hypothetical bow rehair

[RS]

If you could go to anyone in the world to get your bow rehaired -- geography, distance, expense no problem -- who would you go to?

[rainyann]

Barry Griffiths, our favorite luthier. So far all our work done with Barry has been great.

[Ludwig]

I didn't realize a bow rehair required such an intense level of expertise that it would even be an issue....

[RS]

I didn't think of it as an "issue"! I just thought it would be fun to find out who you all think are the really great bow re-hairers. That said, I think it DOES make a difference who one takes one's bow to.

[music]

It makes all the difference in the world!!!

The best one I know is Michael Duff of Berg Bows (unfortunately he does not rehair wooden bows).

[michael sowden]

yes but please bear in mind not only do you need a good bow re hairer but you need good bow hair.

re BERG BOWS THE SAYING GOES A BERG BOW IS ALLWAYS IN THE BEST HANDS.

He uses our hair.

Mark Sowden www.sowden.co.uk

[james]

Michael,

Sounds like there is such a thing as good hair and bad hair. Can you tell by looking or feeling, rather than playing? And how do you tell?

Thanks

[music]

Hi Mark,

You're absolutely right about quality bow hair, and I'm glad to know it's your hair in the Berg Bows. I'd highly recommend your products based on the value of your bow hair!

Susan

[Mark_W]

There are lots of tricky little things that bow technicians do, grafting, recambering, cleaning, lapping, French polishing, etc. These are the things to think about when having your old, valuable bow serviced.

Rehairing calls for a bit of judgment, good hair, and lots of practice to get it right. If labor costs were not a problem, I think any number of people could be trained to do the rehairing part quite well.

Mark_W

[RS]

Thanks for all your responses, but now that we've established that who does it IS important, back to my original question: Who would you like to take your fine bows (wood, as well as Berg Bows) to?

[Keith Rogers]

David Samuels, a bowmaker in Houston, did a super job on two of my bows.

http://www.samuelsbow.com

[Andrew Victor]

I think there is more to rehairing a bow than mets the eye. If I could, I would like to talk to the person who rehairs my bow to learn what that person knows and thinks and considers when planning each rehairing job - or if it's considered a completely repititious routine task with no difference between bows except for the obvious physical differences of fitting old (or making new) wedges and evenly spreading the hair and tying off the right lengths (and even there, with the length of hair, how is the positioning of the thumb leather considered). How about the hair at the sides of the "ribbon," is it allowed to fall where it may or is it tailored in some way? All these "little things" make the difference between best, better, good, fair, poor, unacceptable rehairing jobs - and I've seen them all.

I believe the quality of the job you get has already been 90% determined when you choose the rehairer. There is always some chance (luck) that a good result will come from a lesser job - but a poor job should never slip through the quality control of a good technician.

Finally, I'm concluding that it's a good idea not to let them add powdered rosin to your rehaired bow, but rather to take the time and effort to rosin the new hair yourself with the rosin you have chosen. I've sometimes had to fight a "pwdered rosined rehair" for a week or so until I get the rosin balance to my liking. I've found this particulary important on cello bows - but also non-trivial on viola and violin bows.

Andy