I received the new bow a week ago and I love it.
I'm no expert on bows, the only one I ever played before was a piece of junk... Not only it was old, it was never a good bow. Too light, and balanced toward the frog too much. The tip had a tendency to skid sideways toward the nut, it never sat well on the strings, and the hair was never very consistent in the first place, so at the best of times it sounded like a war-time radio broadcast. But since I live in the Northwest Territories, I can't go to a luthier and try a bunch of different bows.
I had a budget of $140 to $190 to buy a new bow and took three months to make a decision.
I picked this one in the end based on the reviews on your site, and that you had it on sale for half the price I've seen in other places.
One of the reviews said it "feels light" and "light at the tip" but another one said it weighs 62 grams which is a good weight compared to my old one.
I figured even if it wasn't balanced as I imagined, a bow in that price range that gets positive reviews could only be an improvement over my old one. The last issue was picking the colour. I ended up with "heart of gold."
First thing I noticed when I took the new bow out of the package is that it's heavier than my old (too light) one. Second, the colour matches the website photo.
As far as playing, like I said, I'm no expert, but it sounds way better. It's louder and clearer.
It doesn't skid sideways, so that wasn't my technique that was at fault. Yay! It doesn't shake on the strings or bounce off when you try a quick attack. It doesn't make the G string buzz. Yaaaaaayyyy! First time ever that I've been able to hear my G string properly.
And you can actually pull slowly the whole length of the bow and get one unique, consistent sound the whole way. I tried it with the tuner and the needle will actually stay in one place the whole length of the bow; with the old bow it would always shake even on short pulls.
So, I'm very happy with my purchase. Now I can hear how *I* actually sound and work on my technique. I'm making progress already! On the other hand, I can no longer blame anything on the bow. :)
Also this bow is a little longer than my old one so it doesn't quite fit in the case, but that's no big deal. I would definitely recommend this bow!
Thank you so much for the prompt service despite the circumstances [regarding a family tragedy]. I will definitely think of you first for my violin needs.