. He got in LOTS of raw pernambucco and wanted to cut it all up into blanks. He was willing to give me room and board as well as teach me to make two bows during this time. I just had to get my butt to Chicago. I was young and dumb and let the opportunity pass by. Something I will always regret.....

My first reaction to that was, "Ouch!!!";....but I'd bet you wouldn't be where you are today if you took that turn.

We all have plenty of missed opportunities in life that we somehow reconsider later. I often regret not staying in and retiring from the military; I could have been collecting a paycheck for zero effort for the last 16 years (!!!!!)....but it didn't seem like a great idea during the Gulf War. I'd have never done any of the other 100s of great things I accomplished during that time period if I stayed in. Don't even get me started on old relationships!

The grass is always greener on the other side.

I can distinctly remember two separate occasions being at the Mt. Everest basecamp for weeks waiting for bad weather to break while I was bored out of my mind & dreaming about how everything would be different if I could just be back in the US with a great band and having my own workshop building instruments. Now it is a rare day when I'm not in the workshop or late for band practice dreaming about how I can get back to Nepal.....

 

[Ed S]

Folk might enjoy the recent bowmakers film.

Nothing about basses, but gives SOME explanation/history of bowmaking and the profession/training.

I thought it OK. It coulda used A LOT more practical material. For example, didn't even mention tips (other than to show one being attached), and didn't hint at how the wood got from the still standing tree to the precut blanks all the makers were using. Coulda mentioned wood import laws. Nor did they mention carbon fiber. Or go into much detail as to the market of antique bows.

At the same time, they had A LOT of filler - for example, they would spend several minutes showing a quartet playing an entire piece. Or they kept showing the same planing of the stick or gouging of the frog, without explaining exactly what was going on. And they spent, IMO, way too much time on one guy's woes.
I realize a documentary tries to serve several purposes. I just didn't care for the balance these filmmakers chose. Still, worth a watch - especially if it later becomes available at a lower price.

I was shocked after when I googled for prices on these bows. I think the highest auction price for the makers in the film was well under $20k. And several were well under $5k. Just struck me as curious, when they were claiming the bow is at least as important as the fiddle, for the price of a bow from a world-renowned maker to be so much less.

 

[JBarz]

I’ve got some bow questions, and this seems like the appropriate thread to ask.

In the saxophone world, you can “reface” a mouthpiece to refine a blank. It’s a high art and requires a TON of play testing - like after every little tiny bit of filing… Is this an element in bow making, or are those guys just shooting from the hip?

All the bows I have bought new come with unrosin’d hair - do the bow makers not play them after being made, or are they being rehaired after extensive testing?

Is it uncommon practice to take a little material off here or there, as a player/amateur craftsman, and refine a bow as you get to know it during play time? Any reports of anyone turning an ok bow into something more exceptional with just some sandpaper, time, and tlc?

thanks, guys.

 

[Brilee]

I wonder what apprenticing at Arcus might be like? That is one of the waves of the future.