Violinist tries $ 29 eBay Violin Bow vs $ 8.000 Professional Bow | Violin Lounge TV #318

by | Jul 31, 2019 | 4 comments

Can you hear the difference between a cheap and expensive violin bow?

Find out why a bow matters and discover the differences in sound and playability:

A good bow easily translates the vision you have for the music you play into sound

The bow determines how easy you can play what you want and how far you’ll get

A cheap bow certainly makes sound and you can play every piece with it… but how?

The sound may not be as nice. A violin bow influences the tone quality greatly and this is mainly caused by the stick. In wooden bows it’s the quality of the wood. In carbon fiber bows it’s generally the density of the carbon.

With a cheap bow bowing techniques are more difficult, which keeps you stuck at a certain playing level. There’s a lot you can do to make it work, but there’s a limit.

An expensive bow does a lot for you: you just have to think it and the bow does the work. It follows your ideas and your hand seamlessly. At the same time you create a beautiful sound.

A good bow keeps you motivated and you’ll play with more confidence. You’ll get better results in your playing and you want to play more and more.

The $ 29 Yinfante bow is ‘one in a million’

says concert violinist Giedre. For the price it’s almost impossible how they’ve been able to create a bow that ‘works’. However, don’t expect anything special. For a beginner this is fine to learn the first steps. After a while you’ll want to upgrade to a better bow to further develop your sound and technique.

The Arcus S9 ‘listens like no other’

‘I feel like a soloist, like a star…’

For concert violinist Giedre, playing with the Arcus S9 is heaven. You just have to send the signal to your hand and your bow does exactly what you have in mind.

It helps you create a beautiful full, rich tone on your violin and difficult bowing techniques are much easier.

There are may Arcus bows of different types and prices starting around $ 1.000:

Looking for someting in between? What bow suits you best?

Find out in my ultimate guide to buying a violin bow. In it Giedre and I demonstrate and discuss the the best, the worst, the cheapest, the most expensive, the most popular, the most obscure violin bows on the market. Listen to the differences, learn how they play and pick the perfect violin bow for you, so you can improve your sound quality, bowing technique and expression with a bow that fits you like a glove!

Hi! I'm Zlata

Let me help you find a great bow for your violin, so you can improve your bowing technique and sound quality:

4 Comments

  1. Dae

    Were they haired differently also?

    Reply
    • Violinist Zlata Brouwer

      Certainly, Dae, a good rehair is more money than the eBay bow. Of course most differences comes from the stick, but good quality selected hair attached by a craftsman makes a difference too.

      Reply
    • William Abraham

      Hi Zlata. How does the wood quality or hardness of carbon fiber affect the sound quality?

      Reply
      • Violinist Zlata Brouwer

        For wood it’s the quality and the way it’s cut that has the greatest influence on the sound quality. For carbon fiber it’s the density of the carbon fiber and how it’s made. You can learn more in depth about that in my violin bow guide.

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