What is the proper treatment for a brand new violin bow before using it?
Answer Hi Jermin, A brand new bow generally needs two “treatments” before it can be used: tightening and rosining. To tighten the bow, just grasp the bow’s screw, located at the very end of the bow (at the heavier end) and turn it clockwise. The bow should be tightened only to a certain degree: once the distance between the bow stick and bow hair is about that of the stick’s thickness at the narrowest point (about .8 cm) then the tension is approximately correct. To rosin the bow, first take your rosin cake and roughen it somewhat with fine sandpaper or a nail file. Rosin will not work if it is shiny and smooth. When the rosin is roughened, slide the bow hair back and forth along the rosin (or slide the rosin back and forth along the bow hair, either way will do). For a brand new bow, you’ll need a lot of rosin, so I suggest about twelve to fourteen strokes (a stroke one way, then a stroke the opposite way, counts as two). After this first “initiation”, the bow will need to be rosined
