It's All About the Bow

Assuming that you have at least a moderate-quality fiddle or violin (that is properly set up) and some skill at playing it, NOTHING matters to your playing, the sound your playing makes and your development as a bowed string musician than the bow. The old rule of thumb that we old people were taught is that you should spend at least as much on your bow as you do your fiddle or violin. How many of us really followed that advice. Especially those of us who practice the fiddle discipline played on the cheapest Brazilwood or fiberglass bow that we could get our hands on.

Until you play a great bow, you just can't get it--you play a lot better with a high-quality bow. Not too long ago, a great bow could cost thousands of dollars. Invariably, great bows were always made of Pernambuco wood, or occasionally Snakewood (but Snakewood is more common for Baroque bows, and that is a different topic than today's). Pernambuco bows can be real a joy to use; but there is a serious shortage of Pernambuco wood, so buying a new one could be considered irresponsible, and a good old one is going to cost you some big bucks.

Today, you can get a carbon fiber or carbon graphite (they are slightly different composite materials) bow for under $500. In the case of the IncrediBow, you can get one for about $150 or less. High-end carbon fiber bows that I have played are better than ANY pernambuco bow I have played (that should generate some comments!). Being in the business of selling fiddle and violin and bows (Don Rickert Musical Instruments) and having observed hundreds making bow buying decisions, I can report the following consumer insights:

1. The majority of potential customers enter the purchase dialog with the notion that they want a wood bow.
2. We take more old Pernambuco wood bows in trade as partial payment for high-end carbon fiber bows than we sell.
3. We sell more carbon fiber bows than wood bows. In fact, I cannot remember the last time we actually sold a wood bow.
4. The new generation of "braided carbon fiber" bows (carbon fiber fabric wound around a core and encased in a resin) perform better than the older style extruded carbon fiber bows.
5. The majority of bows we sell are of the braided carbon fiber type (and these are the most expensive...in the $400-$1,000 price range).

One more point about bows: The best bows available are all made in the USA, such as Glasser and CodaBow. Even the old London based P&H bows are now made in the US.