To take me through music college and possibly postgrad?

How much can you afford to spend? It is better to set an amount that you can afford and get the best bow you possibly can with that money... but it would need to more than 500 pounds I would think.

Someone suggested to me once that a third of the violins value is a reasonable guideline

?1500 probably maximum
i'm trying 2 french bows at the moment which are nice but i wasnt like 'wow'...
im trying one from my teacher which i fell in love with but it weighs - wait for it - 76g!

If you love the bow, then what is the problem? Do you mean you found it too heavy?

If it really is that weight it isn't a violin bow. It's even on the heavy side for a viola bow.

That's heavy enough to be a cello bow...

Indeeeeed, but i completely trust my teacher - he wouldn't give me something that he didnt think was suitable
before i weighed it i didnt find it too heavy, i thought it was perfect and definitely doesnt FEEL 76g
I've got 2 french bows here that are i think 58g ish, and whilst they feel lighter than the '76' bow they dont feel hugely lighter and i wouldnt say they handle better than it

Whatever way you look at it buying a heavy viola bow for violin is bonkers!
Are you sure you haven't made a mistake with the weight?

Yeah i agree, i've kind of ruled it out now
and well when i weighed it at home it said 69g
so in the shop (a very unreliable shop in my opinion theyve messed me around HUGELY in the past) i asked the man to weigh it. he said it was 76g i was like are you joking? he said come have a look and the scales indeed said 76g...

.... sounds like they haven't zeroed the scales properly or callibrated them for a while.....

You may have other reasons, such as lack of availability or alternatives, but I would usually vote with my feet with a shop that messes me about too much

I've just weighed my bass viol bow which is made from figured snakewood - it's definitely lighter than my cello bow - and the kitchen scales say it's 70g. My tenor viol bow (which is in fact designated as being tenor/bass) is made from pernambuco and is 55g. I'll check the cello bow later as I need to head off to orchestra shortly....

Unless you have to replace your bow urgently take your time and try as many bows in your price range as you can. Would waiting allow you to save a bit more and increase your budget? Would it give you more to choose from? Sorry I don't know much about the cost of violin bows only what we had to spend on a cello bow early last year for our son and there was a lot of choice between ?2000 -?3000.

Bows are TRICKY.
I've a feeling that I've written something about this before , so do the searchy-thing (which I'm not very good at). However, in my experience it's very much the 'Harry Potter' wand thing - the bow (wand) chooses you (the wizard ) and not the other way round.
Last year I took my much-loved bow in for rehair. It had taken me over a year to find this as the perfect bow-match for my previous violin , however I had upgraded my violin about four or five years ago and had felt since that the new violin could benefit further from a different (lighter, faster) bow but, realistically, there was no way that I would be able to afford to upgrade my bow for a long time to come. I was having several bows reahaired at the same time so borrowed a replacement for the weekend from my luthier (who had restored the first bow for me, and knows me and my instruments well).
To cut a long story short, I knew as soon as he put the 'bow to borrow' in my hand that it would be the perfect partner for my violin and this was only confirmed as soon as I got it home and started playing. I had to raid the piggybank and partexchange the other bow in order to be able to afford it, but am delighted that I did.

I like to think that the violin, player and bow have to work perfectly together as a very well-matched team, and that the 'right' bow has to fit perfectly as the final part of the jigsaw, and that special piece can be the hardest to find. DO enjoy your search.

Have you been to London, to Guivier's? They help a lot of London students and young professionals find instruments and bows and are very approachable and helpful.

Good luck in your search, M

Thanks for the help guys
I've decided im going to lower my budget a bit. Yes you heard right
My thinking is - I dont NEED a ?2000 bow right now. I'm upgrading from a bow worth like ?200...
Rather than taking a huge step now it's surely better to upgrade in smaller steps so that when I DO need a more expensive bow, I can choose it based on my technique and feelings at the time that I need it. Otherwise if i buy an expensive bow now I might be kicking myself in a few years for making the wrong choice.
I'm going back today and i'm going to ask to try all the bows between ?900-?1300. There were 2 I liked that were ?900, and when i found out they were that price and the other 2 were ?1500 I put the cheaper ones back for that reason
I'm going to go back, try them with my eyes clsoed and just pick my favourites not knowing hte price, then will take them away to try

I might be wrong - but it sounds like you're going to go back to the shop that's messed you around. Why give them your money?

Couldn't you wait until Easter and try bows from your "home" shop?

You are right - I;ll PM you my reasons


Went back today, weighed the '76' bow myself and its, as i originally thought, 70g not 76
still too heavy though
i have 2 bows on trial ones ?900 the other is ?1200 i wouldnt like to spend any more yet
If you put violins infront of me i'd know exactly what i was looking for waht i wanted etc. but with bows, i have them all out in the table infront of me and i'm just like i don't really know what im looking for or what i personally like in a bow
my current bow is RUBBISH and i think its holding me back but i dont want to go full speed ahead buying an expensive bow when i havent yet developed my own taste for what i like or need in a bow etc. so am gonna stay under the ?1200 category (i do really like the ?900 bow i have on trial) then maybe in a few years when i have a better idea of what i want, i will upgrade further!

I do not know how many bows you have tried, but i would say it is a good idea to try lots, and take your time. Also, it can be useful not to look at the price, and go by feel of the bow, like you say, you can get hung up on price. This is what i did when i choose a violin, in-fact there was no prices on them (but written on a separate piece of paper for reference after!). Also, my bow i got was (what i consider fairly dear) and should i change my mind any time i can sell it at a good price, so it can be viewed also an investment as well. One place where i went regarding bows asked about specific preferences i had, such as weight, position of balance point etc. I have been told that a professional bow starts from 2000 pounds. Anyway, have fun trying lots of bows.

I second trying as many as possible and without knowing the price. If you say to a shop you want to try as many as possible in a given price range they should be able to give them to you without the price attached to try.

Early last year my son had to get a new cello bow and he must have tried about 30 bows in total to find the right one for him. All were tried without him knowing the price.

Even if you feel your bow is holding you back it is worth taking a little more time to get the right bow. Yes it might not be a forever bow but it does matter that you make the right choice. You don't want to find that in a year you have to go through the whole process again if you can avoid it.

Tried to reply - but your mail box was full!

If you are spending that much money why not hop on a train and go to JP Guivier in London?
Also, I am sure that I read of a shop that sends them out on trial, can't remember where now. If I remember where I will post it.

Well
After about 6 hours of bow testing
I've ruled out the heavy bow
Taken the 2 French bows back
Took away an English and a German bow
Ruled out the English one
Love the German one
Going to Nottingham to try some more

Sounds like you are having fun!!

I think Guivier is excellent for advice and repairs, although expensive, but when it comes to instruments and bows I find I am not impressed with any of their offerings.

If you can manage to extend your trip, it's probably worth a trip to Tim Toft in Stone (not far from Stafford)

Thing is it'd cost me ?20 on the train then ?20 to take the bows back if i take any on approval =/

It seems a small expense to pay for something so important but my mum is not loving the idea

Sorry I'm a bit late coming to this thread, but hopefully I can still be of some use.

I can heartily recommend a trip to Bristol, which if I remember rightly is not a million miles from you, and has 3 shops within about 5 minutes' walk of each other. When I was bow shopping a couple of years ago, all let me to borrow bows on approval and return them by post if I wanted.

The chap in Bristol Violin Shop gave me some top advice about what I should be looking for. Until I visited this shop, nobody had told me that I shouldn't be just playing scales or pieces to see how everything felt. One thing they suggested was slopping the bow across the string any old how and seeing how it sounded. If it still sings even when you're using zero technique then you're onto something good.

In the end I felt guilty about not buying from them, but they were really nice about it. I ended up buying a new John Stagg off-the-peg bow for a little over ?1000. I think it should have been nearer twice that, but there was a visible blemish in the wood. It plays beautifully, and just goes to prove that there are bargains to be had.

Sounds like you're being very sensible.
Don't worry too much about buying a 'cheaper' bow, you will know when you find one that's right. I've just bought a new viola bow for my daughter with a view to it seeing her through music college - I'd set a maximum budget of ?1000, spent a day trying bows between ?400 and ?1500 and was enormously surprised and relieved when we both agreed that a ?500 bow was by far and away the best for her and her viola. At that price too, when/if she finds she is ready to upgrade this bow should make a good spare/second bow.

...and I was really interested to find out which bow you went for, ffliwt.....

Before you make a choice, try a John W Stagg Bow. Although in Bristol he sends bows out on approval. I think we tried 3. Although on website he says bows start from ?1,800, he does have student bows (which means that there are slight imperfections in grain of wood which prevent him from putting a premium on cost and therefore fittings although excellent quality are not as superior as he puts on pricier bows) I think student bows come in at approx ?1,000 and come with a free bow case.

After trying lots of bows, nothing could touch these. Do not let the name student bow put you off, this has no meaning to the playability but understand many conservatoire students would purchase these becuase of price, as they are made in exactly the same way as his other bows, but materials used have more to do with the price. The flaws in the grain of wood are very subtle and not noticeable unless you look carefully. Drop him an email, he is always quick to reply. I could be wrong but think he used to be a bowmaker for Hills.

Is he on the Christmas steps? I have heard good things about him, too.

Yes, that's the one

I'd just like to underscore everything Tracy says above. I love my John Stagg bow. Yes, he did used to be a Hills bowmaker. And in case you see any of them around, some of his bows are stamped Joubert (he did explain why but I've forgotten, it was something to do with his wife I think).