If there is one thing I honestly cannot stand (hence my extreme procrastination), it's bow shopping. Now why am I allergic to such a joyous necessity? There is absolutely no where in Portugal with an in house selection to choose from which means we Lusitanian string folk must either travel or order via catalogue (and I absolutely cannot stand the notion of ordering anything without actually looking...)
Joy of joys I (since I decided to be responsible) I went and looked at shop choices and shockingly (first time ever that this happened) I actually
found and tested 1 bow which actually I really liked. Apparently it is being shown off as an unlabeled Laberte workshop bow and is going for 750 euros (about 1000 dollars)
and it actually has personality. Surprisingly easy to control as it seems to stick to the string, it's well balanced, feels good in the hand and actually
produces a very personality filled sound.
The cons,
1- it's tip is unfortunately broken and requires repairing which apparently costs a pretty penny.
2- It costs 750 euros (without repair costs factored in) and is totally unlabeled which leaves me iffy in regards to
authenticity since in my head 750 euros should include guarantees of authenticity...
3- It's pretty ugly looking, the varnish is dark enough to obscure the wood figure completely and it has a very oddly shaped head,
the frog seems bulky and has a pretty sad looking plain eye. The metal outfitting (fully lined frog)
is dingy enough for me to not be able to discerne what it actually is made out of (silver, nickel?)
4- I really am not hard to please with bows as long as they aren't horrible sounding or physically flawed hence me being worried that I am just
simply not picky enough to discerne price/actual value. This is hard to explain.
My options are limited as I live full time in Portugal but I've narrowed them down to the following (I actually NEED a new bow)
1- Conrad gotz mail ordered bow (again have not seen or played it) but at least is reasonable in terms of investment?
2- Chinese bows from a reputed maker (Cheaper than Gotz but I can get 2 for the same price). Investment value I'm not sure about.?
3- The supposed Laberte bow (expensive as hell and in need of repair, I'm also not sure it's a sound investment).
Opinions please? My budget is as cheap as possible LOL but can pop up to 800 euros ( up to 1k USDs).