In addition to the fine bows pictured below, I offer a regular stock of reasonably priced ($200-$1,300) violin, viola, cello and bass bows made by:
Brazil-
Arcos Brasil
Sousa Bows
Germany-
Doerfler
Knoll
USA-
JohnPaul
Howard Core
I only stock bows that meet my basic standards for quality.
For the fine bows (below):
I offer one-week trials for any bows available for which I cover one-way cost of shipping. An extra week is always fine as long as you let me know you need it.
I include one handwritten Certificate of Authenticity with a purchase. This can be used for travel (proof of ownership and customs declarations), for insurance valuations, and for resale. This paper should accompany the bow in the event of a future resale. I recommend making a photocopy to store separately from the original.
I guarantee the bow for one year from invoice date. This guarantee excludes customer damage and excessive or exceptional wear. I also request that the bow come to my shop at the end of this period for a free checkup and cleaning.
A note on prices: I specialize in new bows by living bowmakers- these bows range from $2500-$8000.
Please scroll to down for information on the materials I use in my work.
The bows
currently available and previous sales
Violin:
Abe Liebhaber. Silver mounted unadorned ebony frog with full silver button. Round. 58 grams. Available at www.bayfinestrings.com/
Viola:
Abe Liebhaber. Orange pernambuco stick, silver mounted frog and button with mammoth ivory tip plate, awabi pearl slide and heel plate. 65.8 grams.
Jesse Berndt, Minnesota. Dark pernambuco stick with swan head and round chamfers, silver mounted ebony frog and button. 69.1 grams.
Jesse Berndt, Minnesota. Dark pernambuco stick, silver tinsel and green silk wrapping, silver mounted ebony frog and button. 64.4 grams.
Jesse Berndt, Minnesota. Dark pernambuco stick, silver mounted ebony frog and button. 73.8 grams.
Jesse Berndt, Minnesota. Dark pernambuco stick, silver mounted ebony frog and button. 68.9 grams.
David Hawthorne, Boston. Dark pernambuco stick, silver mounted frog and button, silver tinsel and silk wrapping, silver tip plate. 70.5 grams.
Cello:
Abe Liebhaber. Silver mounted ebony frog, silver tip, fine dark pernambuco and full silver button. 83.0 grams.
August Prager. Germany, 1870-1956. Silver mounted frog and button. Round. 81.7 grams.
Eben Bodach-Turner, Vermont. 80.7 grams. Beautiful bright pernambuco stick with silver mounted frog with exceptional abalone shell. A textbook weight and balance- this new bow is made with the highest skill and fine materials. With original certificate from the maker.
Previous sales:
Abe Liebhaber. Classical style pernambuco stick with ebony frog, tip plate and button. 72.0 grams. SOLD
Violin. David Hawthorne. A bowmaker from Boston. Button inlaid with shell, silver mounted frog. Round. 59.2 grams. Superb craftsmanship and materials. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Eury-style heel plate. Orange/red pernambuco. Silver mounted frog and tip, full silver button. Silver tinsel and silver wire wrapping. Round. 82.5 grams. Made in Oberlin summer 2018. SOLD
Violin. Baroque style. Bright pernambuco with pernambuco and ebony laminated frog. Pernambuco button with silver ring. 55.1 grams. SOLD
Cello. Kaspar Pankow #1546. The only bow by this excellent Swiss bowmaker for sale in the USA. I observed this bow being made- it has superb playing characteristics. 78.4 grams, 9.5" balance point. From the document that will accompany a sale: "Round stick is made of reddish-brown pernambuco and is 69.5 cm long. The frog is made of ebony and mounted in silver. It has inlayed pearl eyes. The adjuster is also made of ebony and has rings in silver." Elegant Peccatte model from a maker with expertise in this style. SOLD
Viola. Abe Liebhaber. Dark pernambuco, round, 68.5 grams and 9.4" balance point. Full abalone pearl slide, silver tip, and pearl eyes on frog and end of adjuster. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. 82.9 grams, 8.8" balance point. Dark pernambuco, silver tip, full silver button. Double button collar after C. Peccatte. Available at www.bayfinestrings.com/
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. 79.0 grams, 8.8" balance point. Made at the Oberlin VSA Bowmakers seminar in the summer of 2017. After a certain Guillaume shop bow that I enjoy using. Silver tip for ease of international travel, full silver button, and awabi shell inlay and slide. SOLD
Violin. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of tan/orange-colored pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog and full silver button after Charles Peccatte with full-length abalone pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, silver-silk wrapping. 62.2 grams, 9.4” balance point. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of coffee-dark pernambuco after Charles Peccatte, silver mounted ebony frog and full silver, double-collar button with abalone pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, silver wrapping with thumb grip of lizard skin. 86.0 grams, 8.9” balance point. SOLD
Violin. Abe Liebhaber. Octagonal stick of amber-colored pernambuco, silver mounted ebony Simon model frog and silver button with abalone pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, tinsel/silk wrapping. 59.6 grams, 9.8” balance point.
Violin. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of dark pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog and button with abalone pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, silk/tinsel wrapping and thumb leather in Monitor lizard. 60.8 grams, 9.7” balance point.
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of amber-colored pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog and button with abalone pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, silk/tinsel wrapping. Fonclause model after the VSA Oberlin shop bow for 2016. 82.42 grams, 9.2” balance point.
Cello bow- Older stick and frog. A fully restored bow of highest quality pernambuco, abalone shell, Maillechort mounted frog and button with silver wrapping. Round. 76.9 grams, 9.1" balance point. On consignment to Abe Liebhaber Bows. SOLD
Viola. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of ochre/tan/dark pernambuco recently imported from Brazil (with CITES certification), silver mounted fine ebony frog with full silver recourvrement (slide) ready to engrave with pattern by customer request, one-piece silver button, silver tip plate, silver wrapping with thumb leather and collar in Monitor lizard. 73.0 grams, 9.5” balance point. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of ochre/tan/dark pernambuco, silver mounted fine ebony frog with full silver slide engraved with "hemiola" pattern, or 3:2 waveform, one-piece silver engraved button, silver tip plate, silver tinsel wrapping with thumb leather and collar in Monitor lizard. 92.2 grams, 9.2” balance point. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of red wine/dark pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog with full silver Eury-style heel plate, two-part silver mounted button with Japanese awabi pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, silver wrapping and thumb leather and collar in Monitor lizard. 85.5 grams, 8.6” balance point. SOLD
Viola. Abe Liebhaber. Octagonal stick of red wine/dark pernambuco, silver mounted faux tortoiseshell frog and button with Japanese awabi pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, silver wrapping and thumb leather in Monitor lizard. 71.2 grams, 9.5” balance point. Third photo illustrates transparency of frog. SOLD
Violin. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of red wine/dark pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog and button with Japanese awabi pearl slide and eyes, silver tip, tinsel wrapping and thumb leather in Monitor lizard. 64.2 grams, 9.8” balance point. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Octagonal stick of red wine/dark pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog and button with Japanese awabi pearl slide, tip of mammoth ivory, silver wrapping and thumb leather and collar in Monitor lizard. 81.4 grams, 8.9” balance point. SOLD
Cello. Abe Liebhaber. Round stick of red wine color pernambuco, silver mounted ebony frog and button with Japanese awabi pearl slide and eyes, tip of mammoth ivory, silver wrapping and thumb leather and collar in Monitor lizard. 86.2 grams, 9.1” balance point. SOLD
3/4 size violin. Abe Liebhaber. Octagonal stick of red wine/dark pernambuco, "Saturn and Titan" frog in silver and pearl: inlaid frog with silver image of the planet Saturn and its moon Titan on the player's side, comet Hyakutake with Ursa Major on audience side, ferrule and button of sterling silver and ebony. 55.0 grams, 9.0" balance point. Tip of mammoth ivory, tinsel and black silk wrapping, monitor lizard thumb leather and collar. SOLD
Notes on materials:
My bows are crafted from all or some of the following materials:
Pernambuco wood (stick)
Ebony wood (frog and button, tip liner)
Leather (water monitor or goatskin)
Horse hair (for ribbon)
Silver (for tip plate, stick wrapping, frog and button mountings)
Silver tinsel (stick wrapping)
Abalone pearl (awabi, or Haliotis gigantea, for pearl slide and eyes)
Mastodon ivory (for tip plate)
My bows do not contain any endangered species. I note that while pernambuco and ebony from Madagascar are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), those listings only cover "logs, sawn wood, veneer sheets, including unfinished wood articles used for the fabrication of bows for stringed instruments" (in the case of pernambuco), and "logs, sawn wood and veneer sheets" (in the case of ebony). In other words, the CITES listings for these woods do not cover finished articles such as bows.
I note that when Brazil proposed the addition of pernambuco wood to CITES, the United States, noting that there was "no other comparable wood substitute" for pernambuco in bows for stringed musical instruments, agreed to the addition on the condition that parts and derivatives would not be included in the listing as that would be "overly burdensome on traveling musicians without providing substantial conservation benefit." The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Notice announcing the addition of pernambuco to CITES thus specified that the proposal was "amended to exclude finished bows and buttons from CITES controls.
My bows are crafted from all or some of the following materials:
Pernambuco wood (stick)
Ebony wood (frog and button, tip liner)
Leather (water monitor or goatskin)
Horse hair (for ribbon)
Silver (for tip plate, stick wrapping, frog and button mountings)
Silver tinsel (stick wrapping)
Abalone pearl (awabi, or Haliotis gigantea, for pearl slide and eyes)
Mastodon ivory (for tip plate)
My bows do not contain any endangered species. I note that while pernambuco and ebony from Madagascar are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), those listings only cover "logs, sawn wood, veneer sheets, including unfinished wood articles used for the fabrication of bows for stringed instruments" (in the case of pernambuco), and "logs, sawn wood and veneer sheets" (in the case of ebony). In other words, the CITES listings for these woods do not cover finished articles such as bows.
I note that when Brazil proposed the addition of pernambuco wood to CITES, the United States, noting that there was "no other comparable wood substitute" for pernambuco in bows for stringed musical instruments, agreed to the addition on the condition that parts and derivatives would not be included in the listing as that would be "overly burdensome on traveling musicians without providing substantial conservation benefit." The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Notice announcing the addition of pernambuco to CITES thus specified that the proposal was "amended to exclude finished bows and buttons from CITES controls.