New Bow

[Joseph Liu]

Just finished this violin bow. It is a copy (with different color and shell species) of a Nicolas Maire. The original has a very light weight pernambuco stick. It also has a camber that is quite flat behind the head and very strong towards the winding. I pretty much used both the thicknessing (graduation) and the camber of the original bow. I thought it would not be a easy bow to control but turned out just the opposite.

I used pernambuso, Madagascar ebony, Paua abalone, and sterling silver for the bow.

[Ray Lee]

It's just beautiful !!!

[Bassbow40]

Great!

[iburkard]

Talk about clean... looks like a computer generated image. Nice slide...

[Janito]

Nice frog.

Why did you place the dot behind the optical centre? Initially disconcerting, but interesting!

[Guy_Gallo]

Very nice.

[MANFIO]

Nice! Congrats! The shell seems to be albalone.

[iburkard]

Why did you place the dot behind the optical centre?

He noted that this was a copy... perhaps the offset is part of the character of the original bow?

[Janito]

FWIW

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/Very-fine-MAIRE-sch...t-/200399856684

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/947945

[Joseph Liu]

Thanks for the complements! The bow that I copied had a rounded front slope of the head (no ridge in front of the head) like Janito's first link. The frog, the eye postion, and the button looked like the second of Janito's link.

I decided to use Paua abalone from New Zealand. Paua has tighter grain lines and more blue-ish green color than green abalone that you can find here in California. I don't know if Maire ever used green abalone, but he probably never used Paua.

[jezzupe]

Just finished this violin bow. It is a copy (with different color and shell species) of a Nicolas Maire. The original has a very light weight pernambuco stick. It also has a camber that is quite flat behind the head and very strong towards the winding. I pretty much used both the thicknessing (graduation) and the camber of the original bow. I thought it would not be a easy bow to control but turned out just the opposite.

I used pernambuso, Madagascar ebony, Paua abalone, and sterling silver for the bow.

Sure is clean work, The more I do this violin thing the more I think to myself, "anyone who has the desire to make a fiddle can do so, it might not be a

Strad, but it will make violin noises"...there might be "more stuff" going on based on the acoustics, but bow making scares me. I could be wrong when I say this, but I think it very well might be harder to make a good bow than a great violin?

[fiddlecollector]

Thanks for the complements! The bow that I copied had a rounded front slope of the head (no ridge in front of the head) like Janito's first link. The frog, the eye postion, and the button looked like the second of Janito's link.

I decided to use Paua abalone from New Zealand. Paua has tighter grain lines and more blue-ish green color than green abalone that you can find here in California. I don't know if Maire ever used green abalone, but he probably never used Paua.

Many of the Maire and Maire school /workshop bows ive had seem to have` Haliotis Fulgens `,slides and eyes.I think its also known as green abalone ,it is the type with a narrow rippled figure.

[Ed Shillitoe]

Very nice Joseph!

Can you say more about the camber? Do you have a picture that shows what you mean? Do bows of the Maire school always have a greater curve toward the handle?

Ed

[Joseph Liu]

Hi Ed: I don't know if all Maire bows have greater curves toward the handle compare to other bows. The one that I copied had about a 3 inch area behind the head that was flat when the bow is tightened. The rest of the bow had very strong camber compared with most bows that I have seen. The few Maire bows that I have examined closely had relatively flat areas behind the head compared with Fetique, Sartory, and most German bows.

Jessupe: I think bow making takes very different skills and tools. I like making both instruments and bows. That's why I do both. Good bow makers usually make their own frogs and buttons which require metal work and silversmithing. A lathe is also required for making cutters and turning the button. A great violin maker does not need to know how to make pegs and tailpieces, but it would be hard for a bow maker to be great without making frogs and buttons.

[stradglider]

FWIW

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/Very-fine-MAIRE-sch...t-/200399856684

Be carefull... It seems that the bow sold is not the same bow as in Paul's certificate...

[stradglider]

Oh, and, while wanted to warn of the fraud, I totally forgot to mention that I love your bow, Joseph. It is very beautiful, congratulations.

I like a lot bows that are straight behind the head. I think that is one of the secrets of great French bow makers and that is what gives feeling of resistance to bows that otherwise might feel soft. So the bow can be both quite flexible, which gives warm sound, but still strong enough not to creep.