Many many years ago, I had damaged a bow of mine just before a performance... and I had raced off to a luthier to try and find a replacement one that would be tolerable enough for that concert. He had a stock of cheap factory bows, and I went through the whole batch of twenty... and all of them were really terrible... except for one, that was actually pretty decent... and that I still use to this day!

It is a sort of lucky dip with these factory bows from China... they often have access to decent raw materials, but the actual completion is a bit of a random draw. Now, in more recent times, I have played the lucky dip a few more times... and the overall quality has improved tremendously since my first rigged try (rigged, because I could try the whole batch instead of doing a blind order).

Most of the bows are tolerable... good enough for students or to use as an emergency bow... but none have come close (yet) to my properly crafted bows.

Anyway, I tried the lucky draw again this time... and the tube just arrived today. Two Violin and two viola bows to add to the collection of bows that I loan out to the community.... and just in time for our community playing and workshop event!

As I said, they are able to source and use decent snakewood and brazilwood... the materials that are next to impossible to source in raw form for Western luthiers and bow-makers. They can be imported as finished goods however...

... These bows are all straight and seem okay in the hand. I haven't had a moment to actually put them into play on an instrument yet. Fingers crossed that they continue the trend of being tolerably okay... and if I'm lucky, there might even be one that is worth keeping in my personal collection!

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