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I felt a little clunk when bowing
... and did a little touch up cleaning of the bow hair.
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RosinedUp

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October 2, 2013 - 5:36 am
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I was bowing along fairly happily tonight when I felt some little clunk in an otherwise-fairly-smooth bow stroke.  I had applied rosin a little earlier and thought it might be from little chunks of rosin clinging to the hair.  I felt it with some strokes and not others, but it kept returning.

I took a closer look and found that one or two hairs had a layer of rosin caked on, similar to the way rosin cakes on a string.  Earlier I had noticed a dark-greenish discoloration along one edge of the hair.  The layer of rosin caked onto the hair had some sections missing, of length say 2 mm, where the layer had broken off.  Those gaps were producing the clunk.  I suppose the layer was about once or twice the thickness of a bow hair.

Presumably, this is related to me usually tilting the stick scrollward when bowing, that edge of the hair getting more contact with the strings.  My rosin is mostly Super-Sensitive Dark.  Now I'm sad to report that I don't remember which edge (scrollward or bridgeward) had the stain.  I guess it's kind of academic, since I'll know the stain if I see it again.

I cleaned only those few edge hairs that looked fouled, using a patch of tee-shirt material soaked in 91% isopropyl alcohol.  In a minute or two, the layer came off in little shards up to 7 mm long.

Anyway, now the clunk is gone, and the bowing is good, and the tone is good.

On my bow, the stain associated with the rosin build up was darkish green, but that color may have to do with my strings or my rosin.  My recommendation is to use a magnifier now and then to take a close look at your bow hair. 

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Fiddlestix
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October 2, 2013 - 6:58 am
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@ RosinedUp:  rofl I've never heard of such a thing. Sounds to me like you need more speed when playing. Sorta like letting grass grow under your feet, LOL. Was the "clunk" on the G and "clink" on the E ?

Seriously though,,, you may be rosining too often, too much. Must be an awful sticky rosin.

 

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RosinedUp

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October 2, 2013 - 8:55 am
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Fiddlestix said
@ RosinedUp:  rofl I've never heard of such a thing. 

Ah,  well now you have.  Not clear what would make you laugh heartily and pound the table.

Fiddlestix said

Was the "clunk" on the G and "clink" on the E ?

Ummm ... I didn't mention anything about any "clink".

 

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HDuaneaz
Chandler, Arizona

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October 2, 2013 - 2:34 pm
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I wipe the rosin off the strings every time I finish playing. I don't use alcohol or anything. I have noticed that makes quite a difference.

Duane

 

"Violin is one of the joys of my life."

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Crazymotive

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October 2, 2013 - 2:44 pm
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Could it be the rosin itself ? I used to use Super Sensitive light rosin. For the most part it worked well and I was happy with it but I did notice that if I put too much on the bow the excess would tend to come off in flakes or tiny chunks as opposed to the usual fine white dusts that most rosins produce. Otherwise the rosin performed well and I prefered it to Hidersine rosin.

 

About a year ago I switched to dark rosin. I've been using a cake of Shar dark rosin that a friend of mine gave me to try and I prefer it to the light rosins.  Seems to give the bow a better grip on the strings and a richer fuller tone. From now on I stick with the dark rosins. Never tried Super Sensitive dark so I can't really say much about it.

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RosinedUp

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October 3, 2013 - 2:14 pm
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HDuaneaz said
I wipe the rosin off the strings every time I finish playing. I don't use alcohol or anything. I have noticed that makes quite a difference.

I've caught on to that only in the past few months.  Yep, big difference.

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