Cheap bows
I found a cheap German bow at school the week before last (it had a little paper sticker that said 'Korea' on it). It felt pretty nice and felt good on the battered old school bass. I though of Edgar Meyer and decided to take it home for the weekend... my personal bow is worth about $NZ2,000 and I've bowed violins since 1960 and basses since 1976 (with years off along the way). I carefully rosined up the bow and used it on my bass. I then used my own bow. I put the Korean bow away and took it back to school on Monday because my bow was a million times better. Everything Ken says in this thread is true (in my humble opinion). I would never want to take that Korean bow to a gig, yet I was happily using it to demonstrate the school bass to students a few days before (This bass is in serious need of repair - the strings are more like a high wire fence than something you're supposed to make touch the finger board!). Does a good workman blame his tools? No, but he doesn't choose a plastic hammer over a steel one. I'm no expert (Ken is, I think) but I've played for a few years now and can play most basses put in front of me. If I've got to play in public, please let it be on the best gear possible! Would Leonardo have chosen the cheapest paint brush because he liked its stroke?
Here's the answer in 'da Vinci code':
CARP!
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