violin bow

dobh

my daughter ( grade 8 ) needs to replace her violin bow. Can anybody give us advice on where to go for a good bow( without being ripped off ). From some advice we got it appears she should get a silver mounted bow but, honestly, we are not sure if this advice is correct, or not. We are prepared to travel to any store if it is recommended. Thank you.

crehans sell bows
i go there for rehairing mine

HeidiHeidi

When I was learning violin, I got my bows here

http://www.charlesbyrne.com/ (Dublin south city centre)

Seems like a bonkers website, but I believe they're the place to go for all things string-instrumental.

dobh

Thank you both for your speedy replies.

natnifnolnacs

Conor Russell is a violin maker in North Wicklow. A really good guy to deal with and the last time I was up with him he had selection of bows to pick from. It really depends on how much you want to spend as they can vary massively in price. There is also an extremely good bow maker in Carlow*(whose name escapes me at the moment) but she would want to be a very committed student as his bows do not come cheap!

If you want contact details send me a pm as I only have mobile numbers for them and would prefer not to put those up on the site

donzenettii

bring your daughter with you when buying a bow, let her try it out, feel the weight in her hand and make sure that she is comfortable with the bow, silver or gold mounting is a matter of choice and available money, personally its all about the feel of the bow in the hand. Charlie Byrne in Stephen St. Lower or Creehans in Drumcondra will guide you well as both are well respected.

BigStupidGuy

I got my bow from Conor Russell, he doesn't make bows, he just sells them. But I'd still recomend going to him.

There are three bow makers in Ireland who are world famous, but they cost around €3000

If she's around grade 8 you want an intermediate bow, somewhere between 200-600 euro I think.

Don't go to Crehans, they'll rip you off.

Civilian_Target

Agree with that Crehans comment - the bow I got from them didn't last long.

I have a couple of bits from Charles Byrne, but for more serious stuff I tend to go abroad.
My bow is from Ealing Strings in London, who are pretty good.
Denis Declerk in Nice overhauled my violin a few years back, he's excellent, worth a visit if you're in the south of France

BigStupidGuy

This is such an old thread I didn't realise! Have you a bow yet? I could tell you where to go if know the budget

doh777

Any thoughts on carbon fibre bows?

Specifically codabow? Prodigy model. Comes in at @ €250 without p+p.

BigStupidGuy

They're a fantastic back up bow. They don't break! Get one I say

Littlekittylou

Try Cremona violins. The only thing with ordering online or from the UK is she can't hold it and try it out she needs to feel how it's weighted. I made the mistake of buying a bow wrong for me years ago I couldn't control it and it just bounced all over the shop. :-/

doh777

Bigguy

The codabow prodigy as the main bow?

Intermediate level.