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I borrowed a bow from a friend who had it sitting around for half of forever to practice with. I like the action from it more than the carbon bow that came with my violin but it needs serviced, it only has half of the hair left on it (if that).
Everyone around here looks at me like I'm an idiot for asking because "bows are cheap." I'm also getting the feeling that violinists are the red-headed step child of the music world. No one carries stuff for us in brick and mortar music stores. Guitars, Oh Heck Yes!!! Percussion, absolutely! Winds, to a point. Violins? Why do you want to learn to play one of those?
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@RDP I understand. I think violin (& viola, cello, bass) are harder to learn, and more expensive to maintain when compared to other instruments. I also think it's hard for luthiers to make a decent living unless they are in a larger population area that has a certain level of interest.
My bows are not cheap. The closest luthier to me is about 2 hours away. I ship my bows to a luthier to have them rehaired. If you google "bow rehair online", you'll find folks you can ship a bow to safely to get rehairs.
It will cost a little more than if you take it to a luthier directly (shipping cost), but if you're like me and don't have someone close, the shipping cost is worth saving the hours of driving (for me, it would be at least 8 hours--2 hrs there, 2 hrs back to drop off; 2 hrs there, 2 hrs back to pick up).
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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General music stores have never been good places for violin maintenance. It's not just the present day, it's because bowed string instruments have always been handled by specialized shops. You have to look for a violin shop, not a music store.
I see from your intro post that you're in California. If you're within a reasonable driving distance of either Los Angeles or Sacramento, I can recommend shops in both places. (I currently live in Sacramento and lived in the Los Angeles area for ten years.)
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AndrewH said
General music stores have never been good places for violin maintenance. It's not just the present day, it's because bowed string instruments have always been handled by specialized shops. You have to look for a violin shop, not a music store.I see from your intro post that you're in California. If you're within a reasonable driving distance of either Los Angeles or Sacramento, I can recommend shops in both places. (I currently live in Sacramento and lived in the Los Angeles area for ten years.)
I'm about an hour north of LA. I also REFUSE to go there.
I watched a bunch of YouTube vids on DIY bow rehairing and I'm pretty handy so I'll try to do it myself. The bow was free and if I screw it up the worst thing that can happen (besides breakage) is that I have to send it off someplace.
Interesting fact: I tensioned the heck out of my carbon fiber bow as an "experiment" and it's less bounce sensitive than with it tensioned so that the hair is about a pencil width from the bow. It still sounds like vibrato on open strings but it stays down on the strings now. Probably because I have to use more pressure than I was using.
Squeaks and squawks are still all too common, darn it.
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