Carbon Fiber Violin Bow 4/4

Well add me to the chorus that is singing praise about this bow.This was intended to replace a bow that came with a student outfit (Stentor II). The Stentor bow was...ok, I guess, but it just didn't have a balanced feel to it, which wasn't a surprise.I think the packaging bears mention, though there is a fine line mentioning that in an Amazon review. I was disappointed that it was only secured in the box with some crumpled up paper. The bow was rattling about in the box some, but fortunately this is a strong bow (how strong? Check out Fiddlerman's video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOjs84ShSp0) and it didn't seem the worse for wear. Still, I'd prefer that it were packed a little more securely.The bow I received was a little different than the photos...the "Fiddlerman" name is simply engraved, no gold to it or anything. However, it was in good shape. I have to say, when I picked it up it seemed much lighter than the bow it was replacing, so much so that I had to weigh it. Nope, came in right around 60 grams. That's what proper balance is going to get you...the bow is going to feel much lighter than it actually is. I found it quite easy to hold with no pinkie strain at all.I decided to go dark rosin with this bow, and though the hair was not pre-rosined (really, thanks Fiddlerman for that...I like to be able to pick my own rosin) it only took me about five minutes to get it all set up. And then, heart in my mouth, I drew some notes.Wow.In the back of my mind throughout this process, I confess to thinking "how good can this thing *really* be?" Had I fallen for a gimmick and cheap marketing talk? Am I doomed to wander the Earth forever in search of a decent, reasonably priced bow? Well, it's pretty darned good and there is nothing oversold about this bow. It's balanced. it's agile. The weight is appropriate and drawing it is effortless. In short, it's a dream to use, and before I knew it, a half hour had passed with me just jamming on the violin. That's when I knew I could not give this to my kid.Or at least...I'd have to get another one. After all, if you're going to learn, why not learn with a great bow?I don't know how I found this bow. Honestly I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to these things and wasn't looking for a bow made of space-age materials. But found it I did, and I couldn't be happier with this. It's a very good bow.

(Update!)This an update to my previous review which you can read below.I just spoke with Michael on the phone and he is sending me a new hand picked bow free of charge. But not only that he said he was refunding my money too. I'm speechless, I mean who does that these days? I have heard good things about Michael but customer service like that is unheard of in this day and time. Even though I haven't got the new bow yet I'm changing my rating from 1 star to 5 stars just on customer service alone. When you're dealing with hand made items such as this there's bound to be a clunker in there once in awhile but I have no doubt the new one Michael is sending me will be free of any defects and play just fine especially since he said he would pick one out for me and also have his luthier check it before sending it out. You just can't get any better than that when it comes to customer service and you can bet when it comes time to get a new fiddle that I'll be taking a good look at what Michael has to offer knowing that he will stand behind it should there be any unforeseen problems. Thanks again Michael, you now have a customer for life!(This is the original review)I had high hopes for this bow considering all the great reviews but it failed to deliver in pretty much every category. First of all let me state that I am a beginner and have only been playing about 4 months. I've made a lot of progress in that time but one thing kept plaguing me and that was bow bounce. No matter how much I tried to relax the bow would still bounce. Never the less I thought it was mostly my technique and not the the fault of the bow.Up until now I hadn't had any formal lessons but today I took my first lesson with an accomplished instructor. I told her about my bounce problem and she said "let me see your bow." She then proceeded to play and low and behold it was bouncing with her too. Not near as much as with me but it was noticeable. After taking a closer look at it she showed me how the hairs were not all laying flat as they should be under tension and said someone did a bad job of installing the horse hair. She showed me her Coda bow and what the properly tensioned hair should look like and there was no comparison. My bow hair looked wavy with a large percentage of hairs not completely taut. She said she suspected that was causing the bouncing. I played her coda bow and had no bounce issues and she said my technique looked good. When I returned to mine the bounce was back.Another thing she pointed out was the excessive amount of side to side play in the frog. This was less noticeable the more you tightened it but still there none the less. Also when she sighted down the shaft she said it was crooked. It could be straightened by slightly twisting the tip but you had to keep a constant eye on it.All in all I'm very disappointed with this bow and to top it off I'm discovering all this after the 30 day trial has run out so I'm stuck with it. I ordered an Eastman fiberglass bow yesterday so i guess I'll keep this as a back up but it's really not worth using as a back up. I'm not knocking Fiddlerman because I hear he is a good guy and I'm sure he would have replaced this had I returned it in time but being a newbie I didn't know what to look for when I got it. These are probably good bows but I guess I got one that slipped through quality control. Never the less I have to give it 1 star based on my experience.