R.A. Meinel One Star ?? First of all, donít click ìadd to cartî on this, or any bow. I urge you take advantage of their week-long play trial option. It was the most exciting and edifying experiences of my musical life. (Background for this review: Play tested with 3 other bows in this price range, for 7 days on a 15.5î Franz Hoffman Concert model set up by the Sharmusic shop) TL;DR- If youíre anywhere near my tax bracket, then you know what itís like to drive used cars your whole life. And if not, just try to follow me on this. For 25 years, Iíve driven cars that were 10-15 years old. But, this one time, right after graduating University, on a ìre-invent myselfî WOOFER vacation, someone in Germany let me drive their Porsche. Playing this bow was like that. Long version: I play tested the R.A. Meinel Pernambuco (no star) side by side with this one. While I had no real complaints about that one, this One Star model was superior by a lot more than the $70 price difference. I know on paper, it looks like the price difference might be due to the mountings: this one is silver-mounted, the other is nickel mounted. Itís not that. The wood, craftsmanship, and most importantly, the playability of this bow, was worth a lot more than the $70 price difference. I still donít care about the mountings; even side by side I canít tell the difference unless the light is just right. The wood is stunning. Poor SHARmusic photographer: the photo is a rich red, very pretty, yes, but this picture isnít capturing it, and I canít find a way to photograph it, but the wood! Because of how it is cut and so highly polished, it looks like an **actual** jewel. It has a deep variant red, with a very even, perpendicular figure in golden yellow, while half-inch silver threads run length-wise. And to speak of the performance, beyond the meticulous craftsmanship and stunning wood: My teacher calls it ìthe point of no work.î There are other descriptions of it, but the idea is that you have NO tension in your bow hand, and you ALLOW it to work for you. This bow is the first time I felt what she was talking about. (Point of reference: I played a CodaBow on violin for all four tours of college.) If youíre wondering how my taste and needs compare to yours, I spent 32 hours play testing these over the course of a week: 1. R.A. Meinel One Star * The one I bought. They werenít kidding about the crisp response. Iíve not felt anything like it. 2. Klaus Becker Brazilwood (VOB3) 1. Too heavy for me; my teacher and I agreed I need something more versatile for a while. 3. Presto Ovation CPA146 X 44 1. A fantastic bow, but Iím hard of hearing. Iíve never found a synthetic bow that vibrates in my hand like does wood. Thatís a personal preference probably. 2. We also felt it was too light for a player with my limited experience to control. (I nearly passed for a violin player a decade ago, and now 5 months lessons on viola.) 4. R.A. Meinel Pernambuco: 1. I rejected this one because number 1 was so much better. 5. A. Schmidt pernambuco bow 1. The student bow that came with my Franz Hoffman Concert outfit. I used it as a ìpalette cleanserî between touching the others, because Iíve been using it 5 months now.