A few weeks ago i got a new violin, and over the next few months i'm going to be thinking about getting a new bow. My current bow is only worth £100, but my violin was nearly £2000.
Would £400 be a decent amount to spend on one? I know the general rule is to spend a third of the price of the violin, and that'd be about £650? But i'm a) not sure if i can afford that and b) would it really be worth the extra £200? From £100 to £400 is already a pretty big upgrade!
Obviously i want the best bow i can get and i'm not looking to get the cheapest i can get away with or anything. I just genuinelly don't really know how much i should be spending


Does this sound like a silly question But this will only be the 2nd time i've bought a bow and the first time i didn't really have a clue what i was looking for!

Hi Ffliwt,

I honestly think that you should be looking at how the bow feels rather than what it costs. A third to half is the guide given here, although I paid almost ten thousand euro for my fiddle and nowhere near five for my bow, so it doesn't always hold true.

I wouldn't be so certain that the difference between a two and four hundred bow will be so huge to be honest. It's a bit like fiddles, you get lots for a few hundred quid, then nothing of any real interest until you get to a couple of thousand - there's a big black hole in the middle !

Why not decide the maximum you can spend, then draw up a list of what your current bow doesn't do that you wish it did (certain strokes, response etc). Go to a bowmaker (if you can) or a fiddle shop and tell them I want to try all the bows you have between (just under budget) and (just over budget).

Ask them to take the prices off and just play for a few hours. Narrow it down to three or four and ask to take them home. Your choice will make itself apparent.

Once you know which one you want and which is a close second, ask the prices and buy the one that fits.

This way you won't judge on price alone (I'll take this one 'cos it's cheaper, or this one must be better because it costs 100 quid more) but on bow response, however having fixed your price parameter in advance, you know you're not shooting yourself in the food money-wise and so you should end up with the right bow for the right price.

Good luck!

Thanks that's some really good advice! I'll definately do that.

my violin bow is 1/5 of the price of my violin, viola bow is 1/2. Try lots of bows and pick the one that 'feels' best. I think £400 is a very reasonable amount to spend if you're violin is £2000. I tried some more expensive bows but didn't feel that they were significantly better to justify spending that much extra.
x

When I had just paid £3000 for my current bass, I got a dealer-luthier to add a fingerboard extension and long C string, and at the same time tried some of the bows he had for sale, at prices from £450 upward. Of these, I much preferred the cheapest, and still use it. The bass is now valued at £5000 (that's about the same in real value) and the bow at £1000 (rather better than inflation). The limit on my bass playing is still me, not my equipment.

FWIW, I think the 1/3 to 1/2 rule ceases to apply in the higher price ranges. Would anyone pay £300K for a bow with which to play the Mendelssohn Strad (c. £900K)? Top bow prices seem to be five figures, not six.

For a £2000 I would look around the £500-600 price range which is a very significant jump in quality from £300-400. Of course it is a personal choice in the end, but for something that will hold its value and be good enough for a top amateur or good student £600 is a reasonable price. You should be looking more at modern bows. Anything that is old or French costs more just for the name, so I would say go for maybe a lesser known maker from the last 50 years, and from that just find a bow you are happy with.

Don't overestimate the importance of comfort over sound. It is easy to adapt your technique a little to make a new bow work well for you, but the sound a bow makes cannot be improved. Always, always pick a bow for sound primarily. The rest will take shape around that.

Good luck with the bow hunt!

We've had a good few bow buying threads over the years, I suggest you do a search as the advice has generally been pretty good. I expect I 've said something like this before but expect the bow to choose you, rather than the other way round. To start with, try as many different bows as you can - not just within your price range but also quite a bit more just to get an idea of what the differences are. Bows vary tremendously as to weight, balance, feel and performance and different bows influence the sound of your violin in different ways. The 'right' bow will just feel like an extension of your arm and should play and articulate very naturally, easily and evenly and produce a good clear sound.

It would be hard to pin down an ideal, definite, price bracket but the 1/3 rule is as good a starting point as any, however at your level do make sure that whatever you get is well capable of carrying many of the more advanced bowing techniques that you have probably started working on already. As well as new and older pernambucco bows do try a couple of the advanced carbon fibre bows. I have a grade 7 pupil who recently bought a Coda Diamond bow which suits her instrument and playing style very well and is extremely versatile and consistent to play. It certainly came within her parents' budget of £500, so shop around.

There are several reputable luthiers who will send bows out on aproval - again, do a search. I believe Lottie has a good source.

This is interesting. Does it sound as good as a wood bow of a similar price? I suppose as a 2nd (teaching/use during re-hair) bow carbon fiber might be a good move...and more reliable when you're on a limited budget.

With the usual reservations that it has to be a good three-way fit (player/violin/bow) in this particular case the Coda Diamond outperformed everything I tried up to about £1000 which surprised me as I am generally quite a traditionalist. I would personally be very happy to have one as a teaching/muddy gigs/general spare.

I seriously considered the viola model when upgrading my viola bow recently but didn't get on as well with that as with a much cheaper, heavily restored pernambucco bow.

Just goes to show that every case is different!

I did try some carbon fibre bows last time i tried bows and, at the time i didnt really know anything about bows and didnt know carbon fibre bows existed or what carbon fibre really was... (i'd only been playing a few months at the time) but i remember that i didn't like any of them
Obviously i'll try them again and keep a completely open mind - my playing has completely changed (thankfully! haha) and my budget is completely different etc. so i may well love them this time
Though i am a bit of a traditionalist so if i did have to pick between carbon fibre or wood it'd have to be wood