Anyone know what the best measurement for a GV bow. I was looking to get a few to mess with...But with all this 4/4 ...1/4 half size....Violin,Cello, Viola stuff its hard to know.... It's not like they have a GV bow section... Input would be great!

ANYONE???

Sorry, dude... I think Jonathan's been really busy, and he would usually have answered.

I believe the standard GV bow (according to Jonathan) is 20 inches, but it seems that everyone has their preferred GV bow, and if you see videos of various GV players, you'll see lots of variety.

My understanding is that, when the Incredibows were standard, a lot of people preferred to switch to a higher-tension bow (e.g. a cello bow). I do believe that Gamba bows are also popular.

Later,

- Jesse

I use a 22" - 66 gr tenor viol bow (made by David van Edwards in the UK). It is the best solution for me so far although the hair width, which is good for the viol, doesn't work 100% for with metal strings (I feel...). I have discussed the possibility of building a tenor viol bow with a larger hair width with mr. Edwards and I hope to have it sometime.
This is an interesting question as different uses of the gv clearly require different bows and different bowing techniques. Plenty of room for technical and theoretical development in all this I guess. It's the magic of the gv...

I use the incredibow available at www.incredibow.com. They are very good bows at a very good price. These bows pretty much perform the way a $1,500+ bow does. They can custom make them for the GuitarViol. Hopefully Jonathan can input on this, as he is more up to date on this particular bow than me. I highly recommend it. Good luck.

I'm also using a pernambuco tenor viol bow on my acoustic GV. It has a bit more mass than the incredibow and is a bit longer (though you can get an incredibow in any length you like). I just like the feel of it better - sort of like some people like heavier strings.

I'm also using sensicore - perlon tenor gamba strings instead of steel strings. Don't know if that has anything to do with bow interaction.

Cleargrey,

For years, I have issued 20" hair incredibows with a morph of viola/cello width. (of course, that is a starting point...one I have found to work quite well. Particularly on electric models where pickups can pick up unwanted noise from horse hair). Incredibows are much sweeter.

Here is an unfortunate bow story that happened the other day at the Sundance festival. http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/540706 The bow was shattered from mishandling (this never happens!). The substitute bow from a local store was miserable and clearly inferior. I FedExed a replacement. IZLER's concert was still a success and the GuitarViol caused quite a stir!!

My apologies for being relatively quiet around here. Jesse is right, I am beyond busy and a bit spread out. I am always available to anybody who contacts me directly through togamanguitars.com site.

Best,
Jonathan