French Model Bass Bow – Markneukirchen circa 1930-1940

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Stamped:

This is an interesting bass bow, perfect for the player looking for something different with no real maker’s name stamped. The bow was made in a workshop in or around the town of Markneukirchen, Germany. Historically, Markneukirchen was the German hub of the string trade for centuries. Because of the tremendous growth in violin making during the 1800’s the bow trade followed and became just as well known. In this period many bow making families flourished, employing dozens of craftsmen to meet the need for bows. This is one of those bows from a family shop working in the early 20th century.

I collected all kinds of string instruments and bows from 1975–1985. This bass bow is about 80 -90 years old and made it into my collection of hundreds of items discovered in the New York City/New Jersey area where I grew up. As a teenager my father would take me to many estate sales and auctions. We would purchase dozens of older instruments and bows, even basses. I’m a bassist. Many times, an entire group of bows would come with the instrument. Currently, I’m averaging one or two bows restored each week. Restoring the sticks is just part of it. I then do the research and the write-up on every bow. I enjoy the detail of the bow work at my bench. Analyzing each stick’s difference in strength, jewelry work on the stick, and the leather work for each bow. I love the complexity of getting hundreds of horse hairs to stay just so and be fitted in a mortise to the thousandth of an inch with maple wedges that have four angles cut to make it all lock together and hold properly and the final wedge cut in poplar to spread the hair into a nice even ribbon.

This French model bow is pernambuco, nickel mount, round in section, and with a half-lined Parisian eye model ebony frog. The wood leans to the dark side and has the original whale bone winding I cleaned up and salvaged. It has a great feel and now with a new thumb grip. The end button is three pieces, while the stick shows some signs of natural wear and patina. The bow has been fully gone over here in my workshop and is in very good condition. It will make a great addition to a player’s quiver of sticks. German craftsmanship that is firm yet not too heavy. A pernambuco bow that has great bones.

• Pernambuco
• 80-90 Year old Bow
• Nickel Mounted Half Lined Ebony Frog
• 701.0 mm in overall length
• 236.0 mm Balance Point

Weight fully haired 135.1 grams