Recommendations for replacement frog

[PhilipKT]

So I have this wonderful Dupuy bow made by we know not whom.

The frog is worn enough that I'd like to have a replacement frog made. 

My first target would be Siefried because I know his work well, but he seems to be out of pocket these days.

So who would you recommend?

 

thanks!!

[JacksonMaberry]

My former teacher Ernie Hartl is really skilled. https://www.hartlsbowshop.com/gallery

[duane88]

Sai Gao, a wonderful maker/restorer here in the PNW. Ole Kanestrom, who is in Port Townsend, and yes, Paul is not up to speed at last check. May be a while.

[devaraja42]

Mark Drehmann makes great frog copies (and also bows); he has pictures of replacement frogs he's made on his website:

http://www.markdrehmannbows.com/

[PhilipKT]

9 hours ago, duane88 said:

Sai Gao, a wonderful maker/restorer here in the PNW. Ole Kanestrom, who is in Port Townsend, and yes, Paul is not up to speed at last check. May be a while.

That's a very good suggestion! I have a lot of respect for Paul and he worked with Ole.

[Ethan Ford Heath]

I asked a well-respected maker about a replacement frog for my ivory-frog Hill, and he said he would do it, but spent the rest of his message talking about his own bows, giving the me the commission information including price. He never mentioned how much the replacement frog would cost.

Can anyone offer a ball-park estimate of how much a replacement (viola) bow frog should cost, from someone really good?

[duane88]

1500-2k+

[Mike_Danielson]

I cannot figure out what quality level this bow might be from the description.  $1500-200 seems very high for a hand-made frog.  Since this is a new frog to an old bow, there will be a future problem with recapturing your cost since the bow will be considered in the collector market as a composite.  Perhaps you should think of it it terms of being a "players bow."

Howard Core is selling silver-mounted ebony violin frogs with Paris eye for as low as $200, list.  With any modification like this, the pro should do it to maintain such things as weight and balance point.

Mike D

[JacksonMaberry]

If I were having a replacement made, I would want it to be done by someone able to match the style of the original and maintain the weight and balance relationships original to the bow as used with it's original frog. You don't accomplish all that with a prefab frog no matter how it is fitted to the stick. 

Clearly though, the value of the bow should be considered. $1-2k seems a fair range for this type of work to me. Would I have it done for a bow that is worth less than, say, $5k? Maybe not. Above that, yes. 

[Jerry Pasewicz]

1500-2000 is a reasonable price for a replacement frog.   The bowmaker is matching the original; for her/him, which maker does not effect the price.  Often new cutters for eyes need to be made.

However, you should really look at having the original restored.  It is best to keep things together and bow restoration has come a long way in the last 30 years. 

[duane88]

On 12/3/2017 at 4:17 PM, Mike_Danielson said:

I cannot figure out what quality level this bow might be from the description.  $1500-200 seems very high for a hand-made frog.  

The maker Dupuy doesn't tell you the quality as much as it tells you a range of value.

If you have never made a frog from scratch, aside from having to take into account the style of the orig. maker, then I could see why you might think that 1500-2000 is very high. Sai made me a replacement frog for an ivory Ouchard that was within 0.1g of the orig, and that won't happen with a Paulus frog from Core, nor does a cheap machine-made frog belong on a Dupuy. Not the best of the French tradition, but nonethless French.

[PhilipKT]

On 12/4/2017 at 4:37 AM, Jerry Pasewicz said:

1500-2000 is a reasonable price for a replacement frog.   The bowmaker is matching the original; for her/him, which maker does not effect the price.  Often new cutters for eyes need to be made.

However, you should really look at having the original restored.  It is best to keep things together and bow restoration has come a long way in the last 30 years. 

The original is worn at the thumb point, and I hate to have wood added. The original frog should remain original and if it remains with the bow there's no reason why the value of the whole would be damaged.

And  I'm not seeking an exact copy. I'd prefer a thumb extension( not sure what the official term is for the upper tongue of the frog where the thumb touches) that is square rather than round.

so I'm not looking for an exact copy, rather a replacement.

1200, even for a great bow, does seem high, but I haven't asked anyone so have no frame of reference. Perhaps that's just what it costs.

[Brad Dorsey]

Adding wood to your frog can be done completely reversibly.  If wood is added by gluing it on with super glue, it can later be removed by dissolving the glue with acetone without making any permanent changes in the frog.

If you're not looking for an exact copy, you don't need to have a frog made.  A bow specialist should be able to find a good quality replacement frog -- either new or used -- that fits your stick and that has a thumb projection that you like for a lot less than $1200.  I'm thinking that someone could do this for less than $500.  If the bow's weight and/or balance were different with the replacement frog,  the grip could be altered to restore these, assuming you don't have an original grip that you want to keep.