I'm not an advance student, and have not tried more than intermediate level bows, but I do like the weight and draw of this bow. It feels very smooth and brings out a strong sound. My one issue is that the screw is rather tight. I can still turn it, but it's not easy and sometimes a little difficult to get the hair to a proper tension.

My daughter used the 1/2 size for a year. Decent student bow. But the wedge popped out, letting loose all the hair. I put it back in but a month later out it came again. I called SHAR and they said the repair plus shipping would be more than I paid for the bow itself. Very disappointing.

I¥m just learning to play violin, my old bow just got twistet and hairless. This one is very good, easy to play, I can do what Yehudi Menuhin says: "if I blow when you are playing, the bow should move and still you have to pruduce a nice warm sound". i ¥ve being playing for almost a year and still all the hair is in the bow!!

The wood fell out of the tip, rendering the bow useless, shortly after the warranty was up.

This bow is deserving of more attention. I purchased one in 1/2 size for my eight year old son, who is currently playing at level 3 to 4. I've had some luck with $150 Chinese fractional violins purchased elsewhere, but the bows that come with them are generally disappointing. I got this bow as a replacement for a wood bow that came with his new 1/2 size violin. His older sister has a Coda Conservatory bow. This bow isn't in that category, but it's a great bow for the price. It has nice balance (not too heavy at the tip like some fiberglass bows); good bow hair (not falling out all over the place like some cheap wood bows); very nice finish in the shaft and frog (beyond my expectations); and it sounds pretty good, too (maybe not as good as a quality wood bow, but you're not paying so much money for it or risking breakage). Overall, I'm very pleased, and I will seriously consider buying another when it comes time to move up to 3/4.

I bought this bow based on the great reviews on this website. I wonder now if they are even legitimate or if I got a dud bow. We got this bow to replace the wooden bow that came with the Hoffman Maestro set and expected it to sound better since it is more expensive and I have heard such great things about carbon fiber performance. However, we get only an annoying buzz from this bow. We have tried tightening/loosening the hair, cleaning the strings, etc. and nothing helps. I went back to the old wooden bow to make sure it wasn't my violin that was to blame, but even the old, tired wooden bow made a much smoother sound than this bow. I do NOT recommend and would return this one if I didn't have to worry about the 20% restocking fee.

I am an elementary school orchestra teacher. I purchased these bows to be used by my students. They have held up to many years of drops and being handled by beginners and are still working great! I also use these bows as back-up bows for my own performances and they play just as well as many of the more expensive bows. I would highly recommend these bows for both beginning and advancing students.

I am an intermediate level player that was playing on a beginner outfit. Bought a new violin and needed a bow to go with it. Went with this one and it's great. I love it. Just using it has improved my playing imensely. It's nice and light weight. (At least compared to my last one) I've just fallen in love with it.

I am a middle and high school orchestra teacher. The Fusion Carbon Composite bow is a wonderful alternative to using my personal bows at school. As a teacher, I need a good quality bow that is inexpensive and will stand up to a school environment that can be tough on equipment. This bow fills my needs. It is a good quality bow at a reasonable price. For not much more than a fiberglass bow, this bow is much lighter, more responsive and better made. Compared to an inexpensive wooden bow, it is better balanced, has a nice stiffness, is straight and durable. The carbon composite construction makes this bow strong and resilient. I don't have to worry if it gets dropped or bumped in a crowded rehearsal. Of course there are many bows that better quality, but that also comes at a price. This bow doesn't pretend to be those bows. If you are an advanced student, a performance major or a professional youíll want a better bow too. There are many players that will be happy with the Fusion bow. For students, the Fusion bow is a step up from a fiberglass bow. Get this if you're still not ready for a higher priced bow. For teachers, the Fusion is a decent bow for public school use. It is durable and affordable. For all players it is an economical second bow. If you need a bow while your good bow is being rehaired or if you are playing where you don't want to use your expensive bow (e.g.outdoor concert, school orchestra rehearsal) the Fusion bow is a great choice. Iím happy with my Fusion bow it is a nice quality bow that I use every day. It an excellent bow that fills my needs and I think can fill the needs of many other players.

I needed an inexpensive bow to complement an electric 5 string (budget) purchase (and replace the very poor bow supplied) In short, it plays very well and I will use it as a good back up bow for my main instrument. Very responsive and it has a good arc so the tension is just right with a few turns of the nut.

For a student, this looks as a much better option that the one comes with cheap violins. The material is similar to pernambuco (I have a Schicker hand made for Bass), although what worries me is that you need to tight it very much for the hair to be separated from the stick ... I really don't know how much it will last until the metal barrel in the frog be damaged (maybe I need to check in advance if it is possible to have barrel replacements). On the usage, my 8 years old daughter improved her playing almost instantly with this bow. When observing that, the investment was a good one; and for $50 the only I expect is it to last at least one year.

Feels a bit heavy but that is probably to be expected given materials. Not really a complaint. The hair is fine, although I will note it took more rosin than usual to get it gripping the strings at the first. The screw is the biggest issue. My 7 year old cannot turn it. And that was one of my biggest hopes for it. But it's stiff, not "easy" even for me. Perhaps an easy screw in a 1/4 bow for $50 is too much to ask. But I was hoping Shar's own line would be able to pull it off.

I'm a professional player, and actually own 4 of these bows!! They are balanced well, draw a good clean sound, and match most instruments really well. I use these bows with my carbon fiber violin, for outdoor gigs, and pit work. I also use them with my fine wooden violins, and love the freedom I get from not worrying about damaging my expensive bows, especially when doing gigs where space is a premium (doing back-up work, etc). Of course, when the hair is shot, you just need to buy another bow, but I carry 2 of these in my case, and use them all the time. Great for students AND pros :-)

An affordable, sturdy bow-that also plays so well! Its the perfect combination for our school! I ordered one to check it out, and was very impressed. This bow plays better than the carbon fiber models we have, and costs less than half as much! This will be a wonderful option for schools and individuals alike! Thank you, Shar!

After our 4-year-old son started using his new Fusion bow, his tone improved noticeably. As a result, he is now playing much more confidently than he had been. The bow (1/16 size) seems to be much better balanced from tip to frog than the one he had been using.

I bought this one for my 9 year old a couple of months ago when she broke her bow (for the 2nd time!). Based on the reviews and the price we felt this should be adequate for her and her 1/4 size violin. I am not a professional violin player but I have good ears and I have to say this bow does not produce great sounds. My daughter's old wood bow which was not that much more expensive than this one produced a better, deeper, clearer sounds. I can't exactly say what it is but the sound comes out quite harsh and somewhat metalic and not the "warm" violin sound that I'm used to. This is our first fusion/carbon bow but I certainly don't like it. I initially thought that the bow had to be played for a while before better sounds come out but it has not changed a bit. My daughter does not complain anything about it and she does not seem to find it any different from her old bow but I'm ready to buy another bow (definitely wood next time)! So, overall, I think the best thing about this bow is that it's cheap (thus 2 stars) and maybe good enough to be a spare one that you keep in the case but not for playing every day.

The 1/8 size bow, even when screwed all the way, is still not right enough. The bow hair does not have enough clearance from the stick.

I ordered this bow hopefully, but with very low expectations. I needed a bow to go with a spare violin that I would be passing on to a family member. The price of this bow was right, and the reviews I saw were at least promising. While the bow will never be mistaken, in it's aesthetics, for a truly high-quality bow, it's performance is very impressive. I may even like playing with it a bit better than with my recently-appraised $600 bow.

I'm an advanced Beginner / early Intermediate fiddle player and primarily play Old Time Music. I ordered and received this bow last week primarily to use as a second bow (although I have many other bows) and to take with me and use particularly when I'm in high humidity areas. I am very impressed with it. Extremely light and well balanced, the hair also "grabs" extremely well after being primed with rosin. This is a terrific bow for the money. Does it compare with a Coda Bow I also have? No, it's probably not quite as light nor quite as balanced. But it indeed, for its purpose and cost, is easy to play, feels like it should when I bow, produces a sound that IS indeed actually comparable to a Coda Bow (carbon fiber) I also own, and no doubt will be able to withstand humidity changes, and is really a good buy. It is a bow that will be especially useful and practical for beginning and/or younger student players. I'm glad I purchased this bow, would buy another if I needed to, and recommend the bow highly.

I own a couple of these, and like to use them for scales, exercises, and practice where I don't want to use a good bow, or would rather put wear on a less expensive bow. You can't go wrong & can't beat the price!

I bought this bow for my 11 year old son almost two years ago thinking it would be a good cheap bow he'd outgrow relatively quickly. I play myself, with my main bow being a Coda Joule (msrp $695). Curious about how a cheap bow like this could sound, I tried the Fusion next to my Joule. The difference was stunning. Rapid passages were easier with the Fusion. Playing close to the frog was easier with the Fusion. String crossings were easier with the Fusion. Tracking was effortless. It felt like driving a sports car compared to a dump truck. No joke. The Joule sounds very slightly fuller and richer than the Fusion. Not enough to matter to anyone, especially when you can rip off passages with the Fusion that you just can't play cleanly with the Joule. I'm buying a Fusion for myself now.

Pros: Cheap, decent quality sound Cons: H-E-A-V-Y, the cork that attaches the hair into the bow pulls out I'm a beginner, so what do I really know, right? I was steered to this bow after speaking with a customer service rep from Shar after the beginning bow I got from their violin outfit warped after having it less than a year and barely touching it. This bow came looking nice, and seemed to play nice, but WOW was this thing heavy. It has made it really difficult to play correctly as I am constantly compensating for the weight of this hunker. My teacher, the shop owner, and my friend who plays professionally all remarked on how crazy heavy it is. I also never screw it in too tight (others tend to tell me I leave the hair a little looser when I play than maybe I should) so imagine my surprise when I had this bow looked at and was told by several sources that the hair/cork thing was coming out due to it being tightened too much. Which I don't do. This happened after having it for a little over a month. It may look pretty, and maybe it's good for some really aggressive work because of the weight, but if you're a beginner I'd advise to steer clear of this. It could always work out for you though, as it has for others here, but I was surprised no one mentioned how heavy this was after I had read all the reviews before I bought it.

I've had this bow for a week now after replacing it with my wooden one. Sure it is a little bit heavier; however, it helps with techniques in my opinion. I had no problem with it and I definitely recommend this... I love it.

I have to admit, I'm a bit perplexed by some of the glowing reviews. With no disrespect to the posters, someone in the beginning stages of their studies probably would not have the knowledge to accurately assess the quality of various bows, so take some of these reviews with a grain of salt. I purchased this bow as a "teacher bow" for school. I certainly was not looking for a quality bow, but something that was a step up from a Glasser. PROS: Cheap. Lighter weight than a Glasser. Thinner stick than a Glasser (more similar to a real bow - feels better in the hand). CONS: Where's the camber? At its loosest, there's a sizable gap between the hair and the stick. In addition, the hair is the slightest bit too short - it is never able to be fully loose. However, even when I remove the frog, I can see that the camber is still off. As the bow is tightened, the stick almost immediately becomes parallel to the hair. The bow I received looked almost 2nd quality. This bow would be better than your bottom-of-the-line wooden bow. I find the Glasser Brooklyn models are better made than this Fusion, but chunkier/heavier. It's really a tossup between this and the Glasser Brooklyn. I'm going to be purchasing the Presto Carbon Fiber bow next to see if that one is any better. I'm giving this bow 3 stars as opposed to 2 because I knew I was purchasing a sub-standard bow. Keeping that in mind, this bow isn't the worst. Are you going to hate it if you buy it? Probably not, but personally, I would spend a few dollars more on something better.