| Author |
Subject |
Daniel
Ortbals 
Registered
User
(9/5/00 1:44:55 pm)
Reply |
Quick
Bow Question
Is anyone familiar with bows by Paul
Siefried? I'm just curious what peoples opinions are about them, IF
anyone has any opinions about them. TIA!
Dan
|
Tracie
Price 
Registered User
(9/5/00 6:55:09 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Quick Bow Question
I don't own any, but have played on
some of Ryan's Siefried bows several times. They are really nice
sticks! He's done some repair work for me and it's always top notch.
Try some out if you can!
|
Laura
Wichers
Registered
User
(9/5/00 8:21:59 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Quick Bow Question
I played one of Ryan's (Selberg,
that is) Siefried bows at the Congress and was most impressed. Great
response, good strong stick, and great craftsmanship. And
apparently, he's got a beautiful place in Pt Townsend (that *one* of
these days I'll actually get to!!).
-Laura
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Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
(9/6/00 10:38:01 am)
Reply |
Re:
Quick Bow Question
I've played on two of Paul
Siefried's bows. One, owned by a chamber music/orchestra cohort of
mine is a fantastic 84 gram bow. It culminated her search for the
right bow. It is one of the best cello bows I have ever tried. Its
weight feels concentrated at my hand, which makes it easy to use. It
gives no sense of tip-heaviness, although the way it plays you know
its got the tip weight needed to get a good sound all the way to the
end. It has that quality that really helps articulate fast notes
that I really like in a cello bow and have only found in two others;
you feel as though the bow has picked up the right pulse and helps
you do it.
The other Siefried I have tried was on sale at a
dealer's almost two years ago, and still is. It is of unconventional
design, and did not have the feel of the first one, and was not
remarkable in playing quality, although at $2,700 asking price, it
was probably appropriately priced for the company it was
in.
Paul Siefried is frequently a judge at international bow
making competitions (that go along with the instrument-making
competitions). He has won his share of prizes at such events and is
probably among the significant number no longer permitted to
compete.
Andy
|
JanJan
Registered
User
(9/6/00 10:49:39 am)
Reply |
Re:
Quick Bow Question
Just out of curiosity, do you know
what the fantastic 84 gram bow sold for or a ball park
figure?
|
Todd
French 
Registered User
(9/6/00 4:08:56 pm)
Reply
 |
Re:
Quick Bow Question
Daniel,
Paul is one of the
greatest bow makers alive today, and certainly one of the finest bow
restorers ever, in my mind. His bows are played by many
professionals in the LA area (he used to have his shop here) and you
will find him to be incredibly easy to talk to and work with.
Obviously I can't recommend him strongly enough :-)
P.S. -
what's the deal with all the cellists (Laura and Tracie) trying out
Siefried bows owned by Ryan Selberg? Does he have some huge
collection of Siefried bows I didn't hear about??
|
Daniel
Ortbals
Registered
User
(9/6/00 10:01:29 pm)
Reply |
Thank
You
Thank you everyone for the replies!
It turns out, I am in possession of one of his bows right now
(actually, since Saturday).
Interesting story: I was home in
St. Louis this past weekend, and Saturday I took my little sisters
to the mall for a little while. Well, on the way home, I decided
just for fun to stop by Bearden Violin Shop (not too far away from
my house) and pick up a couple of bows to try out. Well, one of them
was a neat looking bow with a tortoise shell frog, and the other was
the Siefried bow (which by the way is extremely beautiful). When I
got home I played around with the tortoise shell one for a while,
around an hour or so. Then, I switched to the Siefried. About three
seconds after I started playing with it my mother popped into the
room and said, "Dan, that sounds REALLY beautiful!" Within ten
minutes of playing with it I had decided that I needed this bow.
Well, I brought it here to school, played it for some people, and
will be calling Gene Bearden tomorrow to tell him that I must have
this bow. The price, for what I'm getting, is quite reasonable. I'll
have to live on ramen and crackers for the semester, but I don't
care!
Dan
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Tracie
Price
Registered User
(9/6/00 11:36:52 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Quick Bow Question
Hi Todd
Ryan is a big "fan"
of Paul's- and has several of his bows (I don't remember how many).
He has loaned various ones to me on a number of occasions in the
past, such as for juries or recitals or solos, and I always love
playing on them. Great bows!
Besides Paul being one of the
greatest bowmakers, I just wanted to add that he's great to deal
with. It's a very good feeling (especially with the exploits of many
instrument/bow dealers) to not have to worry about being "taken".
One of the bows he repaired for me didn't hold, and even though he
told me up front that due to the nature of the break, he couldn't
guarantee the repair would hold, he STILL repaired it again for no
charge over a year later. He takes enormous pride in his work and is
extremely trustworthy.
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Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
(9/7/00 5:48:45 pm)
Reply |
Over
$3,000, she said,
with a sheepish grin on her face,
but how much more she did not say. If that was indeed the price, it
was a good one. I understand this was one of 4 bows he had made for
a competition. I know her teacher (a retired SFO player) worked with
for some time to find the right bow. The lady is small (in fact, so
is her teacher), so a bow that felt too heavy would be very hard to
use.
Andy
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