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My new bow arrived in the mail today and I'm already thrilled with it. It's so light and the balance is great, it really makes my old heavy, twisted, almost hairless bow look like an even bigger piece of junk.
I rosined it up and played a few tunes, the difference to the sound is noticeable, at least to me. The quality of the sound is much better and I think over time it will only improve.
Just a side note, I purchased the bow through Amazon because of my prime account, however in the future I will most likely purchase from the fiddlershop. The bow arrived in a 4x4 x whatever bow with no packing at all. Luckily the carbon fiber bow seems pretty strong and sturdy but I was a bit concerned when I heard it rattling around in the box. UPS aren't exactly known for their gentle handling of boxes. It seems to have a slight chip to the end but no structural damage. I will be contacting Amazon about their packaging of this item.
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Aloha @mischa91,
I've been thinking of getting one of his CF bows as well. He has a video where he tries really, really hard to break the bow. It takes an inordinate amount of torque to do so, and it bends into almost a perfect half circle, if memory serves. There are very sturdy and I don't think they warp, so you got a very nice bow indeed.
I'm currently wondering if I should get a cheap electric 5-string or just get a CF bow. I like the "silent" aspect to an electric fiddle, but have two quandaries - namely acoustic electric or straight electric. I didn't want to spend too much money, but is the 5th string more important than the bow itself? I have seen he reviews on the FM CF bow and it's making for a really hard choice for me.
Enjoy your bow and let us know how you feel about it from time to time. For instance, give us a status update after a month or so, then periodically after that. I've seen one review from Zlata Brouwer, where she says the bow is a little on the heavy side. If you say it's lighter than your previous bow, I wonder how "heavy" your original bow was.
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I watched that video and was very impressed with how well it held up to punishment.
I have a straight electric that I really need to upgrade the strings on. I've never played a 5 string violin so I couldn't offer advice in that department. I say if you've got a fiddle you like to play go for the cf bow, it really is a nice bow. I'll update after a while and after it's been "played in" and I've added more rosin to it from time to time.
My my old bow was wood, not sure which kind, I've had it over 15 years but it's been sitting in my old violin case with a broken violin for company for about 10 years. It was warped, curved slightly to the left and twisted slightly. It was very heavy and actually quite top heavy. The cf feels so light in my hand it's amazing.
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Thanks guys. We really like the bow. I use it on almost all my videos and gigs. 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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My CF Fiddlerman bow is awesome, I'd say get the bow before you get an electric, but that's just me.
Regulars
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I just ordered the FM carbon fiber bow. Can't wait to give it a try!
Let the bow flow.
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Aha! You will not be disappointed ! I'm not "far enough in to violin/fiddle playing" to give any sort of expert opinion - but - compared the junk bows / hair / whatever (actual weight was about the same within a couple of grams) that arrived with my original acoustic and my (relatively) new EV - they are worlds apart. I now have two FM CF bows - they serve me well - I think you'll be pleased with it when it arrives.
When I really "feel the need" I would like to experiment with other bows - but right now at my level - there's really no need - it does all I want and the limitations are mine, not the bow, the hair, the strings, the rosin, or the FM Concert / my EV / my old "hermano del diablo" - nope - none of them, any limitations are just mine alone... the bow (with my choice of rosin and strings) is just fine !
Bill
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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fiddle chick said
I just ordered the FM carbon fiber bow. Can't wait to give it a try!
I really think you'll be impressed! I love mine, it's so much lighter than my old bow and actually straight so it got bonus points (my old one was warped & twisted).
Let us know what you think when it arrives.
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Will do. I have three wooden bows and all of them need a rehair. And each one is slightly warped (probably my fault), so I'm really looking forward to getting the CF bow to go with my new violin (Christmas present to myself)! The luthier in my town retired and closed his shop so it's a lot cheaper for me to get a new CF bow than to send the others off for a rehair.
Let the bow flow.
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Hope you like it!
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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ALRIGHT ALREADY. You all have twisted my arm enough -- just ordered mine. =D I swear my bow must weigh 65 grams; I'm looking forward to a change!
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You'll love it i'm sure! It's a very nice bow.
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WoW, 65 grams is heavy. I thought my old wood bow that weighed 62 grams was fine to play with until I acquired my first fiddlershop CF bow and it came in at a very light 59gr. I thought the difference wouldn't be such a big deal but I was shocked at how quickly you can change direction and hardly feel it.
You're gonna love it, I guarantee it! 
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Aloha everyone,
I posted this in the Break Room section as well, but I have also ordered a FM CF bow. I just got the notification from USPS that it has been delivered to my house! Wow! Now the rest of the day will drag itself out interminably, and of course the drive home, normally around 50 minutes or so, will seem like 3 hours
Oh well, I'm really stoked and can't wait to get home and rosin her up. I really, really hope I sound better on the new bow, or else I'll most likely hear it from my wife
Thanks, Fiddlerman, for offering this bow. I'm sure that we'll get along splendidly hahaha 
I'll post a video or two once I get used to it.
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Aloha everyone,
I received my FM CF bow last Friday and wow! All I can say is wow, that is a very nice bow, much nicer than the used bow I got "free" with my fiddle purchase. Like the "free" case, you get what you pay for, apparently. Anywho, I was impressed with the camber of the bow along with the hair. I can not relax the hair on my original bow enough to even touch the stick, which is probably why it was "free" I've included a picture to show the difference, although my new bow is upside down. The stick on my original is octagonal, while the FM bow is round. The part where the pinky rests is octagonal, however, which helps with keeping the pinky finger on top of the bow.
I was curious what sound, if any would be made with no rosin on the bow and was surprised to find that it sounded like an electric violin with no amplification. I tried to clean the strings of rosin, but I think the sound made could have been due to some excess rosin still on the strings. Anyway, my wife originally said "Great, now you can't bother me any more while you're killing all the cats in the neighborhood"
, so I rosined it up to make her happy
I didn't notice too much of a weight difference - both bows appear to weigh the same, but I really like the difference between the two. I can't really put it into words, but the FM bow acts differently when I play with it. I still need much work on bowing straight, but everything just feels a lot smoother with the new bow.
Thank you, @Fiddlerman, for offering such a nice bow for such a reasonable price. I could have spent upwards of $3k on a "really nice" bow, but I still have one, and at a fraction of that price I did notice a bit better tone on some tunes, but then I played, or rather tried to play, some of the more difficult ones and, well, let's just say the results are mixed
I took some pictures and will post three of them. I got it through Amazon.com, as they don't charge shipping for orders over $35. You remember those McDonald's commercials, right? You know, the ones where they say that prices are slightly higher in Alaska and Hawaii. Well, for shipping, it's as if we're in Timbuktu. I would rather shop from Fiddlershop.com, but I'll take free shipping any day. I apologize, @Fiddlerman, but at least Amazon.com sold it to me via Fiddlershop.com - they, in effect paid my shipping for me
When I saw the box, I wondered if I bought more than one bow, but it was packaged pretty well. It looks really nice and I'm both glad that I bought it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new bow. BTW, it was wrapped in a plastic bag, but I didn't include that picture with these. I will be recording a couple of tunes with the new bow within the next couple of weeks, but for now, on to the pics!
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@iBud you ordered yours through amazon and the box it came in was pretty big, i ordered through amazon too but my question is did yours have packing in the box to keep the bow secure? Mine didn't, it was just rolling around and could easily have been damaged. I keep meaning to get in touch with amazon about that. Luckily it wasn't damaged but that upset me a bit, they're usually so great with packing.
Can't wait to see the videos you post playing with it.
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I hope your talking about the Glasser X Series Carbon Graphite Bow. I just ordered one for Viola. With all the good reviews, I just decided to go for it. The only concern I have is what color are they? The other stores I've looked at them offer 5 different colors. All neon something. No black.
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mischa91 said
@iBud you ordered yours through amazon and the box it came in was pretty big, i ordered through amazon too but my question is did yours have packing in the box to keep the bow secure? Mine didn't, it was just rolling around and could easily have been damaged. I keep meaning to get in touch with amazon about that. Luckily it wasn't damaged but that upset me a bit, they're usually so great with packing.
Can't wait to see the videos you post playing with it.
Aloha @mischa91,
There was not a lot of packaging, but I think enough to keep it from moving too much. At least it's not warped or anything. It's in much better shape than my original bow.
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Ripton said
I hope your talking about the Glasser X Series Carbon Graphite Bow. I just ordered one for Viola. With all the good reviews, I just decided to go for it. The only concern I have is what color are they? The other stores I've looked at them offer 5 different colors. All neon something. No black.
Aloha @Ripton,
While this is a carbon fiber composite bow, I'm not sure it's the Glasser bow you reference. @Fiddlerman can answer your question. Mine looked black, but when I started playing with it, I could swear it's a very dark brown, but I'm not too picky on the color (as long as it's not pastel).
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Ripton, they are talking about our FIDDLERMAN Carbon Fiber bow from fiddlershop, or in some cases, Amazon. Not at all related to the Glasser bows.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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