The bow is so important to sound production, articulation, and sound projection that many professional string players say they would prefer to have a good bow and a second-rate instrument to having a good instrument and a second-rate bow. Fortunately, most players are not forced to make such a devil’s choice, but the emphasis points out how strongly professional players feel about the subject.

Given the importance of the bow in sound production, it makes sense that a player should be equipped with the best bow possible. We have made great efforts to offer players a wide selection of traditional wooden and modern carbon and fiberglass bows of the best possible quality. Whether our highly regarded line of Andreas Eastman pernambuco bows, the Master bows of Steffen Kuhnla or Ming Zheng, the remarkable carbon fiber Cadenza line, or the ground-breaking student bows of the Samuel Eastman and K.Holtz lines, players have come to expect quality bows from Eastman Strings.

Bow Mountings

Bowmakers often refer to a “gold bow” or a “silver bow.” Naturally, they are not intending to say that the bow stick itself is made of gold or silver, but rather that these are the metals with which the bow is mounted. The word “mountings” refers to the metal parts of the frog and button, such as the ferule, the heel plate, the eye rings, and the button collars. Sometimes the tip plate is also made of metal. The importance that bow makers attach to the mountings of a bow has little to do with the intrinsic value or appearance of the metal used. Rather, over the centuries, a sort of code of honor among bowmakers has developed, whereby the mountings are used as a type of indicator of the quality of the wood used. Most bow workshops have wood bins or shelves labeled “Nickel,” “Silver,” or “Gold” where unfinished sticks are stored, and these sticks have been preselected by the workshop master and designated by quality. Typically, good bows for use by students or professionals receive nickel mountings, excellent bows made of high quality select wood receive silver mountings, and exhibition quality bows, made of the best available wood and crafted with the greatest skill and attention, receive gold mountings. Virtually all brazilwood bows receive nickel mountings regardless of the quality of the wood, so an outstanding brazilwood bow can be a bargain. Some bowmakers offer more than one level of silver bow, and these may be designated by various numbers of stars near the maker’s name brand on the stick, or by some difference in mountings, such as different eyes, engraved metal, or fancy inlay in the button or frog.

Many players are not interested in having fancy “jewelry” on their bows, so they stay away from silver or gold mounted bows, but they are missing the point. Whether one likes the look of gold or not, one will find that a maker’s gold bows are the best bows he or she makes, while silver bows are virtually always noticeably better in some way than nickel bows. Of course a savvy buyer can, with a lot of patience, search to find that special bow that is priced lower because the maker didn’t like something about the wood, and that can be a good way to find a bargain. Sadly, there are some bowmakers who have played a bit “fast and loose” with the tradition of bow mountings, so you may occasionally find a silver or gold mounted bow that is nothing special outside of the metal work. Most makers though, stick to the tradition.

The issue of different mountings gets a bit confusing when it is applied to non-wood bows. Most bowmakers charge approximately double the price of their silver bows for their gold bows, and this is partly because the gold-worthy wood is rare and expensive. As carbon fiber is not rare nor particularly expensive, the difference between a nickel-mounted bow and a silver- or gold-mounted bow has more to do with the care in crafting it, the design, and the final weight, balance, and strength-to-flexibity ratio. In general though, just remember, when you buy a silver or gold mounted bow, you are not paying for fancy metal, you are buying a better bow.

Bow Hair

Even now in the 21st century, technology has not developed a good substitute for the horsehair used in bows. In the past, when horses were relied on for work and transportation, nearly every country had a horsehair industry, and horsehair had a great many uses, from brushes to furniture upholstery. It is still possible to find horses all around the world, but in many places they are only used for recreation and sports, so their numbers are too small to make a horsehair industry viable. However, horses continue to carry much of the workload in some places, and these are the main sources for the hair used in bowmaking. Most bow hair comes from China and Mongolia, while some comes from Argentina, Russia, Canada, and other places where horses are found in large numbers. It is traditional to use only white hair for bows. Many musicians believe that naturally white horse hair is less coarse, resulting in a smoother sound. As a result, some horse hair producers use bleach to make their hair more appealing to players. Unfortunately, this weakens the hair, so natural-colored hair is best. Black and "salt-and-pepper" hair work well too.

The wound part of the grip is called winding or lapping. The most common kind is wire, such as the silver wire pictured here.

In the past, whalebone was commonly used for bow grips. Here we see student-grade imitation whalebone (1), high-grade imitation whalebone (2), and an old bow with genuine whalebone. (3).

Silk and tinsel grips are light and attractive (1). Wire combined with silk has a similar appearance (2).

Bow Grip Winding (or Lapping)

Most of our bow descriptions include the material used for the winding, also known as "lapping." This part of the bow grip is functional as well as decorative. There are several types of material used in lappings, and at Eastman Strings, we generally use three: metal wire, imitation whalebone, and wire and silk combined.

Historically, there are three main categories of lappings: wire, whalebone, and silk, or silk with silver or gold tinsel. Silk lappings were mostly used by French bowmakers through the early 20th century, and are still used by some bowmakers today. While light and attractive, they are not as durable as the others, so they are not a top choice for bows that will receive a lot of use. Wire lappings are very durable and attractive, but they add a bit of weight to the finished bow. Whalebone lappings are tough and very light. (Genuine whalebone is not used any more, as the baleen whale from which it comes is not hunted for meat and oil any longer, so now we use synthetic imitations.) With the different properties of the materials in mind, it is easy to see why sometimes a bow designed for a certain type of winding might instead require another. If a bow that is usually made with a silver winding is found to be on the heavy side, the maker might decide to substitute an imitation whalebone winding, and the converse might happen as well.

Most metal wire lappings are either silver, or silver-plated copper or nickel. Less expensive bows might have plated wire or pure nickel wire. On very special bows, makers sometimes use gold wire.

There are many types of imitation whalebone lapping material. The finest of these closely resemble the real thing. They consist of alternating coils of black and light brown slightly translucent material. (You may be able to see genuine whalebone on some very old bows.) Less expensive bows often have less authentic looking imitation whalebone lapping, which is pure white and black, and is not translucent.

During the life of a bow, it is not uncommon to have to replace the lapping from time to time as it wears out or gets damaged by use. It is generally a good idea to use a material similar to that of the original lapping in order to duplicate the original weight and balance, though it is not altogether essential.

Frog Eyes

It’s a good thing we all know the subject is bows, otherwise that heading might lead some people to the wrong conclusion! Most bow frogs have an inlaid design in the center of each side, called an eye. Most eyes are made of mother-of-pearl or abalone shell. There are three main types of eyes found on most bows.

“Plain” eyes are simple round inlaid dots. They can be of various sizes, depending on the taste of the bowmaker. The usual size is about 1/4 inch. “Parisian” eyes are usually slightly smaller dots, and have metal rings encircling them about a millimeter or so outside the dot. “Full” eyes are similar to Parisian eyes, except that the dot is usually larger, and the metal ring touches the dot. Some artistic makers have thought of variations on these three main types of eyes, and others have substituted altogether different designs. And of course, some bow frogs have no eyes at all. These are often called “blind” frogs.

Round or Octagonal?

Many players wonder why some bow sticks are round, and others are octagonal. Some players have an avowed preference for one or the other, but it’s a good idea to be open to both, as the world’s finest bows come in both types. From a bowmaker’s perspective, all bows start as octagonal bows. The first step in thinning and graduating a bow stick takes place when the maker planes down each of the four edges of the rectangular bow blank. As the stick gets closer to its final shape, the bowmaker flexes and weighs the stick. In some cases the weight and stiffness of the stick require the bowmaker to round off the edges of the octagon to make the stick lighter and more flexible. In other cases, the weight and stiffness are good without this step.

In workshops that make a lot of bows, it is common for each model to have a designated type of stick, round or octagonal. To make this work, the master of the shop makes certain assumptions about the wood before the sticks are made, and the type is decided before the thinning and graduating begin. In the Eastman Strings bow workshop, some models are made this way. For example, all model 40 and 50 bows have octagonal sticks. However, for other models, our makers decide during the stick making process. That’s why, for example, some model 60 or 80 bows are round, and others are octagonal.