All Things Strings: Bows on a Budget

I broke my first bow on Christmas Eve at the age of 15. It fell on its tip and, to my horror, the head snapped off. Until that moment I hadn’t fully realized that the bow was not an accessory but a sort of co-instrument with the violin. Two days later, anxious to begin playing again, I took my great-grandfather’s fiddle to Seattle and made my very first visit to a violin shop. I remember the light filtering through the dusty leaded glass windows, the aging oriental rugs, the racks of cellos, a rack of antlers, an old lute, and other instruments I didn’t recognize. It was an utterly arcane world, and standing at the glass counter with my entire life savings—$62—I realized I had no idea how to go about buying a bow.

Aspiring string players—or their parents—are routinely confronted with the necessity of buying a bow on a budget without enough knowledge to make an informed purchase. A bow can cost anywhere from $50 to tens of thousands and not look all that different to the untrained eye. What’s the difference between a $50 bow and a $150 bow? What can you expect in your price range? What advantages would just a little bit more money buy? What should you look for in a bow? And for that matter, where do you buy a bow?

Ch-ch-ch-changes
The last few years have seen big changes in a traditionally slow-moving trade. Carbon fiber has gained acceptability as an alternative to wood and has recently started coming down in price. The Internet has made good information on bows more accessible and changed the way we shop, while China has emerged as a violin- and bow-making powerhouse. “China has really arrived in the last two or three years,” says Jay Ifshin of Ifshin Violins in Berkeley, California, noting that quality has increased dramatically. Like a growing number of retailers, Ifshin runs his own workshop in China, training workers and overseeing production of his own models. “Some teachers get hung up on European,” he adds, “but these days Chinese bows are better.”

“It’s a good situation right now for players,” says Todd French, president of StringWorks,
a company that designs its own line of instruments and bows. A confluence of conditions currently is working in favor of the consumer, he says, including a low-cost workforce in China and an unfavorable exchange rate with Europe. Quality has increased dramatically, with most work being done by hand rather than machine, while prices have come down. “Who knows how long it will last,” says French, whose designs are made by a workshop in China.

The entry-level bow market can be confusing. Entry-level bows are made of several different materials. Prices vary widely and products are frequently not branded but simply labeled with the name of the retailer—if they are stamped at all. To get oriented, we’ll start with an explanation of materials, a major factor in price and playability, then describe what to expect in different price ranges.

Materials
While fine bows have been made of one wood, called pernambuco, for the last 200 years, bows for the beginner come in a variety of materials. Pernambuco is prized for its beauty, resilience, and ability to draw tone out of an instrument, but it is also expensive and increasingly endangered. A number of less-precious materials are suitable for beginners, who may not be ready to handle the liveliness of pernambuco.

Leon and Ray Glasser invented the fiberglass bow in 1962, ushering in the use of synthetic materials for bow making. Fiberglass is a composite of lightweight plastic reinforced with fine fibers of glass that can then be molded. The resulting bows have a brighter, less complex sound than wood, but have the advantage of being consistent, inexpensive, and virtually indestructible.

Brazilwood is a generic term for hardwoods from Brazil. Pernambuco is a single genus of brazilwood, and it grows only in one place: the endangered Mata Atlantica rainforest on the coast of Brazil. Other brazilwoods grow more widely and make successful student bows. Excellent-quality brazilwood can be as good or better than low-grade pernambuco, according to Richard Ward of Ifshin Violins.

Carbon fiber is a later addition to bow making. Carbon fibers are extremely strong when pulled, but relatively flexible. These fibers can be set in a matrix of resin by various processes to create a composite material that is both strong and flexible. The mix of materials can be controlled to achieve specific results. Carbon-fiber bows vary greatly in price and sophistication, and are typically more expensive than fiberglass or brazilwood, but have recently entered the beginner price range.

The frog, where the hair attaches to the bow, is traditionally made of ebony. Very inexpensive bows sometimes have plastic frogs, while others are made of less expensive hardwoods. Quality of workmanship varies a great deal. Student bows are usually “nickel mounted,” meaning that the metal parts are made of “nickel silver,” an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc. Frogs are described as “fully lined” if they have metal pieces behind the pearl slide and down the back of the frog. Inexpensive “half-lined” frogs do not have metal behind the slide, resulting in a lighter- weight frog, which could leave the bow feeling tip-heavy.

Bows with poorly made frogs are time consuming or impossible to rehair. Workshops are very busy, so cheap bows are often turned away. (A replacement can often be purchased for $50 or so, about the price of a rehair.) Choose a decent-quality frog unless you plan to consider the bow disposable. Also, some violin shops do not work on instruments or bows they did not sell, so they may refer you to the company that sold it to you—something to consider when shopping. Like the Sears Roebuck catalog of old, online retailers tend to be less expensive and are certainly a blessing to those who live in remote areas. In contrast, brick-and-mortar violin retailers usually maintain a repair shop and priority in the workshop is an unspoken part of the retail price of goods.

Shopping!
Bows interact differently with different instruments, so bring your own violin to find the best match. Even among the least expensive wooden bows there is a great deal of variety. Some will be better than others. Ward suggests playing as many bows as possible. “Don’t get too hung up on a particular price range,” he advises. “Try lots of bows. Come in, try a dozen, take them home for a week, trade them in.”

There is no substitute for trying out bows and instruments with the help of a knowledgeable dealer, teacher, or more experienced friend. Every bow is a little different. Learning to see, feel, and hear increasingly subtle differences in quality is also an important part of the progressing player’s education.

BOWS R US
Pricing of student bows varies greatly. Prices at the low end are highly influenced by market forces such as the cost of labor, currency exchange rates, and the purchasing power of the individual retailer. For simplicity, let’s divide the market into four price levels roughly corresponding to $50 increments in price.

Entry Level: About $50
Bows under $50 are typically fiberglass or Chinese-made brazilwood and should at least meet the minimum standards. Fiberglass is virtually indestructible, making it a prudent choice for players too young to resist sword fighting. Wood has a warmer, more interesting sound, but in this price range a certain percentage of bows break under normal playing pressure, says dealer David Kerr of Portland, Oregon, resulting in potential trips to the violin shop for a replacement. “It’s up to the person,” he says of the choice between wood and fiberglass. Like any reputable shop, Kerr’s will replace bows that break under normal use—be sure to ask about that guarantee when you shop.

There are real bargains to be had at this price. At best you may find a good quality brazilwood stick with a fully lined ebony frog. But there are bad bows, too, warns Kerr. At worst, your bargain bow may be unplayable.

Better Beginner: About $100
Expect a better-quality stick that is both stronger and more flexible, better balance from end to frog, and a more complex tone. Also look for better-quality fittings: fully lined ebony frog, metal winding, leather grip.

Sticks in this range are typically better-grade brazilwood, made in China or Germany, or, increasingly, even entry-level pernambuco made in China. Carbon fiber has started to appear in this price range as well. Carbon fiber has the advantage of being almost indestructible, and also impervious to humidity, making it a popular choice as a second bow for advanced players.

Also look for better attention to detail. A nicely carved head is often an indicator of quality work throughout, according to French. The supplier he works with also makes “really, really fine” workshop bows and he finds that their skill trickles down into the lower-end products.

Step-up: About $150
Expect better quality wood with fewer knots and straighter grain, says Val Jaskiewicz, general manager of SharProduct, a long-time mail-order retailer. “Inconsistent wood must be compensated for by hand motion,” he continues. High-quality German-made brazilwood and better-grade pernambuco sticks made in China are typical.

Just a Little Bit More…
If you can spend just a little bit more, say in the $200 neighborhood, look for a “a big jump up,” says French. Jaskiewicz concurs. He characterizes these higher-grade Chinese-made pernambuco sticks as more responsive, bouncier, more aggressive, and capable of advanced strokes such as sautillè. In this price range, expect significantly better materials, whether German-made brazilwood, pernambuco, or carbon fiber, and still more skilled workmanship.

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This article also appears in Strings, Issue #133


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