$400 the best?
I don't know what Bows you are trying but in todays world, a $400 Bow is usually Chinese made regardless of where it is shipped from. I have contracted almost 200 Bows made by a top shop in China. These are good playing well balanced Bows of my design. Some are better than others but comparing them in sound, playability or feel they do not make it up to the likes of my Bazin, Bultitude, Lipkins or even the Eibert Bows I have not to mention the Sartory I used to own.
Good is good but great is not easy to come by. Also, not all Bows that cost thousands are great Bows either. This is where you start looking back at your $400 Bow. When you draw a Bow across the strings it vibrates like any other wood part of your Bass. This translates to the feel of the Bow. Does the Bow sit on the String itself of do you have to use hand/wrist pressure to make it work? Can you get the sound with ease or do you have to fight it a bit or more. Does it play evenly from Frog to Tip or does the sound quit after the first half of the Bow? Is the tone thinner sounding than the more expensive Bow or is it just as thick and full?
I have owned many many 'great' Bows in my life and a few expensive ones that were not so great. Unless the Bow is made with god consistent materials by a good maker (in China, Brazil or anywhere else) and with a goos design, it will be hard to find a Bow that comes close to one of the known great makers works.
Also, I find that beginner players have trouble judging a Bow because the may have already developed bad habits compensating with a bad un-balanced Bow with a weak Tip response/performance, their technique is not fully developed and the ear for judging is not yet refined. Also, what kind of Bass are you testing this with? The lower cost Basses can have their own set of problems as well making it harder to judge plus you need to have good orchestral bowing strings on the Bass as well.
The Loveri model Bows we have made for us were first tested and compared to my Lipkins Bow. At about 1/10th the price we here at the shop agreed it was scary close reaching 60-80% the sound and performance of a 5-6k cost/value Bow. I use that term 'cost/value' together because they are made now at that price and sell used around the same selling price when purchased.
At one concert last summer I brought 3 C.Loveri Bows from the first batch made. With 2 other Basses in the section than day, I came home with only one Bow, selling the other two to my section mates. Having another Professional buy your Bow on the spot speaks for itself...
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