In the making of my bow, I sought advice from Rick Rigall (Wm Moening & Sons), Steve Beckley (Bowworks.com), Roger Treat (Putney, VT), Matt Stamell (Stamell String), Andrew Glasser (Glasser Bows), and Ken Wise (International Violin). Michael T. Sowden talked to me about bow hair (I only use the best), and Jacy Sousa (Horst John) made suggestions about the frog and tip.

The following text was written by Steve R. Perry of Gianna Violins, who loves my bow and carries it in his shop.

"Developed by fiddler Adam R. Sweet over a 15 year period, using feedback from the thousands of fiddlers from all over the world,

* Specifically designed for fiddling, suitable for players of all levels.
* Relatively light, about 59 g on average and stiffer than average.
* Tip is slightly more "massive," but not much heavier than a standard French bow tip, just spread out over a wider area like a baroque bow, or a cello bow, giving it the feel and effect of more mass, but without a sensation of heaviness.
* Gives faster play at the tip, without pushing down very hard on the stick, letting the fiddler produce a good solid tone at any speed.
* Solid carbon graphite stick, not a hollow or fiber stick. Stamped from a solid mass of carbon graphite, then carved and shaped to match the model.
* Virtually unbreakable.
* All other niceties of a standard French style violin bow: i.e., fully mounted genuine ebony frog, Parisian eye, three-part button, faux whalebone wrap, leather grip, and the finest bow hair.
* Standard wooden wedges, easily removed and replaced (no nails, screws or plastic plugs to worry about)."

My carbon graphite bow for fiddlers is now available direct from me! <a href="http://www.emilysviolins.citymax.com/catalog/item/4159020/4724484.htm">CLICK HERE</a> to order yours today using your credit card. If you prefer to pay by check, that's ok, simply fill out the information on the order page and I will send you an invoice, which you can then pay for with your personal check!

I have one of Adam's [Celtic Agent] graphite bows. It works terrific with my 5 string Arthur Conner violin. The extra weight of the bow is good for getting a bigger sound out of the C string.
I've used the bow with my four string violin, and although it's a tad on the heavy side -- it produces a good sound. (In fact, I spend a year using the bow as the preferred fiddle bow for playing bluegrass music. When the bow went into the shop for a rehair, I used another pernambuco bow I have. When I got Adam's bow back, I realized how heavy it was, and retired it to my 5 string violin case.)

I wouldn't describe the bow as springy, but it's not a "dud" either.

Hi Berg--

I wish I had a good way of weighing my bows. I have a stamps.com postal scale to weigh mail, but it does a terrible job of providing the weight of a bow. My bow doesn't feel that heavy compared to a viola bow I have, but since there is only one string {C} that needs the extra bow weight, it does ok with that. I'm thinking a slightly heavy violin bow would be a better option than a viola bow, especially since you'll probably want to play your 5 string more like a violin than a viola [and the strings on the violin aren't nearly as thick / heavy as viola strings].

If I can figure out a way to weigh the bow, I'll keep you posted here.

Sheryl

My other bow is a 300 year old pernambuco no-name bow that weighs in at 54g. I love it, but it's now too light for me. After playing with my bow now for several years, it's hard to go back to the lighter bow.

But I have a more traditional grip and don't choke up on the stick as a lot of self-taught fiddlers do. So maybe that's why some people feel it's heavier than a traditional bow.