Hey i play cello and my bow hairs are quite brown, wel browner than other people

Question:do i need a new bow
or different rosin (my rosin is brown)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: do i need a new bow
or different rosin (my rosin is brown)

Well there are several possible reasons.

1) Has already been mentioned. Perhaps the horse from which your bow hair came has brown hair! Now what you need to ask is if this colos is uniform along the length of the hair. If its only darker around the frog, then its dirty. But if its uniform, don't worry about it, its just the natural color of the hair. (Just like I'm a brunette!).

2) Rosin is not the cause of the brown. It comes off as a white powder no matter how the solid looks.

3) Finger oil is the cause if it is brown by the frog. This is why we avoid touching the horse hair. (Just like you try not to run your fingers through your hair too much or it gets all oily).

If your bow is dirty it needs to be cleaned but I would take it to a luthier rather than do it yourself. Eventually you may need a hair change.

~Lisa

It is probably just the colour of your bow hair. Good natural bow hair comes from horses tails and if your horse had a brown tail then your bow hair will be brown. Most horse hair for bows is white ; sometimes it is bleached to make it white.

(Some suppliers stock coloured bow hair now : green, orange, blue, red etc.)

The rosin will not be affecting the colour. The rosin block can be brown, black or amber in colour but it always comes out as a white powder on the bow.

Don't worry about it; if it plays well, color is irrelevant. After all, cellos come in different shades of brown too--as does the hair of the horses' tail.

Eventually you'll need to get the bow re-haired, but don't rush it. It wastes your money and leaves another poor horse with nothing back there for swatting flies :-)

There is one other possibility. If your bow hair has been handled by bare skin (like fingers) it could be discolored by the combination of the natural oils mixed with the rosin. If you notice dead spots or places where the rosin seems to refuse to take hold, this may be the case. If your bow hair is discolored however, it will be darker in some areas than others. If it plays alright and gives you no trouble, leave it be. If you have other problems with it, get it re-haired at any competent luthier's shop.

Weigh the price against what it would cost for a new box however. Some luthiers are charging an awful lot of money to re-hair a bow and the prices for bows seem to be coming down. If the bow suits you otherwise it is always a good idea to keep it in good repair however and most bows need re-hairing every six months to a year. If you play professionaly you may even get them done quarterly, but by then you will have several bows and will have learned about rotating them as well.