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I'd like to try a new rosin on my bow and thought it may help to completely clean any current rosin off it first. Any recommendations on how or if I even should do that?
Thanks!
Honorary tenured advisor
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@Heinrich There are a lot of articles and some YouTube videos on how to clean off old rosin if you are switching rosins. Whether you need/should do that seems to be a debate amongst users. I think if I was changing rosins, I would want to start "fresh" to see the true effect of the new rosin.
Jim
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Personally I would just use the new rosin on top of the old. Eventually your bound to be using mainly the new one.
I know I'll get many people disagreeing with me on this one. LOL
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Ha!
Well I ended up cleaning it last night. Watched a quick video and it was pretty simple. removed the end screw, took a toothbrush and some alcohol and ran it back and forth along the hair until clean. Let it dry out and put it back together.
Put the new rosin on this morning and took it for a test drive. Seemed to work pretty well and I like the new rosin too.
Maybe next time I'll just add the new rosin over the old like you said and give that a try. Just wanted a clean start to see the difference without the mix.
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Which new rosin our you using now?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I was using the Holstein Premium and now trying the WE Hill on my cello. The Holstein was caking a little and built up fast which had me doing a deep clean every other day and couldn't get a clean sound. I tried using it sparingly but that didn't seem to help. Trying to find something with grip but light enough too. Probably going to chase rosin for awhile.
Also, using the Helicore strings that came with it, not sure about the right combination of strings and rosin. I suppose it's always a bit of a trial and error thing.
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@Heinrich and others. Try using a copper swarf scouring pad on the cello strings before use. Very easy to do and causes no damage to the string.
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
Advanced member
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Thanks @Irv, I may try that if I get up the courage. Hate the thought or rubbing a scouring pad across the strings though.
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@Heinrich @bocaholly . Copper=ok. Stainless steel =/= ok.
I just purchased some Liebertzeller meteor rosin for my cello and Boca told me that it is made with larch rosin, which does not react well with other types of rosin. Likely to use alcohol or acetone as solvent on hair.
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
Advanced member
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I picked up the Liebenzeller rosin (gold IV) and it is fantastic! Does not cake, grabs the strings with ease. Really made a difference for me, no longer fighting the strings and a nice clean resonance. Thanks for the recommendation @Irv
@Fiddlerman you need to get these in the store!
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@Heinrich and others. Glad I could help. One of my first experimental forays was the use of Pirastro goldflex rosin. Did not work for me. Ended up using the cake for home brew peg drops (interesting thread back in the stack). Cool to see the gold floating around (kind of like the floating fish scale in a bottle of alcoholic beverage my grand parents owned when I was a boy).
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
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@Heinrich, I ordered my Larica Gold (I, II and IV) through Fiddlershop, no prob. They are exactly the same as Liebenzeller.
Here's a little blurb from the web advertising:
Larica Metal Rosin continues the tradition of the famous Liebenzeller Metal Rosin. We use the original formula and manufacturing process. Each step is done by hand and therefore we can guarantee the high quality you have come to expect from Liebenzeller Metal rosins. By using larch resin, adding metals and our special production process, our rosin produces more lively, warmer and brighter sounds. Depending on the metal addition, each rosin is able to produce a wide differentiation in sound quality.
I've used the stuff nearly exclusively for the past year on my violins and now on my cello and it's everything they say. Now the hitch: My experience confirmed online discussions of larch based rosin not mixing well with traditional pine or fir based rosins which most people use. Since I've started getting out and about to play with others more and more often, I finally just gave up my lovely Laricas so I could more easily borrow or lend rosin to a friend or orchestra colleague.
What did I get insead... stay tuned for the next episode....
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... what... no resounding curiosity!
OK, OK, you've forced my hand:
It seems that Fiddlershop's new fav is Yumba so I got one for violin and one for cello.
And since this is a "bow hair cleaning" thread, here's how I handled the situation:
- One each - violin and cello bow- were due for re-hairs so no issue with mixing larch and pine rosins there.
- One - each violin and cello bow - which previously had Larica (I & IV) were brushed with a fine toothbrush several times ... then rosined, played and brushed again. I found switching from larch to pine based rosin worked out fine with this method. Previously, going the other way around, from pine to larch based rosin, I struggled and wound up going the alcohol/acetone bath route.
@Heinrich Hope you had a better experience getting your bow "aclimated" to the larch based rosin. How did you prep if before applying the Liebenzeller?
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With all the bows I get, I clean with alcohol all the time. Just have to be careful
Advanced member
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Great to know the shop has it. It didn’t know they were the same.
@bocaholly I did clean my bow before applying the new resin and i used alcohol too @steveduf and a toothbrush which worked great. Let it dry overnight and put it back together (released the end screw to clean it fully).
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@Heinrich, I don't think the Larica is on the Fiddlershop website yet (yet being the operative word) but, on request, they have access to a vast amount of accessories and strings. You just have to ask 
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We can order anything you like. We have so many distributors. I'll look into carrying it and having it on our website.
We like to buy bulk to get the price down as low as possible before we offer things on the site unless they are products that almost everyone uses.
It's the best way for us to keep the price down and be competitive.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Advanced member
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So, I used a dish scrubber/scouring pad to clean my cello strings. I was nervous at first but really does a great job quickly. Totally recommend it for a quick daily rosin clean. @Irv
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Again, a warning. A copper pad is good. A stainless steel pad is bad. I am glad it worked for you. And @Heinrich, thank you for trying it. I am likely the world’s worst salesperson since it seems that people rarely try what I advocate.
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.
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