Fiddlerman Carbon Fiber Violin Bow 4/4

OMG, this is a great bow for the price! I love how light and sturdy it is and the real horse hair is providing such a rich sound with no screeching over my high end synthetic bow. Love it! Just be sure to use a lot of rosin when you first get it. The Siberian horse hair is very thirsty at first.

Arrived today, well packaged and in a very nice box for the bow, which was a pleasant surprise. I am a beginner to intermediate player, and purchased my violin and bow from an old man in an alley for practically nothing. It is a student model which was well set up twenty years ago but was very worn. The bow I started with was what I now believe to be a Vale student model. It was breaking down and half the hair was missing so I went looking for an affordable alternative. I'm very traditionalist in my selection of most everything, and was hoping to acquire a well made brazil wood bow at the very least. However, after noticing the many positive reviews of this product I decided to take a chance. Also I live in a very unpredictable climate, and with a carbon fiber bow, you eliminate a great deal of worry over environmental stress on the bow. After the bow arrived I inspected it and found no obvious defect. I rosined it and tested it and am fairly pleased with it so far. I have spent much time looking for an affordable quality bow and I believe this one is a very reasonable selection for a beginner such as myself. Is it a professional quality soloist piece? No. It is priced and manufactured very appropriately for a beginner to intermediate player. It produces a very clear tone and is decently balanced. There are some people who may tire kick this bow and that is to be expected of people in general in this day and age. They want it all, and they want it for nothing. Don't listen to them. This is an extremely high quality bow. For the price point. If you are working with a very tight budget, I highly recommend this bow, in terms of design and quality. This is an excellent option for those of us in need of a workhorse for a low price. And did I mention it comes with a warranty?

Well add me to the chorus that is singing praise about this bow.This was intended to replace a bow that came with a student outfit (Stentor II). The Stentor bow was...ok, I guess, but it just didn't have a balanced feel to it, which wasn't a surprise.I think the packaging bears mention, though there is a fine line mentioning that in an Amazon review. I was disappointed that it was only secured in the box with some crumpled up paper. The bow was rattling about in the box some, but fortunately this is a strong bow (how strong? Check out Fiddlerman's video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOjs84ShSp0) and it didn't seem the worse for wear. Still, I'd prefer that it were packed a little more securely.The bow I received was a little different than the photos...the "Fiddlerman" name is simply engraved, no gold to it or anything. However, it was in good shape. I have to say, when I picked it up it seemed much lighter than the bow it was replacing, so much so that I had to weigh it. Nope, came in right around 60 grams. That's what proper balance is going to get you...the bow is going to feel much lighter than it actually is. I found it quite easy to hold with no pinkie strain at all.I decided to go dark rosin with this bow, and though the hair was not pre-rosined (really, thanks Fiddlerman for that...I like to be able to pick my own rosin) it only took me about five minutes to get it all set up. And then, heart in my mouth, I drew some notes.Wow.In the back of my mind throughout this process, I confess to thinking "how good can this thing *really* be?" Had I fallen for a gimmick and cheap marketing talk? Am I doomed to wander the Earth forever in search of a decent, reasonably priced bow? Well, it's pretty darned good and there is nothing oversold about this bow. It's balanced. it's agile. The weight is appropriate and drawing it is effortless. In short, it's a dream to use, and before I knew it, a half hour had passed with me just jamming on the violin. That's when I knew I could not give this to my kid.Or at least...I'd have to get another one. After all, if you're going to learn, why not learn with a great bow?I don't know how I found this bow. Honestly I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to these things and wasn't looking for a bow made of space-age materials. But found it I did, and I couldn't be happier with this. It's a very good bow.

For a while, I didn't care for this bow. Specifically, the synthetic hair. It seemed like it would never hold rosin, and I eventually sanded the hair much more than the recommended "15 passes". After maybe four months, it's holding rosin better and sounds better. I think maybe it was the Prelude strings. I went back to Helicores and I suddenly love this bow. My wooden bow sounds better, and I use it for performances, but I will bring this one to jams and I use it for daily practice. It's better than any other carbon fiber bow I've used, and I know that I will never need to pay for new hair.