Books › The Violin: How to Master It, 1880 › scan 25
Scan 25
The Violin: How to Master It, 1880
6 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1get their fair share of spikes. After the hair has been used for a length of time, even though not one should be broken, the spikes get worn off; the hair, rosin as you may, refuses to grip firmly, and a crisp, clear note is an impossibility.
3To Re-hair a Bow.
5Every player who is particular as to the tone he produces ought to re-hair his own bow, unless he can discover a patient, conscientious artist who will do it properly for him. The hair may be bought ready in hanks at the music-stores for twenty-five cents. The hair should be that of horses, which is whiter, less greasy, and more durable than that of mares. Place this hank in a dish of clean water, and then remove the old hair by forcing off the ferule of the nut with a penknife, being careful to preserve the little wedge which tightens the hair under the ferule, and also that which is found inside the box of the nut. Remove the other end of the hair by prying out the wedge in the point of the bow; then fix into the cavity the tied end of the new hank of hair, which is now wet through; tie up the point of the bow, to a nail or gas-bracket, slip the ferule on to the hair, and then, with a clean, small-tooth comb, comb it out evenly, gripping the hair between the fore-fingers behind the comb, so that none of the hairs cross each other, or are of unequal tightness. Gauge then the length of hair required to reach the nut, and then clasp the flat band of hair close to this, temporarily, with an American spring music clip, which may be bought for two cents, and to the faces of which have been glued two thin, flat pieces of wood. Tie the hair outside of this clip strongly with a double linen thread, burning the ends of the hair with a heated iron to cause the points to swell. Then turn the bow stick upwards, insert the tied end of the hair backwards in the nut-box, fix the wedge, reverse the hair, slip in the slide-lid of the nut-box, bring down the ferule, lying loosely on the hair, to its place on the nut; spread the hair as widely and evenly as the ferule will allow, tap in the wedge, and replace the nut in the bow; then leave the hair slackly screwed till the morning, when it will be found tight, even, and dry, and ready for use. A bow should never, on any account, be re-haired with dry hair. A good stick might be warped and forever spoiled by such treatment.
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