Frog Question
 

Any thoughts on this frog? A luthier made the frog about five years ago to replace a French frog. He said that this style would balance the bow better than a regular German shape.

I think the popularity of the double bass coupled with the demands of double bassists for instruments and bows that offer a higher degree of tonal and playability are pushing luthiers to elevate the art. Smaller basses that equal or rival larger ones, ergonomic models, detachable necks, etc. There is a lot of very cool stuff going on today from all corners of the globe.

Bow makers are doing the same, both individually and commercially. For instance Coda has a model with a "different" frog design:

http://www.codabow.com/features/deta..._inf_frog2.jpg

And although very different from yours, when I saw your picture the Coda bow was the first thing I thought of.

hi eric

i am a german-bow player. can you please explain me, what is special about the coda frog?
thank you

anselm

The hight of the frog off the stick is higher and the depth of the throat is a lot deeper. It gives the player a sense of "more hair" and getting into the string more, as well as shifting the balance point.

a good side by side shot here for you:

http://www.codabow.com/bass_french.html

I asked the guy to make a German frog. It's almost as wide as an average German, but not quite. The angle at which the string leaves the frog is different too - straight like a French. I've played it next to some good German bows and there really isn't a lot of difference - it has always been a good bow. Bassist David Walter once played it when he was in NZ and it was a French bow - my brother owned it then. He told my brother he thought it was a very good bow.

thanks, this picture helps me to see the difference

So, any thoughts about my bow then?

It certainly seems to have lessened the camber. Don't know if that makes a big difference or not, but I would guess so. It's hard to say without playing it.