erhu bow purchase?

[cyphai]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about my erhu bow. My bow is starting to mess up now, hair gets loose. For now, the only way i do is to cut the loose hair, so that the loose hairs do not fling around. Now, I am afraid there is one day eventually I cut all the hair or to the extent that there is too few hair and not able to make a sound. please correct me if I have any wrong concepts. Now, my question is, is it buying a new bow my only option? can i ask a violin shop to rehair my bow(although I guess it is mostly not possible, considering they are tying in a different way)? And the last question, what should I look for or be careful if I decide to shop a bow online? I purchased my erhu from Eason music, great company. Love my erhu so far. However, it is kinda expensive to only buy a bow from Singapore because of the shipping cost. Therefore, I am looking for alternatives. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

[davidmdahl]

Welcome to the forum, cyphai. I purchase several bows at a time to make the best use of the shipping. I have not found much of a savings from ordering from domestic sources. I have confidence in the quality of the bows from Eason. If you consider the shipping just a part of the cost of the order, it compares well with other sources.

You probably can have your bow rehaired. I am pretty sure that a violin maker in my area did that that for someone several years ago for not much. If you like your bow otherwise, getting it rehaired for $30 or less may be worth it to you. Call around and explain the situation, and you may get lucky.

My other recommendation is to figure out how and why you are losing so much bow hair. The metal fine tuners are a typical culprit. Loops of qianjin cord around each string and neck above the qianjin is at least as effective, and a lot less hard on your bow.

Best wishes,

David

[cyphai]

Thank you, David. I think the metal fine tuner is the main cause. Sometimes, the hair got caught by the end of the string as well. Another reason I am asking is that i just want to have some idea on what to do if I eventually have to do something like. But yes, your answer is so helpful. I guess I will try to reach out some local violin maker regarding this rehair job. Again, thank you a lot.