Chinese Bows: Bad News or Great Deal?

A lot of the string instruments, and associated accessories coming over from China have a bad reputation. But, does it deserve this stigma? Some of it does, I have seen some poorly made gear, but there are also a few great bargains to be had. I purchased a couple of German Double Bass bows off of eBay; one was a great deal, but the other was a disappointment.

With the cost of a nice bow often exceeding that of an entry level instrument, it is tempting to try and save some money on your bow. What a lot of bassists don’t realize though is that the bow emanates sound just like your bass and is a key part of the sound texture that you produce. A cheap bow can make your bass sound dull, and muted. If a bow is too heavy, or too light it will affect how you hold it and how much pressure you are required to produce outside of the bow’s weight–potentially leading to bad technique, or even worse repetitive motion damage. I find 135 grams to feel just-right (for a German bow, that would be unwieldy on a French!) but from my decidedly non-scientific poll of a handful of other bassists, I think most bassists like lighter bows. Whatever you do, don’t buy a fiberglass bow (such as the Glasser Standard Fiberglass.) The grips are uncomfortable, the bows sound awful, they are inconsistently balanced and will negatively affect your right hand technique.

The bows I bought were both from the same eBay seller–”yitamusic”. The first I bought was their #D35 German Style Carbon Fiber bow. The quality is quite stunning. The carbon fiber is gorgeous, a very nicely laid checkerboard pattern. They sell cheaper graphite bows that lack the pattern at the same eBay store, but I feel that the visual effect is worth the extra money. The hair that came with the bow was acceptable, but not as grippy as I prefer. It is a mongolian white horse hair, and ranges on the fine and smooth side. I dropped the bow off at Eggen’s Violin Shop in Denver (the best place in town for a re-hair) and got some of their standard “grey” hair–which is actually slightly red in color. The hole through the shaft of the bow had to be enlarged for the re-hair, but that only added $20 or so to the cost (I honestly can’t remember the exact amount it has been almost a year ago.) After putting the new hair on the bow it sounds wonderful. I paid about $180 after shipping etc. The seller is based in China, and because of the international fraud rate being higher Paypal took an extra week for processing, after that the shipping took about a week–I believe the main delay was customs. So ordering one of these takes a few weeks–I have recomended these bows to a lot of people and a few have had even longer delays.

Here is an eBay link to yitamusic’s carbon fiber double bass bows:

The second bow I bought was so that I could leave my Carbon bow in the case when I bought an electric upright for nighttime practice. I was afraid that if I was using the bow on two basses that I would arrive at a performance and not have a bow! I know that most people consider Pernambucco to be the optimal bow material, so I bought a second bow from the same seller. I presume that it isn’t the same manufacturer for the wood bows they sell, because this bow was a let down. The wrapping is loose, and if bumped will slide down the shaft, the finish isn’t as smooth or as intricately shaped as the CF bow I bought from them. The sound is not as lively as the CF bow either–I haven’t re-haired this bow yet, I don’t use it very often, but I don’t expect the hair to make it much better.

In summary, there are some good deals out there, but it is best to ask around on forums to find out if someone has dealt with a certain seller before and what to expect of their products.