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Double Bass Wiedoeft Bass Rosin

#41
Phil Smith said:
Personally I can't justify the price of Wiedoft which to me is just a square version of Kolstein soft. YMMV...
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That is not what it is. I love the Kolstein rosins, but, they are not even consistent from the beginning of a gig to the end. This stuff stays grippy on my bows between gigs. The consistency is the real selling point, I imagine whatever makes the cake last has to do with it.
 
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#43
damonsmith said:
That is not what it is. I love the Kolstein rosins, but, they are not even consistent from the beginning of a gig to the end. This stuff stays grippy on my bows between gigs. The consistency is the real selling point, I imagine whatever makes the cake last has to do with it.
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I've been using Kolstein soft for a number of years and a couple of weeks ago a fellow bassists had some at a rehearsal, at first I was like wow nice package (the rubbery siliconey thing it comes in) before I knew it was from Kolstein that immediately came to mind. Tried it, noticed no difference from Kolstein soft and then when I found out the price, yeah whatever. :-)
 
#44
Tom Lane said:
I agree with Damon, the Wiedoeft isn't the same as Kolstein soft. Similar perhaps. Is it worth it? Like anything else, how much do you have to spend? Even at 3 times the cost of others we're still only talking about $30
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I picked up two cakes of Kolstein soft for $20. Sure the Wiedoeft is $30, but why pay that when you don't have to. Additionally, from a marketing perspective it would make sense for them to charge a "premium" price for what may ultimately be a light reformulation plus additional amount of product.
 
#46
I tried it out on a several arco heavy free jazz gigs and recordings - gigs where pops and Kolstein are like vaseline by the end. Only one on a super hot and humid day needed a swipe of Oak hard. If you are not playing a ton of heavy arco you might not notice a difference between it and Kolstein - which has been my go to rosin for a while.
Certainly, it is not worth $30 if you can't tell the difference between it and Kolsteins.

Phil Smith said:
I've been using Kolstein soft for a number of years and a couple of weeks ago a fellow bassists had some at a rehearsal, at first I was like wow nice package (the rubbery siliconey thing it comes in) before I knew it was from Kolstein that immediately came to mind. Tried it, noticed no difference from Kolstein soft and then when I found out the price, yeah whatever. :)
Click to expand...
 
#50
I've been using Wiedoeft consistently for the past 9 months and I have to say, I absolutely love it. I've always been a Kolstein purist but gave this a shot on a whim.
The Wiedoeft has a nice bite and grab, similar to pops but doesn't leave a sticky mess on the bow hair. This stuff is great for heavy lifting and solo playing alike and is close to a great audition rosin as I have found. One thing to keep in mind is this stuff goes a long way. A swipe or two is more than enough for very heavy orchestral playing and it can be easy to over do it if you aren't careful.
Throughout the change in seasons here in NY this stuff has been quite constant except for about a week of high heat and humidity where it felt a little glassy but that could have been due to other factors.
All of my section members have recently switched to Wiedoeft and I haven't seen a cake of Kolstein, Pops, or Nymans since! To add on to that, a couple of months ago I was getting a rehair from Sue Lipkins and she raved about it as she pulled out a cake to put on her personal bow.
I promise I'm not here to sell anyone anything, just wanted to share my experience as a former skeptic who now really loves this rosin!
 
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#52
I used Pop's in the past but here in Puerto Rico's tropical climate where you are moving from rooms with AC to hot humid ambient temperature all the time Pops just became too problematic for me. Eventually I settled upon Nyman/Carlsson as the best compromise, that is until I tried the Wiedoeft. I have used it for one month and a half and am very pleased using it. If it really is as long lasting as they claim then the price is more than justified IMHO. Under ideal situations Pops is probably the best but I feel this is a good alternative as it is more stable and also easier to apply and handle.
 
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#54
As a minimally skilled arco player, I always assumed that I needed the stickiest rosin available, so I’ve always used Pops. Recently, after yet another discouraging practice session with the bow, I decided to take the plunge and ordered a cake of Wiedoeft. Although I winced at the price (3X what Pops cost), I figured things couldn’t get much worse. What a difference! Nice smooth tone, most of the scratchiness gone, much easier to draw out a nice, clean tone with less bow pressure. Also, the flexible vinyl case whose sides fold down is a much better idea than the paper cup that Pops comes in, which always seems to get funky pretty quickly. We’ll see how this rosin fairs when the weather gets hot and humid, but I would definitely recommend this rosin for even those with minimal bowing skills. It certainly has immediately improved my skills from poor to mediocre!
 
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