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Here are a small selection of comments from musicians...
I bought my beautiful German-pattern Arcus bass bow in 2003 & have never looked back. I play so many different styles of music that I need my bow to be truly versatile. My Arcus bow is perfect: delicate & light response, but with a huge fat power transmission ready to kick in whenever I need to get the powerful bass sound that I love. What's more, the rehairs last about ten times longer than I've ever experienced before. Jonny Gee - freelance bassist- London - www.jazzberries.co.uk / MAS Profile
"Can I say at the outset you are due huge congratulations for having the courage to produce an innovation which I believe will truly revolutionise string playing. I said to Allyxa, and stand by, the statement that the days of wooden bows are numbered. No one would consider using a wooden tennis racket now.
I applaud your decision not to do what other makers of carbon bows are doing, and simply to copy a wooden violin bow using carbon fibre. Instead you have redesigned the bow to optimise the benefits of the material. The only thing your bows have in common with the other makers is that carbon fibre is used. I feel your bows are as different from other carbon fibre bows as they are from wooden bows."
I am a composer who happens to play the viola. Bennigsen and possibly others have made carbon fibre bows
in the recent past, which aim to replicate all the characteristics of the conventional wooden bow with the added
advantage of being less susceptible to temperature changes. At 73 grams, it also reflects the 'ideal'
of what we were taught as students in the past.
"My scepticism towards carbon fibre bows was part being conservative and also an earlier experience with a bow which
was mildly speaking uninteresting. Within minutes of playing with an Arcus bow my opinion was changed. Instead of using
a new material to recreate a clone of an old concept they came up with something quite different. The design of this bow
allows to reduce weight, which gives more freedom in the faster, lighter strokes, and its hollow stick resonates extremely
well, producing a strong singing tone. The strength of the material allows for a greater length of the stick, like that of
a violin bow, and gives it a great lateral stability, for me a vital factor in projection of the sound. The makers of Arcus
ask you to try the bow for a week without playing a heavier bow, to get used to the unusual weight. For me the deciding
factor is the balance not weight, and that is not any different from a good wooden bow. I have no problem switching back
and forth but at the end I still play with the Arcus."
I mostly play scottish traditional music. The nimble quality
of arcus bows are excellent for this style.I previously owned a
Sinfonia which I was happy with but there is a significant improvement in sound
with the new bow. It pulls out a bigger warmer sound which I am very pleased with.
I have been using an Arcus cello bow for several years and was an instant
'convert'! On the rare occasions when I need to use my reserve wooden bow I
miss the Arcus for it's ease of playing. You might imagine that the pay-off
for such a lightweight bow would be a lack of power, but not so, the Arcus
bow has a fantastic strength from heel to point and a balance and poise that
needs to be experienced to be believed. I am now doing alot of electric
cello work and have found the Arcus bow to be ideally suited to this way of
playing also and have therefore purchased a second identical model
(Sinfonia). I am such a fan of these bows that my friends all believe that I
secretly work for the company! "Let me take the opportunity to thank you once again for all your help with the bow. You really take customer service well beyond even the most exacting expectations, and I'd have no hesitation in recommending you to anyone"
"Well I will definitely want to be keeping this bow. It's so forgiving I can't believe it. And I seem to be able to play louder and with a much darker, richer tone than before.
It is so much less work than my old bow, and is very nicely balanced, I can bow relatively comfortably at the frog and much more controlled. I can just let the bow do all the work in the piano sections, I don't need to put pressure on at all. So if it all sounds awful it has to be me not my equipment now!
I had my lesson today and my teacher was so impressed. He was asking for details and he spent about half my lesson just playing on my violin with my bow!! He reckons that string crossing is so much easier and that arpeggios are therefore a cinch, and so much more control at all parts of the bow."
"Just recorded another 2 albums with the bow & still very happy with it!"
"The new bow I've of course been trying out - most recently with the Arpeggione . The longish last mvt in partic. was easier with it, my hand tired less and a it encouraged a lighter, speedier bow-stroke."
"I recently purchased an Arcus Concerto viola bow ... and I thought I would let you know how impressed I have been with it. It really does perform as well as you claim on your website....The performance of the bow is most remarkable, the combination of strength and elasticity, together with a very low mass allows for a very easy style of playing previously only possible with old French master bows. The sound that this bow creates is of great richness, with upper partials having a freedom that is rarely possible with a wooden bow. The different position of the centre of gravity caused some initial problems, particularly with accented and articulated playing at the point, but a slight change in bow hold and technique has solved this problem." "After the initial adjustment period the bow provides an extremely pure tone, especially in the higher registers where the sound will not crack as easily when playing near the bridge. Regarding the lower registers, the sound becomes deeper as well as louder and my teachers have both commented individually about this improvement in my sound." "I tried all of them and found the sinfonia the best deal, it was just so light and responsive. It changed my violin's sound noticeably. It holds the string well but does take a while to get used to and to find the best point for sautillé, spiccato is much easier!" To add your comments or your customer's comments to our list, please email us. |
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