bacfire - Posted - 04/19/2025:  14:46:33

I just picked up this bow at an estate sale this afternoon and am wondering if it's anything better than junk and worth rehairing/restoring. I know next to nothing about bows, but I'm thinking it looks French.
Octagonal shaft tapers to round 3-4" from the frog, no markings that I can see; has a star inlay that I've never seen before. What do y'all know and think?

 

TuneWeaver - Posted - 04/19/2025:  14:50:40

That looks like a viola bow

ChickenMan - Posted - 04/19/2025:  15:23:37

Second, viola. The curve kind of gives it away.

Still, very fancy looking 

Edited by - ChickenMan on 04/19/2025 15:24:06

wrench13 - Posted - 04/19/2025:  15:28:54

Dont knock it, I play with a viola bow, for the extra length. Fiddle frogs have sharp edges, viola bows are round at the end like this one.

bacfire - Posted - 04/19/2025:  16:17:31

It's actually 1/2" shorter than my other violin bows. After close examination and a call to a retired repairman, I've come to believe that the stick is not original to the frog. The frog is very near the tension screw and will rotate around the stick 20+ degrees.
Still curious about the frog, though.

wrench13 - Posted - 04/20/2025:  05:26:20

I would have never thought of that! That the frog was a transplant! Well how does the bow play? As good as what you use everyday? Worse? Because in the end that is all that matters.

bacfire - Posted - 04/20/2025:  06:05:27

It has about five strands of hair left, so I have no idea how it plays. It was among several violin-related items that came with a fiddle I bought at the sale. It cost me next to nothing. I was wondering if it was worth getting it rehaired, but given the lateral slack in the frog, I'm now thinking that's a 'no'.

My everyday is an old Codabow Classic.  Don't think I'm going to best that on my budget, but I need a decent backup bow.

Edited by - bacfire on 04/20/2025 06:07:21

DougD - Posted - 04/20/2025:  06:46:44

Sounds like it might not be worth rehairing as is, but the pieces might still be useful. One thing to determine is what the mounting material is - "German" silver, or sterling. All I can tell you is that real silver usually turns black when it tarnishes, and nickel sliver is more of a yellowish green. Frogs were available with fancy eyes long ago, and they're still coming from China today, so I wouldn't pay too much attention to that.
Then, what kind of wood is the stick, and is it of good quality? I've never been able to tell the difference between Pernambuco and Brazilwood, but there are people who can. So if it happens to be a good stick, you can easily replace the frog, and sell this one on. (Even a mediocre stick might be worth a rehair and cheap frog to use as a spare).
BTW, my search for a "decent backup bow" 30 years ago took me up a big step in quality, and, I think, in playing. You just never know!

Edited by - DougD on 04/20/2025 06:50:42

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 04/20/2025:  14:32:53

It’s a commercial German frog. You can find bows like it in the old Sears catalogs that have similar ornaments in the frogs. There are still lots of them floating around. They’re not particularly valuable, as many of the sticks were not made of pernambuco. As is often the case, the ornamental elements were used to sell the bows, not the sticks, which were generally poor quality.

The rounding of the frog does not necessarily mean it’s a viola bow. Many violin bows have a rounded frog. Weigh the bow to determine what it is. If it’s around 70g haired it’s a viola bow. Viola bows can have squared frogs. The length of the stick will be the same typically (arm length doesn’t change when you pick up a viola, so there’s no reason to change the bow); it’s just left thicker to give it the extra stiffness and weight to work well with viola strings. Some viola bows have bulkier frogs, some don’t.

If you can post more pictures of the bow it’ll be easier to evaluate the stick.

Fiddling Bill - Posted - 04/21/2025:  05:58:38

That rounded frog means it is a viola bow. I talked to a fiddler at Celtic Fest Mississippi once who told me he used a viola bow.