Yamaha CBB-105 violin bow

[texbambam]

Has anyone heard anything about the new yamaha CBB-105 violin bows.

I hear they are REAL good...can someone confirm this. And where to

get them... 

[oldgeezer]

It's been on the market for a while. Shar sells them at $329. Southwest Strings is $315. Sam Ash has them at $299. It's Yamaha's lowest priced carbon bow. There are a lot of similarly priced carbon bows so I'd shop around and play a few. Even the least expensive carbon bows are usually well balanced and play well off string. More money buys a better finish and a better ability to pull a big sound easily. Some similarly priced carbon bows would be the Coda Conservatory, the Glasser Braided, or the JonPaul Legacy among others.

[Allan Speers]

Tex,

I can personally recommend the Glasser Braided, which as oldgeezer

wrote is in the smae price range.  I never tried the Yammy,

and I'm not a fan of CF bows in general, yet one particular Glasser

braided really struck me as fine.  Look at the round stick

only.  THe octagonal ones are very dead sounding by

comparison, and only made (IMO) for marketing reasons.

Also relize that CF bows vary almost as much as Pernambuco, at

least in sound. Most people assume that they are 100% consistent,

and this is absolutely not true.  Go to a shop

that has several, and insist on trying a few, therwise you could

get a dog, or just a bad match for your instrument.

[texbambam]

I must be looking in the wrong place the SWS yamaha 105 was $1500

[oldgeezer]

I misread your original post and thought you were referring to the bottom of the line. Your price is right for the top of the line. At that price, I'd definitely try a lot of carbon fiber bows. There aren't many priced higher although a Berg Deluxe at $4,000 is rather pricey Without having tried these bows, Yamaha's top carbon fiber bows including their signature bows seem high priced.

[Steve_W]

$1500 puts it right in the middle of the Arcus range, close to the Sinfonia. That's not outlandish, for a good CF bow. But although I know several other Arcus players, I don't know anybody who has tried the Yamaha...

[Fellow]

My experience tells me that $400 CF bow is not as good as a $400 pernambuco bow.

(what is the point?). I don't know anything CF bows if better if you pay more. Ihis remains to be found out.

Only nice about CF bow now is that they are widely available. Wooden bows are harder

to find. Better wooden bows are too expensive (not affordable) to average players.

Better bows of reasonable prices, CF or wooden, are widey needed. Just my observation.

[texbambam]

Got one now...seems real nice, I did not pay $1800 though...it is

made in China and I just wonder how much Yamaha is marking these

up...I would not pay $1,800 for this bow. It's good but not that

good. One thing about CF bows...they bounce when you drop

them...nice for playing crazy stuff, 3 sheets to the wind.

I would be scared to death to play a $3,000 Pernambuco

bow in a dance hall.