Stepan Demirdjian Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Today my clients of a chamber orchestra asked me for baroque bows of middle range and reasonable price from an european dealer or maker. Will appreciate if you share your experience testing and dealing with such a bows. Thank you all in advance. Stepan Demirdjian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deans Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 You might want to check out Walter Mahr, I know they list them, but I have never seen one. Of course there are many Chinese ones, but they vary in quality, and many aren't close to being anything historical. There are many individual makers that produce them, but you might be looking for things that are a bit less costly. Besides Mahr, there must be other German commercial firms that make something decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stepan Demirdjian Posted December 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thank you deans.It was my point,to see comments by people who have been on the market searching,trying or dealing with baroque bows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjham Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I have one from Otto Durrschmidt which is very nice compared to the Chinese ones in my collection. http://www.bogenbau-otto-dürrschmidt.com/productoverview.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael.N. Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 David van Edwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fine Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Pieter Affourtit made the Baroque bow that I've been using. I think he fits the bill as a reasonably priced European. When I was bow shopping, Gabriela Guadalajara sent me 3 bows, all three by Affourtit. 2 baroque "sonata" bows and 1 classical bow. The baroque bows were both excellent. I had a hard time choosing between them. I found the classical bow very interesting, but I did not like it. At the moment, I'm in the market for an early Baroque short bow. I've been talking with my local bow maker, David Forbes, about building me one. At the moment, we're still in the research phase. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. I've learned a lot already by reading, but there is no substitute for having one in the hand. David had a classical violin bow in the shop on an English model that he'd recently built that I thought was excellent. He's also reasonably priced and does quite a bit of business in Northern Europe (but he's not European). (PS: Pieter Affourtit and David Forbes are both reasonably priced, but maybe they're not mid-range. But Baroque bows are so affordable even from excellent archetiers.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fine Posted December 12, 2015 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 Quick as a bunny, David spent last weekend building me a little Baroque bow. It's light, made out of snakewood, with only a hint of cambre near the tip. Black hair. I'm not sure it's as small as I was expecting, but the viola is gigantic, and the bow feels noticeably smaller and lighter than the one I've been using and sounds noticeably different. I would compare it to driving a sports car: it's lighter, you can feel the road more. I am very excited, I believe this bow has profound implications. I think my Baroque dances sound better already. The sound is clear and accents rhythm. I think it would be fantastic for fiddlers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fine Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 I hijacked this thread a bit, but thought I'd post a couple pictures of my two Baroque bows. Check out the cool imitation clip-in frog that David made. The screw mechanism is cleverly hidden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacksonMaberry Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 Ernie Hartl in Washington State makes long and short baroque bows in the $1k range along the lines of Robert Seletsky's recent scholarship. He's making one for my fiancée right now, a short bow of snakewood with mammoth ivory button. He is using a screw mechanism so she can use it in a variety of climates. In the interest of full disclosure I must say that I am his apprentice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjham Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Not strictly on topic, but I thought this youtube video showing some baroque bows in action was interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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