Hi Jennifer.
I think you'd be surprised by how good the carbon fibre bows are. If I only had around £300-400 to spend, I'd definitely go for it again.
I've never played a cheap wooden bow that's got anywhere near as much spring in it. It makes a big difference having a bow that bites properly and responds evenly along its length.
I've tried some shockers & wish I'd had a better bow when I first started out nearly 30 years ago.
To put it in perspective - I now only have two bows. My main bow is a lovely quality old pernambuco bow, cost several grand and rewards with amazing bite for minimum effort.
My backup is a carbon fibre bow which comes in my bow case to all my gigs. Occasionally conditions dictate I use it - it's obviously slightly harder work than with the top notch bow, but it's very responsive & draws out an even tone.
Negatives? Not really. Cheap wooden bows often don't have an ebony frog - this does. It's got good weight to it. I've had it several years now & it's been great.
The only thing I would change is, should the hair go, I'll rehair it with coarser hair - but that's personal preference.
You might be lucky and find a decent wooden stick in that price range, and you can spend all sorts on carbon fibre bows but, if you're looking to spend around £300, I'd have a good look at the Col Legno standard. I bought mine from Tony at the Contrabass Shoppe - he's actually posted a video on his website & I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you about it if you gave him a call.
[url="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/carbon_fibre_bow_french.htm"]http://www.contrabass.co.uk/carbon_fibre_bow_french.htm[/url]
Let us know what you decide!
best wishes,
Jon
[quote name='endorka' post='647280' date='Nov 6 2009, 02:32 PM']Jon, what you are saying about the carbon fibre bow is really interesting, as I've been considering getting one of those for some time. I've been using a cheapie bow (£80) for several years, which is not too bad, but when I tried a decent wood one last week (value around £300), it made a huge difference to my playing. Everything was much easier! Would you say the carbon fibre bow at around £300 plays to the same standard as your average wood bow of the same price? Are there any negatives about it?
Jennifer[/quote]