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I just ordered a Pernambuco Bow from the Fiddlershop.
I figured that it was about time for a new bow. My FM CF bow has been played and cleaned many a time and I think that the hair is getting a bit tired.
I could have had the FM CF bow rehaired or I had the option to 'upgrade'
After some thought I went for upgrade, but then had to think, upgrade to what?
After some more thought I decided that it would be nice to have a 'real' pernambuco bow. (not one of those things that pretend to be pernambuco that you so often see on eBay)
And then I had to think, where do I get this bow and how do I know that it's going to be the genuine stuff. I could have gone down to my local music shop. Nice guys all who have never steered me wrong, but not really 'violin' folk. It's Blues and Jazz in this town.
And then I remembered a recent post asking if they could trust Pierre when it come to buying a bow 'online'. And in my reply I said that I would totally trust FM on any violin associated purchase.
Problem solved. It was just a matter of putting my money where my mouth is and buy from the Fiddlershop.
Can't to get my hands on it. (I hope they pop in an FM pencil or two)
Oh, and just a suggestion to @Fiddlerman Pierre, change the listing on the Fiddlershop to 'Affordable Pernambuco Bow' not 'Cheap Pernambuco Bow'. Doesn't sound good
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
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Barry said
CONGRATS !! I want to see a review video when you get it. And yes, I agree, change cheap to affordable...it just sounds so, well, cheap
@Barry
Will do Barry.
Its the third bow that I've bought from the Fiddlershop. The others are the CF violin and the CF viola.
I 'do' like to support my local shop when I can, but on this one I trusted FM more. Not because they would intentionally sell me a 'dud' but I had to trust Pierre's experience rather than that of a Blues guitar player.
And, along with the fore said, I thought it would be a good way to support and thank FM for his work and effort in keeping this forum up and running. It's a great asset to us all.
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
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coolpinkone said
Congrats John.. It's like Christmas in July!!
It is rather. But actually an early birthday present to myself. (Aug 25th)
I realise that even though it's 'Pernambuco', it's not a magic wand that will make all of my bowing problems go away.
But it would have been nice if it was endorsed by Harry Potter
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
ha ha.. I'd like to think our bows are our wands... and that the "Wizard doesn't choose the wand, rather the wand chooses the Wizard." ha ha.. ok.. not true.. but what if?
I hope on my 3 year anniversary 12/20/2014 I will get the same bow. I am thinking Christmas Prezzie....
I am using a bow now that is not CF. I have to CF and I like them. But a while back I got a bow on a super clearance. I think it is like a 50 dollar wood bow.. ( I got it for 7.95).. I am playing with it now. IT is really much more nice than the cheap bows that came with my pinky Violin... But in the realm of wood bows I don't really know what is good bad or different.
I don't even know if I could do a good bow justice. But I do think pretty soon I am due for a "special to me" bow for all my love and dedication to the violin.
ramble ramble.. dang my coffee is working today!!!!
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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@Fiddlerman
Pierre
You make a very good point about the word 'cheap' when you talk of things that people search for. And if it's working for you don't change it.
The search engine 'robots' most definately look at the words within a web page and rank pages for the relevance of those words in relation to search terms.
However, I think you can use the word 'affordable' in the page as the discription of the item for sale and work the word 'cheap' into the rest of the text.
It was just that I found it a bit 'off putting' to see the description as a 'cheap' pernambuco bow as often that word is associated with of 'questionable quality'
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
King
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I agree with the name change to, "Affordable Pernambuco".
I was thinking about buying one myself until I realized something. I play all my songs using four different bows and that I play all the songs the same, no matter which bow I use. The bow I get the best sound from is one I bought about twenty years ago for $225.00 (Brazilwood) it gives me a more mellow sound, but is rather flimsy even though the stick itself has thickness compared to any other bow I have, therefore I have to tighten the hairs to nearly 3/4" between stick and hair.
I also have a 130 yo. pernambuco, a $25.00 Glasser f/g bow about 20 years old which gave me a kinda raspy harsh tone until I did a slight experiment with it. Being that the fiberglass stick is hollow I decided to drill a 3/32" hole all the way through the stick about 3" from the frog and 3" from the tip, then approx. every three inches or so between those holes, but only drilling into the hollow of the stick, not all the way through. It mellowed the sound considerably. My idea was that IF the quality of the stick makes a difference in sound then why not use/try, "Bose"™ concept of sound waves through hollow tubes. (the stick being the hollow tube)
WARNING!!. I don't recommend that you start drilling holes in your FM / CF bow(s). This was just an experiment I did with a CHEAP $25.00 glass bow, but it seemed to work ok for me, the sound did change.
One more point i'll touch on is the quality of the horsehair. Did it come from a live or dead horse. Is the hair course or fine. I understand that fine hair produces a more mellow sound and that most horse hair comes from dead animals. Just what I've read somewhere.
In conclusion: The quality of the bow, be it $10.00 or $10,000.00 won't make you a better player, only hours and hours of practice can do that for you,only hours and hours of practice can stop the "bouncing" bow, but it may improve your mental attitude and for a brief time you can become a, "David" or a "Hillary", lol IMHO.
Enjoy.
Ken.
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@Fiddlestix
Ken
In an earlier post in this thread I did say,
"I realise that even though it's 'Pernambuco', it's not a magic wand that will make all of my bowing problems go away. But it would have been nice if it was endorsed by Harry Potter"
But I'm sure that you would agree, as a worker with wood, that the best possible tools will give the best possible result.
I would rather have a bow that is superior to my abilities than one that is less. At least that way I know that if I'm bowing badly the problem is 'me' and not the tool.
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
Members
If the word "cheap" is drawing biz, I'd say keep it and defend it's use as one of your sales points.
You could point out that for an actual pernambuco bow that is well enough made to deserve to be called a bow, that the ~$250 price is as low as it can really be done for an item of such quality and as such is "cheap" so far as the real thing can ever be.
...and that anything much cheaper, like 25$ on ebay or something, pretty much has to be either not actual pernambuco, or will have quality issues so bad that the buyer probably won't be happy with it as a bow.
"Affordable" is a nicer word, sure.. But sales is about drawing attention to the selling points. Sometimes a little "rude" can work better for that than "nice".
For the sake of those actually buying it, maybe make the invoice read "Pernambuco bow that some places charge a grand for" in place of "cheap bow". LOL
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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DanielB said
For the sake of those actually buying it, maybe make the invoice read "Pernambuco bow that some places charge a grand for" in place of "cheap bow". LOL
True Dan
The invoice does say, "Cheap Pernambuco Bow." lol
And I thought to myself, "No, I didn't buy a 'cheap' pernambuco bow. I bought a good pernambuco bow that I could afford."
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
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King
Ferret.
I get more greedy satisfaction from saying "Would you believe that this bow was cheap?" versus a more civilized "was affordable" which just does not do justice to my shrewd gambles. My collection of cheap everything bears ample witness to my shopping skills.
PS Ever been to St. George in Bristol for music?
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Honorary tenured advisor
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