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Double Bass whats wrong with my bow?

groooooove

groooooove

Supporting Member
Dec 17, 2008
9,043
6,883
Long Island, NY
#1
i have a french bow that came with my shen SB80 when i got it, i have no idea how to ID the bow itself..

it seems to be curved inwards, so when im playing the wood will touch the strings and make a sound. i have a feeling this is common, especially among cheap bows. is there any simple way to straighten it out a bit?

i've been sort of wanting a half decent bow lately anyway.. so if i need to replace it that wont be the end of the world..

all advice appreciated. open to new bow reccomendations, too.. (french)
 
#4
sirero said:
You did tighten the hair before you used it right? (and then loosened it after.)
Click to expand...

yeah. i'm not a complete noob in the DB world. just new to this cheap bass + bow. tried playing with the hair tighter than i perfer, diddnt help.

my teacher hasent seen it. i mentioned it and he said to bring it and show him.. normally use the college's basses for my lessons. due to the holidays, i wont see him for a while though.
 
#6
Big B. said:
Rehair possibly? The only time I ever had that problem was with a cheap bow that needed a new rehair badly. A good bow repairman can recamber a bow but that may not a reasonable repair for a cheap bow.
Click to expand...

yeah. the wood itself is curved inward if you look striaght down the bow. probably not worth repairing.

i love 15 minutes away from kolesteins, so i can browse for bows there i suppose..
 
#8
Les Fret said:
Almost all bows have the wood lsightly curved inwards so that it not the problem.
Click to expand...

but isint it a problem if its curved enough to be hitting the strings? is this common?

it doesent happen when i use any other bows.. there are 3 other bows (and basses) that i use regularly. (that i dont own.) and i never near that annoying wood-against-string sound with them..
 
#9
groooooove said:
it doesent happen when i use any other bows.. there are 3 other bows (and basses) that i use regularly. (that i dont own.) and i never near that annoying wood-against-string sound with them..
Click to expand...

Here are the only possibilities:

1 You don't have the hair tightened enough.

2 You have the frog tightened all of the way but the hair is still too loose. In this case, you need a rehair.
 
#11
groooooove said:
but isint it a problem if its curved enough to be hitting the strings? is this common?

it doesent happen when i use any other bows.. there are 3 other bows (and basses) that i use regularly. (that i dont own.) and i never near that annoying wood-against-string sound with them..
Click to expand...

I would suggest buying another bow or take this one to some expert bow man and let him have a look.
 
#12
Ok of it's hitting the strings then it's not tightened/... But if it is tightened then you are playing on the edge of your hairs... Really focus on keeping the hairs flat on the strings... my old French did the same thing... I think that it is natural for wood bows... I would suggest upgrade... I got a new carbon fiber and they told me it will never bend for a long long time throug out my career

Hope this helps :)
 
#13
As said above: your hair is either not tightened, or you need a rehair. If you have to tighten it all the way, and your'e still not getting it tight enough, you really need to rehair it...cost me about 50 bones last time I did it.
 
#14
Sounds like you've got a "player's curve." This is common with more flexible sticks, and can even happen on very fine bows. It's generally the result of heavy use with the bow pressed while tilted toward the player. If you like the bow, it can be re-cambered. However, without a change in your approach to bowing technique, the problem is likely to continue.

Try playing with the stick directly over the hair, with a wider band of hair in direct contact with the string. If the stick isn't being bent out of shape when you play, it won't bend out of shape.
 

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