How tight is your bow?

[Bin Hire]

Well put Terry!

[Thomas Erickson]

I really don't mean to sound like a jerk, but tightening your bow is something that is so simple it really can't be explained. I mean, if it "bottoms out" it's too loose, and if it's too tight, well, it's too tight. If your bow doesn't seem to be working, you're probably a lot better off looking at your technique or maybe your bow just sucks.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Thomas Erickson

I really don't mean to sound like a jerk, but tightening your bow is something that is so simple it really can't be explained. I mean, if it "bottoms out" it's too loose, and if it's too tight, well, it's too tight. If your bow doesn't seem to be working, you're probably a lot better off looking at your technique or maybe your bow just sucks.

I think there is a bit more to it than that. After some time, the hair will stretch from the frog little by little. Tightening the stick is harder when you have less room to tighten it from the hair being stretched.Also, the balance of the bow (in playing it) changes as the frog moved further towards the screw and away from the grip. I have one bow that has a very stiff stick and a fairly big camber. Tightening that bow is not so easy because the hair has been in there a long time (what hair is left), and I can barely get the hair off the stick when tightening it.

I know bows and know them well. Some just need some TLC so they work better. Also as you say, there are some not-so-great bows out there in use as well. That can make things difficult regardless of the hair condition.

[Thomas Erickson]

Fair enough. All the more reason to get regular rehairs. Assuming you have a luthier who does a good, consistent job anyway.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Thomas Erickson

Fair enough. All the more reason to get regular rehairs. Assuming you have a luthier who does a good, consistent job anyway.

I have to confess that I don't get my Bows re-haired as often as I should and never have. I have gone years on my main bows now and back in my earlier days as well. I just seem to get used to the Bow and wait till the last minute. I had a re-hair recently on my Eibert Sartory model. The hair on there was about 7 years old or more. My Lipkins Sartory needs a re-hair as well but just can't seem to let it out of my hands to get it done. The Lipkins hair is 4 years old. My old Sartory may have had 1 or 2 re-hairs in 15 years that I can recall back in my early days.

Like the saying goes, 'do as I say, not as I do'. Get re-hairs as needed even if you have to ship the bow out to do so.

[Thomas Erickson]

I think rehairing technique and hair quality/variety are something (well, among many things) that are really lacking or absent, at least in the US. It may seem like a minor thing, but bow hair, at least to the orchestra player, is a pretty big deal!

[Bin Hire]

Interesting. It's probably closer to seven years since I had my bow rehaired. It still seems to play fine and there is plenty of hair. Are you saying that the hair 'wears out'?