Carbon Fiber Bows

[Ken Smith]

First off, you lost one out of a car window and falling down the stairs with another? Gee, I think you might be hazardous to hang out with..lol

I recently owned to great master grade English Bows by Arthur Bultitude both made within two years of each other. I am picking this and another maker to better compare similar bows rather than different ones (apples to apples kinda). The first Bultitude had old black hair and sounded a little bright. After I played it for awhile, it warmed up quite a bit. The Bow had not been used for several years and I was the first owner in USA as well. Truly one of the best Bows I have seen in my life. The second Bultitude came soon after and had year old off-white hair, well rosined and played everyday for a year before I got it. This Bow was smoother and a tad more responsive than the other one. It also had more side camber. Two Bows of similar wood by the same maker made in the same period and each sounded and felt slightly different. Both great though.

The other two to compare are Bows made by Sue Lipkins made within about a year of each other. The one I've been playing for awhile I received just after the 2006 VSA Competition/Convention. This Bow was smooth at first without much bite. After a year of occasional playing (using several bows for various Basses and concerts) it has lost a few hairs, is well rosined and had gained a bit of bite. The second one I just got and sent it up to Sue for a Re-hair as it was also well played for over a year and needed a clean-up. After getting that one back and comparing it, the tone of the stick is about the same as it was with the old hair (from Lipkins as well) but with a new re-hair and more hair than the other Bow, I feel it is not as smooth as it was 2 weeks ago. This one is slightly darker sounding or rather smoother sounding than the other Bow. Both look fairly identical but the feel is slightly different. Both have the exact same white hair of the highest grade available.

Conclusion? Coarser hair sounds brighter or rather more edgy. White or smoother hair in comparison sounds smoother. Cheaper grades of hair regardless of color break faster and give less sound and might sound thinner as well. What the player hears on the Bass is not exactly the same as a listener 10 or 20 feet away. Sometimes a quieter Bow sounds louder and fuller when standing and listening to it being played some distance away from the Bass.

Bows vary in tone as much as Basses do. This is due to the wood and the making combined. CF bows are usually very consistent in materials (within brands and models) and less life-like in the variances. There are all grades of CF and wood bows on the market. Perhaps it's economics paying only about 1/10th the price for a workable CF Bow while the wood Bows I play start at 3k and run up to and over 10k. My old Sartory would fetch 12-15k today and the Frog was believed to be a replacement. THAT was the best Bow I have ever held in my life, hands down!

[Benjamin Bates]

Okay that makes sense. I understand I have cheap black hair on my bow and it sounds scratchy, and it does lose a lot of hair. Maybe I'll go with better quality white hair next time. Though I have had good tones from my bow recently. Would humidity really affect the tone as drastically as it does with my bow? Or maybe...I'm guessing, if I had good quality hair on my bow I wouldn't have tonal differences with humidity changes. It's the only conclusion I can come up with, I've tried different resins, I've tried cleaning the bow and reapplying fresh resin, yet still somedays I'll have a gorgeous tone and others a real buzzy sound. I just don't get it.

[JoeyNaeger]

I think the one variable you're leaving out is the bass. It could be that your bass dislikes the change in humidity. Some people recommend a summer and winter soundpost. Your bow probably isn't going to be affected by the humidity changes much. It's carbon fiber, so it's not like it's absorbing moisture or anything like that.

[Charles Federle]

High humidity can have nasty effects on a bow's hair. This summer I was playing a series of summer outdoor concerts. This summer it rain almost every day for a few weeks straight, oddly enough except for our concerts. I felt like I was living back in the swamps. No matter what I did with my bow out there it would not work. Always felt like there was no rosin on whenever I would come back indoors was just gummed up. Hair can make or break even the best of bows.

Now as far as carbon fiber bows are concerned I have been very pleased with almost all of the ones that I have played. They may not all play quite as well as my stick, but compared to wood bows of the same price I find carbon fiber bows play much better. The sound is not the same, but they are still good sticks. In fact I wish I had one for those outdoor gigs.

[Benjamin Bates]

Originally Posted by JoeyNaeger

I think the one variable you're leaving out is the bass. It could be that your bass dislikes the change in humidity. Some people recommend a summer and winter soundpost. Your bow probably isn't going to be affected by the humidity changes much. It's carbon fiber, so it's not like it's absorbing moisture or anything like that.

Originally Posted by Charles Federle

High humidity can have nasty effects on a bow's hair. This summer I was playing a series of summer outdoor concerts. This summer it rain almost every day for a few weeks straight, oddly enough except for our concerts. I felt like I was living back in the swamps. No matter what I did with my bow out there it would not work. Always felt like there was no rosin on whenever I would come back indoors was just gummed up. Hair can make or break even the best of bows.

Now as far as carbon fiber bows are concerned I have been very pleased with almost all of the ones that I have played. They may not all play quite as well as my stick, but compared to wood bows of the same price I find carbon fiber bows play much better. The sound is not the same, but they are still good sticks. In fact I wish I had one for those outdoor gigs.

Thanks for your replies; I was wondering if my posts were being ignored...

Interesting...the idea on seasonal soundposts, I might have to read up on some threads.

and it's interesting to see someone else gets the same "gummed up" effect on their bow. Thanks guys