Violin Bows
Without a doubt, violin bows are indispensible to playing the violin. After all, without a bow, this instrument would not be able to produce the wonderfully sweet music we have come to associate the violin with. A lot is known about the violin, but very little is known about the bow. Check out these violin bows on Ebay right now!
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 New 4 4 Full Size Natural Acoustic Violin Fiddle with Case Bow Rosin $36.50 (1 Bid) End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:21:19 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 New 4 4 Full Size Acoustic Violin Fiddle Black with Case Bow Rosin $36.50 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:26:19 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 New 1 8 Acoustic Violin Varnish+ Case+ Bow + Rosin $38.84 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:35:27 PDT Buy It Now for only: $38.84 Add to watch list |
 A fine French certified violin bow made by MLapierre $8,500.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:43:29 PDT Buy It Now for only: $8,500.00 Add to watch list |
 FINE A T Saldo violin bow $800.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:47:33 PDT Buy It Now for only: $800.00 Add to watch list |
 Fine cello bow made about 1930 stamped A KNISCH WIEN probably by E M Penzel $1,500.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:47:53 PDT Buy It Now for only: $1,500.00 Add to watch list |
 FINE GERMAN VIOLIN BOW by PAUL HERMANN about 1940 $1,300.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 2:49:28 PDT Buy It Now for only: $1,300.00 Add to watch list |
 NEW Crescent 4 4 NATURAL ACOUSTIC Violin + CASE + BOW + ROSIN $39.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 4:12:03 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 4 4 Pernambuco Violin Bow Silver mounted Black leather Ebony Frog Peafowl Eye $48.08 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 4:21:33 PDT Buy It Now for only: $48.08 Add to watch list |
 NEW Crescent 4 4 BLUE ACOUSTIC Violin+CASE+ROSIN+ 2 BOWS $39.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 4:28:07 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 Nice Cello Bow 4 4 pernambuco bow stick Copper ebony frog $89.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 4:47:02 PDT Buy It Now for only: $89.99 Add to watch list |
 Anton Schuster German 1 2 Violin with Bow Case $49.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 5:58:27 PDT Buy It Now for only: $90.00 Bid now | Add to watch list |
 Mendini Size 4 4 MV300 Antique Finish Violin +Extra Strings+Bow+Case $56.98 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 6:10:06 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 NEW Crescent 4 4 RED ACOUSTIC Violin + CASE + BOW + ROSIN $39.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 6:12:08 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 NEW Crescent 4 4 BLACK ACOUSTIC Violin+CASE+ROSIN+ 2 BOWS $39.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 6:28:06 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 One 4 4 Violin Bow Baroque Model Snakewood Round Stick Snakewood Frog New 3 $69.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:15:42 PDT Buy It Now for only: $69.00 Add to watch list |
 One pcs New 4 4 Violin Bow SnakeWood Baroque Style Violin Parts 6 $65.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:15:43 PDT Buy It Now for only: $65.00 Add to watch list |
 One 4 4 Violin Bow Baroque Model Snakewood Round Stick Snakewood Frog New 1 $69.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:15:43 PDT Buy It Now for only: $69.00 Add to watch list |
 One pcs New 4 4 Violin Bow SnakeWood Baroque Style Violin Parts 6 $69.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:15:43 PDT Buy It Now for only: $69.00 Add to watch list |
 One Violin Bow Snakewood Frog Snakewood Round Stick French Style 4 4 New 7 $67.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:15:43 PDT Buy It Now for only: $67.00 Add to watch list |
 VINTAGE VIOLIN BOW AND CASE $100.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:23:35 PDT Buy It Now for only: $100.00 Add to watch list |
 Master Snakewood Baroque Style 4 4 Violin Bow Ebony frog Stiff Fast 554g $198.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:29:54 PDT Buy It Now for only: $198.99 Add to watch list |
 1kg 75 80cm violin bow horse hair black mongol 5 $99.50 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 7:31:32 PDT Buy It Now for only: $99.50 Add to watch list |
 FS Maxam FULL SIZE LAMINATED VIOLIN w HARD SIDED CASE and BOW $91.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:00:57 PDT Buy It Now for only: $91.99 Add to watch list |
 NEW Crescent 4 4 BLUE ACOUSTIC Violin + CASE + BOW + ROSIN $39.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:12:09 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 4 4 New Violin Bow Nice Control White Ox horn 14 $45.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:19:12 PDT Buy It Now for only: $45.00 Add to watch list |
 A FINE PERNAMBUCO VIOLIN BOW for ADVANCED PLAYER LK $99.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:24:46 PDT Buy It Now for only: $99.00 Add to watch list |
 violin 4 4 1940 1960 old antique vintage burlwood redwood plus case and bow $650.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:26:11 PDT Buy It Now for only: $1,200.00 Bid now | Add to watch list |
 Vintage 3 4 John Juzek Violin with Two Bows Made in Germany $135.00 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:26:37 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
 NEW Crescent 4 4 PINK ACOUSTIC Violin+CASE+ROSIN+ 2 BOWS $39.99 End Date: Monday May-20-2013 8:28:13 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
The seemingly unimportant bow has actually been around longer than the violin itself. Ancient tribes and cultures all over the world have been using the bow as a musical instrument. In its simplest and most basic form, the bow is a stick that curves at an inward angle. Hair is then attached to the bow in order for it to be applied to the strings of another musical instrument to produce sound.
Over time, the simple bow had evolved into a more sophisticated version, wherein the tension of the hair to the stick was adjusted in order to form various kinds of tones. But the version of the bow that is most similar to the ones we know today came into being during the latter part of the sixteen hundreds, at the same time that the violin was invented. At this stage of the bow’s evolution, the hair on the bow already had devices and mechanisms that allowed for the hair to be adjusted accordingly. The Baroque type bow that is commonly used today was used with Stradivari violins.
Bows need to be durable and rigid. That is why in the past, they used ironwood and snake wood to construct these bows. If lighter kinds of wood were used, these were fluted to enable them to withstand the constant wear and tear bowing brings. Later on, the convex bows gave way to concave bows. A metal band used to strengthen the joint on the bow was used, and this was called a ferrule. The concave bow with the ferrule was a great invention because it allowed for the sound created by the bowing action to be more powerful, and therefore capable of being heard throughout large venues filled with people. This also brought about new innovations in the bowing techniques.
It was not long until the material used in making the bow also changed. Pernambuco wood became the wood de rigueur for violin bows. The use of this material was considered by bow makers because they saw how sturdy, heavy and dense the pernambuco ballasts South American trade ships were constructed of. It was Francois Xavier Tourte who actually first started pernambuco in making his bows. Tourte was considered the counterpart of Stadivari when it came to making bows. Tourte was able to improve and polish on the construction of bows.
In fact, it was Tourte who first proposed that it was the pernambuco material that had the right kind of rigidity combined with elasticity for the perfect bow. Tourte also studied what the proper size and measurements of bows should be in order to give the violin the perfect sound. These standards are still used by today’s bow makers.