Over the next few weeks I'll be able to start looking for my new bow (who needs handbags anyway and the chocolate cake is all finished )

I'm not going to be able to visit the Violin Shop in Glasgow (or the Edinburgh one) as they're too far away for travel arrangements just now, but they may be able to send me two or three in the post to try out.

Any hints or tips? I don't know anything about weights etc but I quite fancy trying a carbon-fibre one although I've heard they're inflexible ? Budget is around 250 to 300GBP.

I suppose I'll be able to tell if it's warped by lying it on a table? How deep should the 'bend' be?

Any favourite makes (are 'Coda' any good) or general hints or tips for looking please???

*quite excited*

Lottie, suggest you look at www.elidatrading.co.uk. Liz there is, Im told very approachable and gives good advice. She is also a forumite (elidatrading). A work colleague was very satisfied after buying a new viola from them. (PS I have no connection at all with them!)

Lottie, I'd concur with Fsharpminor to try Elidatrading. Going on past experience (I've bought a violin and several recorders from her) she's helpful, knowledgeable and focused on doing the right thing for her customers.


But whoever you are in contact with about trying bows, I'd say try a selection over a few sessions, and don't think specifically about their prices or what they're made of. Get someone else, even if they're not a string player, to give an opinion on what makes you sound your best.

Some bows will say immediately "I'm not the one for you". Others will need to be tried a few times first. When I upgraded my bow, the most expensive one I tried was the one I just couldn't play anything with. The one I ended up with was about half the price, but felt right in my hand from the word go. But even then, I took it away and tried it against my old bow with friend listening, and she was the one that convinced me that it was the right decision for me.


Happy hunting.

Hi Lottie,
I'm using two bows at the moment, a beautiful traditional Marco Raposo and a CodaBow Diamond SX. They cost about £350 apiece, and both get roughly equal use.
I've had six months to make side-by-side comparisons of the two, and on balance marginally prefer the CodaBow. I'm not experienced enough to make a detailed analysis of the individual playing characteristics of these bows, I only know my playing is consistently better with the CodaBow. But the difference is only slight. And truly I wanted the traditional bow to come out on top - if it was just a matter of aesthetics the Marco Raposo would be the outright winner.
Good luck with your quest!

I'm trying out a Marco Raposo cello bow and I'm seriously impressed. The stick is the right strength, just enough flexibility, the quality of the wood excellent and the workmanship is outstanding. I've heard lots of good things about CodaBow too, but haven't tried one myself yet, but I think I ought to, before parting with my cash.....

Word of advice about Raposo bows, do try out a few. All of them vary in weight and balance very slightly.

Son no 1 has a Marco Raposo cello bow and is very pleased with it. The man in our local shop agreed with you Amanda that they can all feel different though by the same maker. I suppose no two pieces of wood are ever identical. Do try as many bows as you can within your budget. We hid the price labels from no 1 so that he couldn't be influenced by the price.

I've also got a Marco Raposo (violin) bow (hey, join the club! ) Which I'm very pleased with, and it's also very pretty - it's unstained pernum buco (sp?), so a really light colour.
I also have a carbon bow, albeit a fairly cheap one. However, for the price it is very good and although it's not as finely balanced as my other one, I prefer it for playing folk.
I would agree with Stringmum about trying as many different ones and not being too influenced with price, though when I was getting my Marco Raposo I did try a £700 one which I loved even more, but it was obviously out of my price range, which was such a shame.
Enjoy bow shopping! I'm sure you'll be surprised by what a difference it makes, I know I really was

My daughter tried a glasser bow, and there was a definite improvement in tone of her violin, problem being, it was a touch too heavy and not quite enough spring in it for off string bowing for her, and so eventually settled for a Coda Bow, which was more expensive, and although has the agility which at this point in time was the most important for her , has not given her as good a tone I think as the heavier glasser. Both however, far outplayed wooden bows in the same price range. Even the same model of Carbon bow differs from one to another as the wooden ones do, so if possible, I agree with others, it's best to try a few. Carbon bows I feel are a safer option, as they don't break as easy. For your budget I say definitely go for one of these makes and leave the wooden bows until you can maybe afford a fair bit more!

Thanks for all your thoughts and replies - the Marco Roposo sounds interesting.

So do the Coda carbon bows..... hmmmm might make some phone calls tomorrow!

Will let you know how I get on

*even more excited *

Good luck with the bow hunt, Lottie.

Bows are a very individual thing, not just to you personally but also to your violin. Different bows will make your violin sound and respond quite differently, in fact what suits one violin may well not suit another.

Try out as many different ones as you can, you will probably know straight away when a bow is right both for you and for Martha.

To paraphrase a Harry Potter quote...........
You don't choose the bow, the bow chooses you!

Well, two Coda Diamond bows (NX and SX) and two Marco Raposo bows are winging their way to Scotland this afternoon. When they arrive next week it should be fun: I'll dig out my Kinsey studies (bowing exercises) and probably knacker myself I have no complaints about my old bow (very cheap beginners bow) and it's served me very well so it will become my 'second string' and still live in the case with Martha... but which one will be joining us...

Of course I'm now expecting miracles from my new bow-to-be and my playing will be Grade 8 standard by the end of the week I'm really intrigued to see/hear the difference a bow can make. I tried my teacher's Coda Diamond last week and it felt completely different from my old bow... and rather nice

Hurry up Mr Postman

I wouldn't spend too much at this stage. You are after all still only a novice player and your requirements will be very different in a few years time.

I agree though, bows that suit one instrument won't suit another. That doesn't make any sense to me but I know that it is so.

Liz

I have a Marco Raposo bow too (wants to join the club) and i love it.

best thing would be to go to a shop and try as many as you can. Find one that suits you and your violin
x

They've still not arrived *stamps her foot and pouts*

I may have to become the Founder of the ABRSM Marco Raposa Fan Club if they are as good as they sound (oooh I made a pun .."sound" hahahahahaha )

Well the bows had been delivered.... to the wrong house and they spent the afternoon sitting in the rain on somebody else's doorstep because they were out. Very luckily they were well packaged and although the outer wrap was damp the bows were safe and dry. Still, I'm sure it didn't do them any good.

So I've only had half-an-hour to try them out and will have a full session tomorrow. But I tried the Marco Raposo bows and they felt very heavy and almost dragged on the strings. They had very pretty frogs though . Then I played the same study using the Coda Diamond bow and interestingly my husband stuck his head out of the room he was in and said it sounded hugely better!!! And he's rarely interested in my playing! He said the first bow sounded "mellow" but a bit stodgy and the second one sounded lighter, more articulate and made my violin sing!!!! And I hadn't even asked!

There's something wrong with the thread on the winder of the more expensive Codabow so I'm not going to mess with it and will send it back. (I'm going to phone tomorrow to tell them about the poor courier service and the thread problem). I looked up www.codabow.com and it seems the NX and the SX have pretty much the same technology (very interesting!) but the SX has silver fittings and is far more expensive

But I'll be spiccato'ing all over the place tomorrow with all of them and will let you know how it goes (if I'm not turning into a bow bore??? )

Oooh the jury is out

Last night it was Coda, this morning it's Marco Raposa

And my Dad couldn't tell the difference

One for you, one for Dad?????

Dad rolled his eyes at the price and then shook his head when I told him that was relatively inexpensive for a new bow (he's a man of few words ). It's a nickel frog I'm trying so it's at the bottom of the price range too.

..and I'm really starting to like it very much - it's even 'warm' in my hand unlike the CF bow.

How do you weigh a bow - will I stick it on the kitchen scales? Just curious as one website advertises them at 63g which seems excessive (some of the CF ones are only 53g). Is there really such a huge variance!??

I quite like the weight; yes, the CF is much easier to articulate but to me the sound is thin and bright compared to the Marco Raposa bow which sounds much more substantial to my ears.

Yes, the NX and SX are actually the same bow stick, the difference is only in the mountings. The N and S designation in front of the X give it away really - N = nickel and S = silver.

[quote name='AmandaL' date='May 2 2008, 12:47 PM' post='694625']
[/quote]Yes, the NX and SX are actually the same bow stick, the difference is only in the mountings. The N and S designation in front of the X give it away really - N = nickel and S = silver.
[/quote]


*smacks her forehead*.......doh! I hadn't thought of that! (and they used to call me clever )

Just a question... Does CodaBow ship internationally? I live in Singapore, and would like to get a lighter bow than the one I current use. As of now, I take 2 seconds to shift from pizz to arco, and would find a rest later in the piece to get a comfortable grip again. Thankfully all my grade 8 pieces were fully arco.

I was looking at the CodaBow Conservatory as an alternative to a good lighter wooden bow, which would be at least SGD$1000+. My brother is studying in the University of Adelaide, but won't be back until July. Is there any way I could get one before then?

Another question... what currency are the prices quoted in?

The prices in this thread are in British pounds.

Codabow have produced a new range, the 'Diamond' which seem to be cheaper than their earlier models and has interesting technology! You can read about them on Coda's own website http://www.codabow.com/diamond.html

I ordered my bows from The StringZone http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/ as they had the cheapest online prices for most products compared to other stores. You could always contact them and ask about International deliveries - I'm sure they would arrive before July if you ordered something now.

Rai,

Try this : http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_bowsviolin.shtml
I've ordered some strings from them recently and it took 7 days on average for their cheapest international mailing method to reach SG.

So from the CodaBow website (http://www.codabow.com/models-conservatory.html), the Conservatory model for violin is £395? But why does the website Rosewood posted (http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_codabowfeature.shtml) charge only £355 for the same?

And I take it that the Diamond NX would about the same quality, as the price is £395 as well?

Sorry for my barrage of questions. I just need a new bow for a concert that's coming up soon, and I'm kinda new to ordering online.

Some online stores give a discount on branded products because they buy them at a 'trade' price (well below the Recommended Retail Price set by the manufacturer) so they can choose their profit margin. The manufacturer sets the Recommended Retail Price so offers the product at that price.

So it's often cheaper to buy products from a store/shop than directly from the manufacturing company.

The Coda Diamond NX is only £195 (British pounds) from www.thestringzone.co.uk

I second Rosewood's experience of Quinn Violins (US) - thanks to the exchange rate, it was cheaper to order from the US than to buy locally in Japan, and the strings and rosin they sent arrived SUPER fast - and adequately packaged, no nasty chips in rosin etc. (Quinn are the people who offer e-string and rosin sampler packs for the terminally curious ).

Here is another good one to recommend.
Concord music from US. The rate for international shipping and the speed for delivery is amazing!! It took me 5 days for the grand arrival of the strings to Singapore and the shipping fee was far cheaper than Quinn violin's.