Bow hair cannot be tightened within a week.

After reading the reviews on this bow, I bought one for a violin that I built for my niece. It got here in three days after the order was placed. That was one day ahead of schedule. Upon opening the package, I personally found the bow to be beautiful for the price. I don't play violin, I'm a guitar guy. but I took the bow and added a heavy coat of rosin then steel wooled the horse hairs to roughen them up so they would hold the rosin better. I then worked some more rosin into the hair. Then sent the bow along with the violin to my niece. my niece has been playing violin for about 40 years (she's not a kid), but didn't have a good violin to play on. After testing the violin and bow, she gave the presto 4/4 carbon fiber bow two thumbs up. She said that her old bow did not begin to compare to it. I can't give you more detail as I don't have the details. Do keep in mind this is right out of the box, so I'm giving the bow a five star rating.

I bought this for my 10-year-old, who has played violin for 4 years. Neither he or his violin teacher feels any difference of this bow with the one comes with his beginner violin.

I am a beginning violinist, and I have always wanted a carbon fibre bow. It is so light, but slippery. I use Melos rosin, so maybe that is why it is slippery. My teacher tried it out, and loved it. She would not give it back to me!!! My teacher plays First Violin for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada. Her name is Rebecca Whitling.

I ordered this 3/4 bow for my son who is almost ready to move up to a 3/4 size violin. First thing I noticed when I received it was that the hair wasnít strung evenly. Tightening the bow to the point where most of the curvature is removed still leaves at 1/4 of the hair without tension on it. Guess I got a lemon.

Some background: I have been playing for 30+ years. I play solo for events, and with various ensemble and orchestral groups. I began college on a violin scholarship. I've never been able to invest in instruments or bows costing upwards of $2000, but have been able to play and sound well enough to gig steadily all these years. That being said, I don't believe I have ever owned a pernambuco bow. To my knowledge all mine have been rosewood. So this comparison of this carbon fiber bow is against rosewood. I have played some expensive-for-me pernambuco bows for a week or so. I have also played, for all of about 30 seconds because it was about all I could stand of that, some fiberglass bows. Really bad stuff that fiberglass. I don't have a weight scale to quantify it, but this bow feels lighter in my hand than my favorite bow even though the balance point is about 1/2 of an inch closer to the tip. It is stiffer than any of my bows. When adjusting the tension of the bow hair, much less distance between the hair and the bow is required to achieve the same tension as the wooden bow. I find that I play this bow with less tension in my right hand and I am able to get more varieties of tone out of the instrument using a lighter touch. However - volume is affected and I feel that I have to pull more bow for similar volume, but being able to play aggressively has never been difficult for me. Since spring is just around the corner here in Alabama, I'll be soon be playing outdoor weddings and events. When playing outside with my wood bows I find that I continually have to adjust the tension to keep the same bounce. Iím sure youíre familiar with it if you live in the heat and humidity of the South. I know that the hair stretching probably contributes to it but it also feels to me like the wood loses some of its stiffness as well. Theoretically this bow should not lose any stiffness. I'll post an update in the spring or summer. Oh, someone in one review thought that the bow hair was synthetic. The hair on this bow is real, not anything different than any re-hair I've ever had (except that one time where I went with the black horse hair in the 80ís...) I think this bow is worth the $80 I paid for it (got it during a 10% off sale!). I definitely don't hate it. I'd recommend it to someone looking for a lighter feeling, higher tension bow. I look forward to exploring the bowís possibilities.

I rate it 5 stars for it's price/value. It's about the best you're going to find for under $100. For the price this bow does very well. Bows are a very personal choice for the advanced and intermediate players, but anyone interested in either a backup bow, or a better student bow, this is a good choice. It feels a bit on the light side because the balance point is closer to the frog than some bows, so some esoteric techniques will be out of reach (but anyone who can do them are probably paying 10 times as much). This is light years ahead of fiberglass, a little better than many 'brazilwood' bows (at similar price). It's about as stiff as pernambuco, plenty of spring, straight as a ruler where it counts.

the 1/4 bow is a very nice bow. Good value. A great compliment to my granddaughter's 1/4 violin. Lucky kid!

I ordered this bow as an upgrade from my previous 1/2 size bow. But this bow lasted me only about a year. For no good reason at all the stick broke at near the tip under normal bow hair tension. I explained to my teacher and she confirmed that this bow was definitely broken. One other thing I should mention is that this bow didn't make a great tone. It wasn't awful though. A good effort from Shar though. :)

I am giving away this exact bow that my dad got me a couple years ago on listia.com: http://www.listia.com/auction/2285235-carbon-fiber-violin-bow-shipping-only-5 I'm only asking $5 for shipping. It's a site where you "pay" in credits accumulated, and not money. For signing up you get 500 free ones- and my auction starts at 100. No one has bid yet :( and there are only 3 days left!!! I promise I am 100% real. I am on facebook: kate rose kellner. PLEASE help this bow go to a good home!!

This is a great bow. I am so pleased and can't believe how nice this Presto bow plays. It better than my $15,0o dollar bow. I just took a chance bought it on sale and I'm glad I did. It's now my new favorite. Than you Sr for the fast shipping. I didn't think it would arrive until next week, but arrived on Saturday. Amazing.

Upon arrival of the Presto Carbon Fiber Violin Bow Black 4/4 Size, I immediately notice how it looked nice and very well finished and with a good appropriate weight and balance. As is recommended with any new bow, I rosined it up heavily after running a little sand paper over a new cake of rosin to rough up the new surface (I see others not understanding or knowing how to do this step.) Playability is nothing short of marvelous. I've owned bows costing over $3,000.00 and this bow is enough to embarrass the many bows which cost up in the hundreds and even thousands of dollars. The Presto Carbon Fiber Violin Bow Black 4/4 Size has the right bounce and action to do all of the over two dozen various bow attacks and techniques. To me, this bow is a real find and I congratulate the originators and manufacturer for producing a fine product. As the final test of quality I would rate the sound produced by the Presto Carbon Fiber Violin Bow Black 4/4 Size as bright and cheerful and able to swing into dark and moody tones at the whim of the player. This bow brings excellent 'voice' to my instrument and it is as an understatement that I say I am very pleased with it.

I purchased this bow for my advanced young musician and within one week, this bow failed inward 1/2" below the tip under normal hair tension. I was disappointed as I had purchased the bow for greater durable and resistance to warping, over a wood bow.

As a beginner the bow that came with my violin (a no name bow) I thought was OK, after all, what did I know? It didn't take long to realize that the old bow llmited me. I took a chance on this new Presto bow, and to my amazement, IT IS FANTASTIC!. It tracks much better than my old bow and gives a fuller and richer sound. I guess the experts really know what they are talking about! I am so glad I bought this bow. Not only is my sound improved, so is my confidence! You really can't go wrong on this bow.

Bow was stripped and could not be tightened upon delivery.

My 7 year old daughter has this bow. We liked the bow for the first few months. Then the hair started to not all tighten together. Next a small part of the white part on the tip cracked. Today all the hair came out. I put it back together but I am not confident it wonít fall out when she is playing. I am just frustrated.

My son is 13 years old, and because he is a quick learner and played for 4 years, I decided to give him a carbon fiber bow that'll satisfy him. He just can't stop playing. He states that the bow is light and enables him to do many types of bowings and the quality is better than most intermediate players would expected. I would recommend this bow to rising intermediate students or as a fine 2nd violin bow.

My previous bow was the cheap one which came with my factory-made violin. It did the job, but after taking lessons for a couple months, I started to wonder if I would be better served with a quality bow. The answer turns out to be, "YES!" Recommend by my teacher (a professional violinist), this bow has noticeably improved my playing. The lighter weight and quality design provided better bowing control and nicer sound overall. Practice remains the best path to improvement, but quality tools can help. This bow is unquestionably a quality tool. Purchasing from Shar was a painless process. Delivery was fast and packaging was top-notch. The have one more dedicated customer.

My father and i bought this bow for me after my grandmother's old fiber glass bow cracked along the top. After playing violin for 14 years, I can say that I really do love this bow. It is much lighter than a fiber glass or a wood bow, and does take some getting used to. After I had gotten over this weight change, I found it to be much more responsive to what i was doing than my old bows. It worked completely into my playing style, which is rather intense, fast paced, and quite messy. I've had no problems with hair breakage, or tension issues, and the bow that I received has been wonderful. I have recommended this to my friends, some of which are now playing at rather prestigious music schools, and I would like to get another once I find a nice cheap electric violin I can play in my dorms, that's not going to fall apart in my hands. All in all, I am completely satisfied.