Carbon Fiber Upright Bass Bows
We currently offer two new brands of carbon fiber upright bass
bows: The new bass bow by Finale, and the
Metropolitan bass bow, made by Codabow. We offer
each bow, both in the French or German style. Why use or buy
a carbon fiber bow? At first there was a lot of mistrust regarding
these new upright bass bows. With so many ill fated attempts
to use a 'man made' material to replace the old 'tried and true'
wood of pernambuco, it's no wonder that it took a while to catch
on. Now with the advent of super composite (aerospace) technology,
so many different combinations can actually quite perfectly mimic
the density and playing properties of the very finest bows.
These bows will not warp, are hard to break or crack and can be
re-haired and used just like any other fully professional level
bow. Many top classical and jazz players now have a good carbon
fiber bow and use them as their every day bow.
Finale™ upright bass bows:
These are new and very, very impressive! They are incredibly
well balanced bass bows. I have to admit that at first,
I was a little skeptical...and a little snobby, but when I first
used one on my bass in symphony hall, I (as well as the rest of
the bass section), was in a state of shock. It simply draws
more sound out of the bass and like a great 'master' bow, grips
the string from end to end. It feels like a really nice Pernambuco
bow, but it's black and it's carbon fiber!! All of the
Finale brand bows, come with a lifetime warranty.
We're happy to ship those contemplating a purchase of a good upright
carbon fiber bow, one Finale andone Metropolitan
bow to play can compare. You can always send the other one
(or both) back to us.
The Finale™ French, upright bass bow is 66.5 cm long and
they average around 137 grams. (ranging between 134-140) The
have a nice deep camber. A notable attraction on the Finale
French bass bows, is the Abalone pearl dot on the frog with the
'Parisian eye' or silver ring which surrounds the dot. (A
nice added touch of elegance here where they combine the new technology
to old, beautiful traditions!) The price is right too: $340
(case and rosin included!)
Both the Finale German and French models come in solid black
or carbon fiber weave. Please specify which style and finish
when ordering.
The Finale French model carbon fiber bass bow: (click on any
photo to get the larger, more detailed image)
The Finale™ German bows have a nicely shaped
ebony frog that seems to fit nicely into the average size hand.
Again, it's rounded quite like the famous older, Pfretzschners.
The frogs are purposely left plain and the bow is without wrapping
as well. The length is 69.5 cms. The under-slide (by the hair
in the frog) also has the Abalone pearl. Another special added
touch is that the bow adjusters on the German model are solid
ebony, not plastic. They are beautiful upright bass bows and
play like $3,000 sticks! (The German upright bass bows are
also $340 ( also with case and rosin included).
Please specify which style and finish when ordering.
Included with each new Finale bow, comes special hard bow case.
(Shown below)
***With the purchase of both the Finale or Metropolitan
carbon fiber bass bows, we offer a special package: Each bow
comes with a Bobelock hard case and choice of one upright bass rosin:
Pop's, Carlsson, Nymans or Kolstein's Ultra bass rosin (soft only).
So pick a bow, a case and your favorite rosin!
Another Finale Bass Video
There are 2 really great videos comparing the Finale bow to another
great (expensive) bow. One of the best known videos is found
on Jason Heath's Double Bassblog. The other newer one is found on
the upright bass videos page here.
(On this page, there are a lot of performances, but you can find
the Finale Demo towards the bottom of the page.)
On our video, Steve plays his Italian bass and a very rare (and
expensive) PW Bryant bow. The Bryant is by the famous English bow
maker of the 1960's (not to be confused with the contemporary, present
day English bass maker, also named Paul Bryant. The PW Bryant
bows average about $6,000 nowadays, but you will see a range of
between $4-7k. On the video, I don't talk too much, (I was
nervous!), but I play an A - B comparison of a couple of excerpts
so one hear any difference. They match pretty closely and
I think the Finale pulls away in the lead towards the end of the
video. You can hear the fullness that it pulls out of
the bass. The point of the video is to show that while the
Finale bows are only $340, they perform and actually compete with
the best and most expensive hand made bows out there.
The Metropolitan French upright bass bow, by
Codabow:
The Metropolitan comes in both the French and German style.
They're good upright bass bows. The length of the French style
bow is 66 cm and they all weigh pretty close to 135-140 grams.
These have the braided carbon fiber weave look through out the bow
and the cool logo on the frog side. On the under slide of
the bow, Codabow uses a sporty carbon fiber weave plate instead
of the traditional pearl slide. The price is $753. Shop
around, compare prices and don't forget to pick your bow case and
rosin which is included in this price. Have a question about
any of the bows? Just call or
email us.
Special coupon offer: With the purchase of any Metropolitan
German or French bow, receive a $75 coupon off on any set of bass
strings we carry. A very exciting deal!
The Metropolitan German upright bass bow:
The Metropolitan German style upright bass bow also has similar
weight to their French model. The length is 69cm. Price is
also $753 includes the hard bow case and rosin package.
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