Give your bow some love

See below for a guide to the bow service packages we offer to keep your bow in tip-top shape

faq

How often should I rehair my bow?
It depends on the player and how much you play. As a rule of thumb, for an amateur or student, once a year or every six months. For a professional, probably every three months or more often! The more often you re-hair your bow the better it will play for you.
Why is it so expensive?
The true answer is that it is cheap. I'll break it down:
Cost of a standard rehair to the customer = £100
  • VAT = 20% (goes straight to the government): £16.67
  • Cost of quality hair per bow = £13.57
  • Cost of consumables (polish, string, glue, wood, tools, water etc.) = £3.14
  • Contribution to workshop overheads (heating, lighting, rent etc.) = £16.62
  • Time with customer answering questions, assessing bow and discussing it, booking in/out = £13
  • Labour for doing the actual rehair = £37

Every bow is different and so takes a different length of time to rehair, as some bows are easy to take apart, some are difficult, some are made badly and need amendments, some are dirty, some are clean, some are well made and a dream to work with and others are just very tricky.

Giving each customer a different price to account for this would just be too difficult (and add to the overall cost as each bow would have to be quoted for individually!) so we do a fixed price and I am working for a fixed fee on bows, which sometimes means I only earn a pittance on difficult bows. Even on easy bows the hourly rate is way below a music teachers' charge out rate, for example. I really love it when I meet musicians who understand and appreciate the training and skill that goes into working on their bow. It is by far the most skilled thing I think anyone in the workshop does, as there are so many minute variables. That's why so few violin makers also do bow repairs. The skills are very specific and unique.

Anyone who is VAT registered who is offering bow repairs for less than £100 is seriously undervaluing their skills or using it as a loss leader to get customers in the door. 


SERVICE PRICING

basic service - £20
stick clean and polish
silver polish
lubrication of adjuster and underslide
FACE, FROG AND PEARL SLIDE CLEAN AND LUBRICATE (during rehair only)
​
Bow rehair - Fiddlers £95 (£100, £105), silver £100(£110, £115), gold £120(£125, £130), bass bows £110 (£120, 135)
bow leather replacement - £45(£49)
Bow lapping - from £100 (thread), £125 (silver), £150 (silver Tinsel)
​
Other repairs quoted by assessment

Bow Plans for violinists, violists and cellists (Silver)

basic plan - £7.91 (£8.70, £9.10)/month (5% off)

This plan gives you a rehair once a year

Basic plan PLus - £9.50 (£10.29, £10.68)/month (10% off)

this plan gives you a rehair and a basic service once a year

deluxe plan - £13.06 (£13.85, £14.25)/month (10% off)

this plan gives you a rehair, bow leather and basic service once a year

super deluxe plan - £18.77 (£20.18, £20.89) /month (15% 0ff)

this plan gives you a rehair twice a year, and a bow leather and basic service once a year

    Sign up to join our bow plan
Terms and Conditions

1. Payments must be made in advance. So if your bow needs repairing now, we suggest getting it rehaired and signing up for the our plan when you pay to spread the cost of your next rehair.

2. We need to see your bow before you start paying for the plan, so if you want your first rehair to be in six months or a year's time, then please bring it in to show us before you start paying so we can check it is suitable. You can still fill in the form opposite so we can sign you up to the scheme but please let us know if we haven't ever seen your bow. We will send you a link to book a time to bring it in.

​3. All payments must be made before the work commences.

4. We collect payments by monthly recurring invoices sent from our SumUp account, via email, with a link where you can pay by credit or debit card. These invoices are sent automatically so you don't have to remember when you need to pay.