Box and Fiddle
Year 20 No 02
October 1996
Some Notes on Bow Hair
by Kevin McCann
The hair used in bows of the violin family comes from the tail of a horse. 160 to 250 hairs are used in the average violin bow.
This bunch of hairs is called a ‘hank’. Most violin bow hair is white in colour although sometimes you will see dark brown or black hair used. Most likely this is horse hair that has not been bleached and if good quality hair it will serve as well as white hair. Sometimes darker hair will be represented as being more coarse and as such is more commonly seen on cello or bass bows. If someone tells you that dark hair is always coarser and should not be used in violin bows, it is advice that can probably be ignored.
Under the microscope, dark hair and white hair of good quality are very similar in appearance. Except for colour, they are often the same diameter and the small plates on the outside of the hair are what make your fiddle string vibrate. These plates, or scales, have rough, uneven edges and in a group look like a furry fingerprint.
These plates are arranged on the hair in an overlapping or shingles-like design. These little ‘shingles’ overlap in a downward direction. That is, they start from the follicle in the root of the horses tail and overlap each other to the end of the hair. If you have a well developed sense of touch or your fingers are not all bunched up and calloused from changing tyres, you can feel these small shingles by running the horsehair between your fingers. More resistance can be felt as you move from the end towards the root as you are rubbing against the way these little shingles are laid down. When they are partially filled with rosin, they grab hold of the string as they are dragged across the motion, like you would get with a guitar, you have a whole bunch of little plucking or grabbing motions. This sets up a constant vibration of the strings on the fiddle.
Most horse hair hanks will have all the hair running the same way, as it came from the horse. This can have the effect of a more forceful bite to the strings. The downward bow movement of the root end of the hank of hair is put in the tip of the bow. This increased bite is very hard to detect although I have encountered experts who swear by it and demand that half the hank should run the other way when the bow is rehaired. They claim that this will produce a more even grab on the strings.
Identifying good hair from bad hair is largely a matter of experience with the supplier. If the hair you buy from Joe Hair supplier is durable and plays well, keep buying it from the same guy. There are a few things you should look for that can help. Brittle hair that breaks when bent and hair that appears to be of different thicknesses should be avoided. Most amateur repairers buy their hair wrapped up on a small fiddle string like package. This should be avoided, which translates into – ‘don’t buy hair through the mail’. Go to a violin repair man who buys his hair in large, fist sized hanks and buy it there.
This hair will be hung straight and it is less likely to have been lying around a warehouse for a number of years. A healthy size of hank of high quality hair for a violin bow should cost you about £10 - £15. Even if you play vigorously every day, this should last you at least a year. When does the hair wear out? Most of the time, when it breaks, it’s worn out. Wear will eventually strip off sections of the cuticle or outside layers of the hair. Once the hair is weakened like this it usually breaks.
Sooner or later enough hairs break and you are playing half a hank. At this point it is past time for a repair job. Rehairing can cost between £15 - £20. There are two alternatives. Quit fiddling or, as one local fiddler down to his last three hairs commented, “after hearing what a rehair would cost, feck I’ll just wait till these break and find another bow”.
Another complaint with bow hair is, “it won’t take rosin anymore”. This is because the hair in the bow has become so coated with rosin that the small shingles on the hair are completely full creating a smooth surface. If you have ever played with synthetic horse hair, the effect on the tone and playability of the fiddle is very similar to a gunked up horsehair bow, If this happens to you, the best thing to do in most cases is to get the bow rehaired. If you are not a vigorous player, use rosin heavily, still have a good hank of hair in your bow and encounter the rosin soaked bow, you may have another alternative. Back in the old days, and we are talking about 500 years ago, there are accounts of folk washing their bow hair. This can be done by taking the bow screw out of the frog and keeping the hair well away from the bow, begin scrubbing the hair with a tooth brush in soap and water. For industrial strength gunk on the bow, drinking alcohol can be sacrificed using it full strength for those especially tough spots or mixed with water for varying degrees of strength. Do not drink this used cleaning solution as rosin was sometimes described as a violent purgative in the days before ex-lax. This cleaning process is only for the diehard, do it yourself or destined to save some money. If you have any kind of valuable bow, do not try this. Some unscrupulous violin repair men are aware of this process and with some old bow hair, clean it and install it in bows that are less like full size. If a repair man offers to do this, and it is cheaper than a hank of new hair, it is a probably a good idea for cheaper, less than full sized bows. However, be alert when getting the smaller bow haired and paying for fresh hair.
by Kevin McCann
The hair used in bows of the violin family comes from the tail of a horse. 160 to 250 hairs are used in the average violin bow.
This bunch of hairs is called a ‘hank’. Most violin bow hair is white in colour although sometimes you will see dark brown or black hair used. Most likely this is horse hair that has not been bleached and if good quality hair it will serve as well as white hair. Sometimes darker hair will be represented as being more coarse and as such is more commonly seen on cello or bass bows. If someone tells you that dark hair is always coarser and should not be used in violin bows, it is advice that can probably be ignored.
Under the microscope, dark hair and white hair of good quality are very similar in appearance. Except for colour, they are often the same diameter and the small plates on the outside of the hair are what make your fiddle string vibrate. These plates, or scales, have rough, uneven edges and in a group look like a furry fingerprint.
These plates are arranged on the hair in an overlapping or shingles-like design. These little ‘shingles’ overlap in a downward direction. That is, they start from the follicle in the root of the horses tail and overlap each other to the end of the hair. If you have a well developed sense of touch or your fingers are not all bunched up and calloused from changing tyres, you can feel these small shingles by running the horsehair between your fingers. More resistance can be felt as you move from the end towards the root as you are rubbing against the way these little shingles are laid down. When they are partially filled with rosin, they grab hold of the string as they are dragged across the motion, like you would get with a guitar, you have a whole bunch of little plucking or grabbing motions. This sets up a constant vibration of the strings on the fiddle.
Most horse hair hanks will have all the hair running the same way, as it came from the horse. This can have the effect of a more forceful bite to the strings. The downward bow movement of the root end of the hank of hair is put in the tip of the bow. This increased bite is very hard to detect although I have encountered experts who swear by it and demand that half the hank should run the other way when the bow is rehaired. They claim that this will produce a more even grab on the strings.
Identifying good hair from bad hair is largely a matter of experience with the supplier. If the hair you buy from Joe Hair supplier is durable and plays well, keep buying it from the same guy. There are a few things you should look for that can help. Brittle hair that breaks when bent and hair that appears to be of different thicknesses should be avoided. Most amateur repairers buy their hair wrapped up on a small fiddle string like package. This should be avoided, which translates into – ‘don’t buy hair through the mail’. Go to a violin repair man who buys his hair in large, fist sized hanks and buy it there.
This hair will be hung straight and it is less likely to have been lying around a warehouse for a number of years. A healthy size of hank of high quality hair for a violin bow should cost you about £10 - £15. Even if you play vigorously every day, this should last you at least a year. When does the hair wear out? Most of the time, when it breaks, it’s worn out. Wear will eventually strip off sections of the cuticle or outside layers of the hair. Once the hair is weakened like this it usually breaks.
Sooner or later enough hairs break and you are playing half a hank. At this point it is past time for a repair job. Rehairing can cost between £15 - £20. There are two alternatives. Quit fiddling or, as one local fiddler down to his last three hairs commented, “after hearing what a rehair would cost, feck I’ll just wait till these break and find another bow”.
Another complaint with bow hair is, “it won’t take rosin anymore”. This is because the hair in the bow has become so coated with rosin that the small shingles on the hair are completely full creating a smooth surface. If you have ever played with synthetic horse hair, the effect on the tone and playability of the fiddle is very similar to a gunked up horsehair bow, If this happens to you, the best thing to do in most cases is to get the bow rehaired. If you are not a vigorous player, use rosin heavily, still have a good hank of hair in your bow and encounter the rosin soaked bow, you may have another alternative. Back in the old days, and we are talking about 500 years ago, there are accounts of folk washing their bow hair. This can be done by taking the bow screw out of the frog and keeping the hair well away from the bow, begin scrubbing the hair with a tooth brush in soap and water. For industrial strength gunk on the bow, drinking alcohol can be sacrificed using it full strength for those especially tough spots or mixed with water for varying degrees of strength. Do not drink this used cleaning solution as rosin was sometimes described as a violent purgative in the days before ex-lax. This cleaning process is only for the diehard, do it yourself or destined to save some money. If you have any kind of valuable bow, do not try this. Some unscrupulous violin repair men are aware of this process and with some old bow hair, clean it and install it in bows that are less like full size. If a repair man offers to do this, and it is cheaper than a hank of new hair, it is a probably a good idea for cheaper, less than full sized bows. However, be alert when getting the smaller bow haired and paying for fresh hair.