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Double Bass Stoltenberg bows

LouisF

LouisF

Supporting Member
Apr 21, 2003
5,400
3,943
Los Angeles, CA
#1
A post in the Basses forum about Bob Riccardi's bass shop (where Ken Smith got his "cornerless" bass) led me to track down Bob Stoltenberg, whom I had never heard of before and ask him about his bows (Ricciardi's had two - several French and one German that they actually seemed reluctant to part with).

Bob sent me FIVE German bows to try via Denisa Hanna (who worked for many years at Stein on Vine). The bows have almost no resemblance to one another - short, long, wrapped, unwrapped, heavy, light etc. But they're all pretty good, and a couple are really good.

I've got them for a couple of weeks to try out. If anyone is interested, I can pass your info onto Bob or Denisa when I'm done. Most of the bows I have are @$1k.

Interesting links are here:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

YouTube - ‪Part Two Fox Valley in Focus Interview with Bob Stoltenberg‬‏

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#5
I don't know what else to say at the moment - two of the bows a very good, the best one has a deep camber and is the longest of the lot. One bow, which seems to be the oldest in the lot, is very old and has some sort of metal reinforcement at the tip, but plays very well. The other two sticks seem well balanced, but a bit weak on my basses.

I guess I'd say his bowmaking was, what? Idiosyncratic?? There's certainly not a lot of stylistic consistency. Reminds me a bit of Bob Swanson and his basses.

Stoltenberg's email is in the link. He seems very accessible. Just say that Iwas talking about his bows and you'd like to try them out... Or wait till I'm done with this lot and I'll ask Denisa about passing them on to you. (The best one might be gone, though!) :)

Louis
 
#7
I have also sent him an email. He was very quick to respond and he's going to send me some pictures. New proxhownicks are a bit out of my price range and a bit to ligh for my tastes, his entry level bows are less expensive, around $1200, correct?
 
#9
Not to hijack my own thread, but you might want to check out the String Emporium $900 bows... I've got one of their brazilwood bows as a back up bow in the office and it's very good. These might work for your budget.

Louis
 
#10
Thanks, I'll look into that. He said that he would see what he has bit if he doesn't have something he could finish a bow to my specs and make it affordable. He just sent most of his bows to isb for the covention but he has four sticks that are almost done.
 
#13
The bows were a little too idiosyncratic.... even for me. On the plus side, I did get to spend some time with Denisa Hannah (wife of the late drummer Jake Hannah) who is a friend of Bob's.

Denisa, who worked at Stein on Vine for years, is setting up her own shop. She rehaired all the bows for Bob and does great work. She'll be doing repairs and rehairing on her own now.

Anyone wants to get in touch with her let me know and I'll pass her contact info.

Thanks

Louis
 
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#14
An update to a really old conversation about Bob Stoltenberg; Bob is approaching 80 and still working at his bench making yet another bass and a number of bows.
I met him at a Lynn Hannings class all those years ago and continued to go several times a year in Thousand Oaks where a bunch of regulars became "the purple hands gang", Denisa included. We became good friends, and over the years I visited him in Plano and he came to my shop and helped on several bass restores and we still call each other every Tuesday and Saturday, have done for, well, decades now.
He is still bright and outgoing and will talk your ears off if you let him. Lynn owns one of his bows and has sung it's praise on other forums. He still has bows for sale although doesn't have a storefront any longer. A visit with him will be an enlightening and rewarding experience if only for his stories.

Kirk Adie
former proprietor Fiddlestick Bow shop Austin Tx
 
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