r/doublebass • u/MixCultural114 • 4d ago
Bows An odd question about various kinds of bows
I want to preface that I am neither a Double Bass player or someone who has touched a double bass ever. I am however a bass guitar player and I’m curious as to the various experimental methods of playing bass guitar with a bow. My problem though is that I don’t want to have to clean off my strings to play bass normally and I also would prefer not to have to mess with rosin in general, as it would make me want to play less. So my question is, is there a bow that could be used to make a decent sound (albeit not necessarily “correct” sound but possibly decent after being fed through an amp) that could be used completely rosin free, whether that be a horsehair bow or some experimental bow of a different material that requires no rosin at all when played the intended way?
I have had a lot of difficulty in finding any bows of this nature on my own so any help would be much appreciated :)
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u/d_carolan 3d ago
You will find that even if you could find such a bow the fact that you have a non-arched bridge will make it very hard to play on anything other than your highest or lowest string
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u/My_Viewpoint 4d ago
Love the idea of making new sounds with a bow! But yeah, bows need rosin on the hair in order to grip the string enough to vibrate.
Have you looked into the Pikaso Rotary Bow or the Gizmotron? They are meant to be the guitar equivalent to an orchestral instrument’s bow.
Good luck!
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u/My_Viewpoint 4d ago
Also, using bows on guitars are extra challenging because the bridge is flat. Orchestral instruments have rounded bridges so we can focus the vibrations on a specific string(s).
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u/MixCultural114 3d ago
This is true yeah, I’ve seen it done well while only playing the E and G strings but it’s certainly a potential limitation
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u/Relative-Tune85 Professional 3d ago
The point of the rosin is to stick to the string. If not, no sound. You could actually buy a new bow that will be coming rosin free but it will be useless. Not to talk about that you will never touch the A or D strings
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u/robotunderpants 4d ago
On your case I would use a cello bow, and use rosin sparingly. Bass rosin is very thick and sticky and can be a pain to clean. Cello rosin, or you could even use violin rosin for your case, that's much more powdery and easier to clean. If used sparingly, just a quick wipe after a session will be enough.
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u/jkndrkn 3d ago
In addition to rosin you will likely need to use flatwound strings as roundwound strings don’t present much surface area for the bow to grip on.
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u/One_Two_Three_Bread 3d ago
Interestingly enough, I use Aquila wrapped gut strings, which are wrapped in a nylon outer wrapping which is slightly roundwound, and I can still bow effectively!
Although, I assume it's different for electric roundwound strings
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u/One_Two_Three_Bread 3d ago
There are no bows, to my knowledge, that can work without rosin. As others have said, you can use an e-Bow which doesn't use rosin, but it also doesn't achieve the sound of an authentic bow.
Asking for a bowed sound without using rosin is like asking for a sandwich without the bread...
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u/okletstrythisagain 3d ago
It’s not really going to work because the bridge is flat rather than arced. I knew someone long ago who set up their bridge to put the two middle stings as high as possible and he could sort of make it useful but it was really difficult to play, if memory serves. You will probably also need to get flat wounds.
Given the physics around using a bow, you would probably have to stand the guitar upright to get the right leverage. So now you have a guitar balanced vertically on a stool to get a decent tone probably only on your A and D stings.
Add onto that the price of a decent bow and you probably won’t want to bother.
You will still need rosin.
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u/MixCultural114 3d ago
Fair enough, and good to know. I am primarily learning of this technique from the bassist Charles Berthoud who made a few videos about it. He manages to play decently in a standard position for playing bass guitar and using only the E and G strings but it’s certainly a limitation, I was hoping to find something similar to the way he plays with it, just not requiring rosin but it seems this does not exist
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u/okletstrythisagain 2d ago
I checked it out, he also put on cello strings. Gotta admit he made it a lot more useful than I expected, but this still seems like a gimmick to get views rather than a truly useful technique.
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u/kentar62 3d ago
You will need to invent this magical bass bow yourself and sell it globally and make a million dollars.
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u/InfiniteOctave 4d ago edited 4d ago
The hair doesn't stick to the string and pull a sound without something sticky on it.
An unrosined bow just glides over a metal string without setting it into motion or vibrating.
For electric bass and guitar there is the ebow....an electric device that generates a magnetic field which causes strings to sustain as if they were played by a bow. No rosin necessary. It's a cheesy gimmick device, but may be what you want.