Bow hair - types, quality, sources

[Thomas Erickson]

I don't recall this having had a thread of it's own, at least recently. So - what kind of hair do you prefer and why? Where does it come from? - as in, where on Earth, or what kind or beast, and/or who sells it...

I'll start - I don't have a preference for color, because I've come across hair that I liked of all hues. I'd say black looks the most pro, but that hardly matters! :D Usually I find that the finer the hair is the more I like it, in any color; for whatever reason when it comes to "white" hair, I get the feeling like the more yellow a tint it has, the "kinkier" and more brittle it seems to be; I break a lot more hairs plus it doesn't play as smoothly. The best hair I've had was silver/white, very shiny - almost transparent really - very very fine. And that's about all I know. ;)

[Bin Hire]

The principal bassist of the NZSO has pink hair on one of his two bows - I kid you not! I've seen it with my own eyes.

[Thomas Erickson]

Yeah, I think I've seen dyed hair for sale on eBay or something. Whatever float your boat, I guess - I kind of want to find some bling bling anodized bridge adjusters just for fun... :D

[Terry McDougal]

St. Patrick's day coming up. I've got green hair ordered. Yeah, I know it should be tartan, but what the hell!:D

[Richard Prowse]

I've just had my French bow, that I had converted to German about 10 years ago, converted back to French - I'm learning Czardas (Monti) for a concert and was having trouble with the fast C7 bit; I discovered that those string crossings are much easier with the French. I had black hair on my bow, which I really liked, but the luthier only had 'salt and pepper' (no time to wait for hair to arrive, I only have one bow). No problem, I was keen to try it, as I'd never used it before. It's still early days getting back into the French bow (10 years is a long time) and I'm not sure about the 'salt and pepper' yet. I'm doing lots of practice, so I suppose, time will tell. I've got EP weichs on my bass and they sure sound different with the French (I like that German sound, but French is good too). I know I really need to get a German as well, but I'm going to persevere with the French for now.
There are things I like about the French bow.

[Richard Prowse]

I've just had my French bow, that I had converted to German about 10 years ago, converted back to French - I'm learning Czardas (Monti) for a concert and was having trouble with the fast C7 bit; I discovered that those string crossings are much easier with the French. I had black hair on my bow, which I really liked, but the luthier only had 'salt and pepper' (no time to wait for hair to arrive, I only have one bow). No problem, I was keen to try it, as I'd never used it before. It's still early days getting back into the French bow (10 years is a long time) and I'm not sure about the 'salt and pepper' yet. I'm doing lots of practice, so I suppose, time will tell. I've got EP weichs on my bass and they sure sound different with the French (I like that German sound, but French is good too). I know I really need to get a German as well, but I'm going to persevere with the French for now.
There are things I like about the French bow.

Sorry, got to add this...
I think, to compensate for the change, I put too much rosin on my bow. The guy who made my German frog made it a bit differently from a regular German frog to supposedly keep the weight of the bow in the right place. I'm finding now that, because the frog he build was a little skinnier than regular German frogs, and since I played this frog for 10 years, the bow now feels comfortable (to me) with both French and German grip (though, obviously, my rejuvenated French grip still needs more practice to get the appropriate muscles limbered up).

[Terry McDougal]

Thanks for posting Richard, interesting stuff.

[Bunny Hoskins]

I've just had my French bow, that I had converted to German about 10 years ago, converted back to French - I'm learning Czardas (Monti) for a concert and was having trouble with the fast C7 bit; I discovered that those string crossings are much easier with the French. I had black hair on my bow, which I really liked, but the luthier only had 'salt and pepper' (no time to wait for hair to arrive, I only have one bow). No problem, I was keen to try it, as I'd never used it before. It's still early days getting back into the French bow (10 years is a long time) and I'm not sure about the 'salt and pepper' yet. I'm doing lots of practice, so I suppose, time will tell. I've got EP weichs on my bass and they sure sound different with the French (I like that German sound, but French is good too). I know I really need to get a German as well, but I'm going to persevere with the French for now.
There are things I like about the French bow.
Salt an peper??? You kiddin???

[Bin Hire]

Salt an peper??? You kiddin???
Bunny, the traditional types are black, 'salt and pepper' (sort of brown looking) and white.

[Thomas Erickson]

I think "chestnut" is pretty available too, but I haven't tried it. I still don't think the color is all that relevant though - an indicator of what the consistency might be, at best.