Fiddlerman Carbon Fiber Violin Bow

I inherited my grandfathers 100 yr old German made violin and refurbished it with the intention of playing again after many years. The instrument turned out nicely, but the bow was not in good shape so I searched for a new one. I settled on the Fiddlerman carbon fiber bow based on reviews I had seen. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the package containing the bow. It was shipped in a box, but also came in a very nice little box of it's own. A very nice touch for a not so expensive bow. I added rosin and was again pleasantly by the nice smooth sound the bow produced. After a couple of weeks of playing with this bow, I am still impressed with its performance and the quality of construction. If you are looking for an inexpensive quality bow for your violin, I don't think you will be disappointed with this product. Well done Fiddlerman.

There are some amazing string instruments coming out of China these days at incredible prices; the trick is finding the really good ones. I was intrigued by Fiddlerman's claim that he had tried out 100 cheap carbon bows and liked this maker, so I decided to give it a try. I agree with him -- the bow is straight, decently balanced, has nice healthy camber and (for a carbon bow) a lively action. It weighs 60 or 62 grams, so it feels very much like a wood bow (conversely if you're looking for an extra light carbon bow, this is not going to be your model) I have tried out carbon bows at price ranges from $250 to $800 and this cheapie bow holds its own quite well. It is difficult to find a carbon bow that is firm but not harsh and has enough camber and wiggle to support staccato and sautille in at least a limited way -- which this bow can do. Legato performance is uneven, but that is typical during a break-in period (the horsehair on this bow appears to be OK quality but it has not been prepped at all -- so the buyer needs to spend some time working in rosin till the hair breaks in a little.) My best bow is a quality pernambucco bow with a soft, supple action that is great for Mozart/Beethoven/Haydn where you are off the string / on the string in quick succession. That kind of bow is expensive (usually $1500-$2000 and up), and I have yet to encounter a carbon bow that can compete in that arena. However, carbon is nice when you want to crank up high tension -- say, late 19th century music, or situations where you need to press for more volume. Or if you are playing outside or in a setting where you don't want to put an expensive stick at risk. Quality wood bows do not like to be over-tightened or over-pressed -- it can damage their delicate camber. Carbon bows are great for this purpose because they're so durable. I guess to sum up, this bow is a no brainer for a student at this price, and would find a use for a lot of advanced players. I am not persuaded that it's worth spending serious money for carbon when a bow this good can be bought for well under $100. Nice work Fiddlerman.

OMG, this is a great bow for the price! I love how light and sturdy it is and the real horse hair is providing such a rich sound with no screeching over my high end synthetic bow. Love it! Just be sure to use a lot of rosin when you first get it. The Siberian horse hair is very thirsty at first.

This is a good bow, but to save time, purchase it from the official site instead. They function with professional musicians who will inspect the bow before shipping it over, which guarantees a straight bow, but that's not the case with Amazon - you may get a crooked bow without the inspection. I had to return it because the one I got from Amazon was crooked. Otherwise, still the same item from the same company, and Fiddlerman has fantastic products.

Arrived today, well packaged and in a very nice box for the bow, which was a pleasant surprise. I am a beginner to intermediate player, and purchased my violin and bow from an old man in an alley for practically nothing. It is a student model which was well set up twenty years ago but was very worn. The bow I started with was what I now believe to be a Vale student model. It was breaking down and half the hair was missing so I went looking for an affordable alternative. I'm very traditionalist in my selection of most everything, and was hoping to acquire a well made brazil wood bow at the very least. However, after noticing the many positive reviews of this product I decided to take a chance. Also I live in a very unpredictable climate, and with a carbon fiber bow, you eliminate a great deal of worry over environmental stress on the bow. After the bow arrived I inspected it and found no obvious defect. I rosined it and tested it and am fairly pleased with it so far. I have spent much time looking for an affordable quality bow and I believe this one is a very reasonable selection for a beginner such as myself. Is it a professional quality soloist piece? No. It is priced and manufactured very appropriately for a beginner to intermediate player. It produces a very clear tone and is decently balanced. There are some people who may tire kick this bow and that is to be expected of people in general in this day and age. They want it all, and they want it for nothing. Don't listen to them. This is an extremely high quality bow. For the price point. If you are working with a very tight budget, I highly recommend this bow, in terms of design and quality. This is an excellent option for those of us in need of a workhorse for a low price. And did I mention it comes with a warranty?

I picked up the fiddle in 2002 and have been playing old time tunes since then. I consider myself an advancing- intermediate player. So far I've used cheap brazilwood bows (at least that's what they claimed to be), and have used the same bow for the past 10 years, with an even older bow as a backup. Those bows no longer hold up to the summertime humidity, so I figured I'd give this carbon fiber bow a try. I read the strong reviews, but I can't say I always trust reviews. Well, it arrived today and I rosined it up (with light Bernadel rosin), and man, it does play nicely considering the price. The bow is about a half inch longer than my other two bows, and it doesn't seem to be noticeably heavier or lighter (my other bows must be roughly 60 grams as well). It looks fine -- I didn't notice any obvious errors or problems with construction. And like I said, it plays nicely. Seems to be well-balanced. I've noticed no bouncing or skidding. The horse hair seems fine. You can't expect too much from a $68 bow, but I am surprised at how well it plays for that price. My oldest daughter is about to begin the master's program in violin performance and pedagogy at Arizona State University in the fall, and I will have her mess around with it and give me her impressions. As for me, I'm going to be playing with this bow like crazy at an upcoming music festival in town a week and a half from now, easily four to six hours a day for a few days. If I experience any problems I'll be sure to update my review. Update: No problems at all -- the bow held up to serious humidity and relatively damp late-night playing throughout a festival weekend. I really like this bow.

I'm a beginner violinist, and I use an Stentor II Violin. While playing I didn't feel comfortable enough with anything. Perhaps I wasn't used to it, or perhaps it wasn't my ''thing''. I started to change absolutely everything on my violin to make it more comfy for me and I could improve even faster than I was. First of all, I bought the Kun Original Shoulder Rest and the Kreddle Chin rest and it's an amazing combo. Then I moved to Dominant strings, Jade L'opera green Rosin and finally this bow. WOW. Let me tell you that, even though I'm a beginner, I felt the difference at the moment, in sound and comfort. I don't squeak nor scratch that much, I control the bow extremely easier and faster, doesn't slip to the sides, doesn't bounce on it's own, you can feel it ''grips'' onto the strings and plays how it needs to be played. I extremely recommend this bow because it's smooth, comfortable, lightweight, beautiful, it's carbon fiber for 70 euros !!!, and looks like a quality bow. As I said, I didn't use JUST the bow, I used a lot of things that may change the sound or the playability but I can assure you that this COMBO it's heaven.

This bow looks, feels and sounds great! That’s why I gave it 3 stars. I’ll admit I had pretty high hopes after reading reviews but I was disappointed. It just seemed that the hair was falling out way more than normal. Perhaps I just got a bad one but it was a bit too pricey for me to keep.