Amy Yang Pernambuco Violin Bow – Luoyang, China 2025

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Pernambuco wood is still the wood of choice by bow makers all over the world. For 270 years pernambuco was the wood of choice because of its ability to hold shape once heated, its beauty, and ability of the specie to have the right amount of suppleness and flex mixed with firmness to produce great sound off an instrument. Since 2023 Brazil has not allowed pernambuco to be exported. Even if bows were completed in 2023 the sticks were not allowed to leave the country. Wood that already has a home in North America, Asia, and Europe is still being made into bows. Yang has been making bows for 18 years and she assures me the pernambuco wood for this bow was purchased about a decade ago. I had a tough time getting her sticks through the US Fish & Wildlife Agency last month. The officers had issues with the leather and the pernambuco. I think they are just stopping everything. Yes, we had to pay to have a special US Fish & Wildlife permit in hand in my office to see her six bows enter the US. All is good now and we were able to receive the bows.

This bow is round in section, pernambuco, and sterling silver mounted. It has a strong head rising straight up and the facial is finished off in bone. The ebony frog has single mother-of-pearl eyes (7.0 mm diameter) with a full mount silver heel attached to the frog with pin work. To get a spot on match in the pearls the pearl eyes and the slide come from the same shell. The mother-of-pearl comes from Mexico. The winding is sterling silver wire with the thumb grip in black leather with a rolled pattern in the leather to give the appearance of costly exotic leather. The bow has nice balance; the sterling mounts in the ebony frog keep the weight towards the frog end making the rest of the stick feel light. The stick is handsome, has beautiful color, and is easy to control.

Weight fully haired 62.1 grams