Frog with Odd Mountings

[GeorgeH]

I have never seen a frog with this style of mountings: very narrow slide and oddly cut ferrel. The bow is stamped "Germany" on the butt. The metal has a slightly greenish tarnish, therefore I assume it is bronze or some copper alloy. The button and underslide are pinned. The frog and stick have matching manufacturing marks, and the metal lapping underneath the deteriorated thumb pad was also golden color. Weighs 57g as is. Strong stick.

Restore or dustbin?

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by GeorgeH
Added picts

[Blank face]

Abeille wood from roughly the between the wars period in my experience. The weight could make it usable as a viola bow for students, if it's possible to get enough hair into it. Otherwise dustbin.

[GeorgeH]

2 minutes ago, Blank face said:

Abeille wood from roughly the between the wars period in my experience. The weight could make it usable as a viola bow for students, if it's possible to get enough hair into it. Otherwise dustbin.

 Thanks.

Are you familiar with that style of mountings? They are new to me.

 

[Blank face]

Meisel (Micelli) bows often have this ferrule shape, but others probably, too.

[GeorgeH]

7 minutes ago, Blank face said:

Meisel (Micelli) bows often have this ferrule shape, but others probably, too.

Narrow slider, too?

[Blank face]

5 hours ago, GeorgeH said:

Narrow slider, too?

Maybe they ran short of mop.

[Brad Dorsey]

8 hours ago, GeorgeH said:

I have never seen a frog with this style of mountings: very narrow slide and oddly cut [ferrule]..

 

I think I have seen a few frogs like this, or close to it.  I don’t like this shape of ferrule with the extremely rounded end, because, with the end extended so far ahead of the sides, the extension is easily bent up by the ferrule wedge.

I might hair and grip a bow like this if I were really hard up for cheap bows and the stick were not too weak, but it’s certainly not worth replacing the tip.

[Blank face]

9 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said:

it’s certainly not worth replacing the tip.

Obviously it’s possible to order a plastic face replacement for a handful of dollars. Or cut it out from some toothpick box or the like.

[Brad Dorsey]

I have found two problems with plastic tips.  One is that I haven't found a glue that sticks to them.  The other is that the cost of installing a tip is not in the tip itself.  The cost is mostly in the time spent trimming it after it is glued, and trimming a plastic tip takes almost as long as trimming a bone/ivory/Tip Armor one.  So, for me, plastic tips don't make any sense.

Do you put on plastic tips?  If yes, perhaps you can give me some "tips."

[GeorgeH]

Awwww, nobody likes my new bow. 

Oh, well, the price was right. 

Regardless, it is interesting that the frog with the narrow slide combined with the round ferrel doesn't seem familiar to anybody else here. Maybe it was made by an autodidact.  Anyway, apparently not a common mass-produced frog, and probably for good reason.

Thanks for your comments.

[Blank face]

3 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said:

Do you put on plastic tips?  If yes, perhaps you can give me some "tips."

Factually I think that I once superglued a plastic face plate (selfmade from some box) at a fractional bow from the music school, which was more a sort of "for free as a donation" job, What makes it cheap is that soft plastic is fitted fast and easy, but otherwise I don't think that they are useful neither aesthetical nor functional.

What I'm using  now often is Casein imitation, don't know if this counts as plastic. Looks rather well IMO, is very stable, but difficult to work on, because it splits easily, so time and care is necessary. Therefore I won't say it's cheap work, for the same reason you described.

3 hours ago, GeorgeH said:

Regardless, it is interesting that the frog with the narrow slide combined with the round ferrel doesn't seem familiar to anybody else here. Maybe it was made by an autodidact.  Anyway, apparently not a common mass-produced frog, and probably for good reason.

I think it was made clear that both features aren't uncommon in the mass production. 

I don't think that the bow wouldn't do the job as a player, and the head doesn't look that bad, but probably even the cheapest way to restore it would exceed the value as a violin bow, and could be equal to the costs of a similar viola bow. These are usually (training) projects for repairers getting such stuff for free.