I bought a US$88 carbon fiber violin bow from an Ebay seller Yitamusic. I had for about a month or slightly less than that. For the weirdest reason to me, it makes a fuzzy, scratchy, buzzing sound when I use it on a violin that I also purchased from Yitamusic and my old student violin from Thomann. I read online forums and couldn’t figure out why it sounds like that. I used a cheap student bow that cost maybe about US$20 and it sounds great on the two violins – the sound is clear and defined.
So, there’s a long story to why I ordered another violin from another Ebay seller CapitalMusic. That’s a story for another day. But I did and it arrived yesterday. I tried the sucky bow on it and it didn’t sound as bad as on the violin from Yitamusic, but still bad. It’s very puzzling. Anyhow, I decided to return the bow to the seller and used a napkin to remove any excess rosin on the horsehair. I emailed the seller for a return address.
That was yesterday. I tried the sucky bow on the violin that arrived yesterday this morning. It actually sounded okay/decent this time. I also noticed that there’s specks of rosin coming off the bow when I was playing. Very little amount of rosin though. Hmmm. Maybe the CF bow works with the new violin but not the other two due to a ‘personality clash’. Why not. Human beings clash with one another. Why not violins and bows?
Anyhow, I thought I should try the CF bow with the Yitamusic violin one last time. I did and it was actually okay. It’s not exactly decent but I can start hearing clear notes on the D string. Previously, every notes played on the G, D and A string are muffled, fuzzy or buzzing. But for once I could hear a relatively clear note on the D string this morning.
I wondered whether I have too much rosin on the bow?