arcus concerto violin bow experience

[farmerjohn]

Reading some compelling material such as the Arcus ad, and especially, Andrew Victor's review on bows, I decided to give the Arcus Concerto violin bow a try. I had a gut feeling about the ACB. (A little about me: I play violin in our university orchestra, do occasional gigs with neighbor island orchestras and community theater, take graduate classes occasionally, and am a Hawaiian kava farmer with some engineering background .)

THE BOX OPENING. Today the ACB arrived from Southwestern Strings at the FedEx office. Anxiously I peeled the box flaps open. Upon first glance, what struck me was, gee, I paid $1200 for this?!? Immediately seemed to me that unless it was finished like a Berg, this synthetic bow is going to have a difficult time in comparing with the beauty of wood. The winding appeared really cheap-looking - an impression of a twine of paper clip wire wrapped together with some skinny vinyl. And still, at that price, a bow without any certificate of authenticity? Consolation here was the freebie hardshell bow case that was provided with the ACB. And apparently the makers cared enough to give it a serial number (#11025). Nothing like seeing the bow first-hand and up close rather than looking at the low-res photos on their website.

IN THE CAR. Couldn't help but take the ACB out the case and stare at my purchase decision at every stoplight. Multitudes of mixed emotions coursed through my mind. "Dang, I could have got a Hill bow for that price! I must have been jipped, duped, and blinded by that stupid Arcus ad, etc. Well, this bow is light, and would probably be comfortable to play, and inertia (more mass of heavier bows) really can pose difficulty in dynamic transitions of volume and bow changes. This bow better have some redeeming features, or I'll have to return it or chalk it up as a major blunder in my spending rationale."

AT HOME. Rosin the bow with Jade rosin, take out the new violin with Olive strings out, still a bit slippery, more rosin... Hey, hmmm, right on! This bow is smooth as silk. It's almost impossible to make an unmusical sound. I can see why Andrew's comments that the ease of making a beautiful tone with the ACB seems like cheating. Perhaps, we've been just assigning too much blame on ourselves, and not enough on the equipment.

AS OF NOW. This bow is a keeper. I appreciate the lack of bow (white) noise, which probably allowed the ACB seems to draw out beautiful nuances of my violin that couldn't be heard with other bows. The bow is very firm, not rubbery. It doesn't bottom out (hair touching the wood) easily. Physical (hand pressure esp.) adjustment to using it seems minor. I was concerned that the light weight of the ACB might cause it bow tremors on very slow piano expressions, or make it less controllable - nothing of the sort. In fact, I will make the ACB my primary bow, as I've really grown to like it. And the look of the snakewood frog and the black stick is a continually refreshing sight.

P.S. A THOUGHT ON VALUE. What is beautiful sound production, ease of playing, and esthetics worth to you? For $1200, I couldn't find anything of comparable or better characteristics. Although it probably cost way less to manufacture this bow than a master manually working with pernambuco, the value provided by this bow appears justified. Not unlike, perhaps, the cost of media vs. the value of the software. It is a apparent that a lot of thought, research, and experimentation went into the ACB. Anyway, I went with my gut feeling to buy it. Perhaps along those lines, I feel that if Arcus progresses and offers an upgrade path, they'll win even more converts. Simply, I'd say that it's a joy to play, and beyond price comparison.

[Andrew Victor]

farmer john,

It is gratifying to me that you are having an experience similar to mine. We can only have those first experiences once.

I think the strange appearance of the winding is an attempt to have the modern silver-on-black look without much weight. A conventional simulated whalebone lapping would have about the same mass but would probably look cheaper on the black stick. Last year's Concerto was wound in solid silver wire, and had more mass toward the frog. About 1.7 grams could be removed by removing the wire under the thumb leather.

I too almost always end up with the Arcus in hand - it is, as you indicate, so stable that it even compensates for coffee jitters in morning sessions. Only if I'm doing something solo with lots of up-bow staccato do I sometimes move to a different (considerably more expensive) stick.

By tightening the hair on your Arcus to different amounts, you can get different acoustic and mechanical effects with the bow (nothing magic - just taking full advantage of the bows "genius" and the capabilities of your violin (or viola or cello)).

The Arcus has a much greater "tightening range" than other bows because the stick's greater stiffness allows it to remain within its functional range and reasonable hair-standoff distances.

Andy

[Ann]

Interesting! Since I am the violist who doesn't care if my equipment looks as though it went through a trash grinder as long as it plays well, I am even more encouraged to save my pennies and aim for one of these......

[staylor]

Andrew Victor,

From recent posts it seems like your opinions of Arcus Concerto has risen, having recovered from a previous all-time low.

Is this all to do with the upgrade? or what?

And once, when refering to the Berg Delux, The Arcus was almost not worth mentioning in the same conversation. Is this still the case?

S.Taylor

[Primrose84]

hi,

Andy, i've ready your review on the various bows out there. a hearty bravo to you.

i just wanted to ask of you (about the violin models), a) have you tried the "sinfonia" bow yet...and; if you have tried it, is it better than the sonata by much, should i stick to the lower priced one or just shell out the extra couple hundred for the "improvement"??

thanks much,

dave

thanks much

[crystal]

Farmer John:

Well I think it's been over a month for you and your new Arcus.

What are your impressions now? I am wondering if Mr. Victor still feels the same also.

I am thinking about an new bow and I like the looks of the Arcus Sinfonia.

[lwl]

I, on the other hand, am thinking of selling my Arcus Sonata and my current spare pernambucco bow and buying a Berg Deluxe for a spare instead.

(If anyone is in the market for a Sonata, let me know; it's basically brand-new, and this one draws a particularly powerful tone.)

[staylor]

The Berg Delux would be wonderful as a second bow!

I'd be fortunate indeed if I had (even) a second hand Berg Delux as a FIRST bow.

[Though I'm also happy for the momment with my Arcus concerto, I don't mean to make that out as less (It's much cheaper, though).

Those who know them both will know better than me, but the Arcus is slightly different to regular bows, so I'm not sure how easy it is to compare.]

[farmerjohn]

Yes, it's been almost a month, and after daily practice, I'm still learning new things about the Arcus Concerto Bow. I don't have any conclusions. However, the ACB is a keeper.

What I'm finding so far is that the ACB has finesse - mishaps, don't sound as bad , and appears to draw the cleanest sound (minimal bow noise) of all bows I have tried and owned. And second is that any difficulty is because of force of habit where I forget that the center of gravity is lower, than other bows. When I make the adjustment the ACB plays just fine. Other points I like about it are

1. Excellent pull on legato. Very clean sounding notes.

2. Controllability. Doesn't go so off-course or easily lose stability when accidental bow movement is introduced.

3. Even pull or consistency on strings. I've used one pernambuco bow where broken chords didn't sound even.

4. Comfort. 48 g (e.g., the ACB) is very, very comfortable. Heavy bows seem to take more physical energy, and can seem tiring. 61 g is about the limit for me. Some friends, however, feel it's too light, and the balance still needs to be higher. Perhaps as an option, Arcus could have weight inserts.

The ACB is my primary bow. However, I don't think it will be my last bow. I do enjoy it very much.

More later perhaps as I learn more about it.