QUOTE(BlakeJ @ Jan 15 2011, 10:09 PM)
yesterday i accidentaly drop my bow onto the floor and it broke into two T-T,any good bow brand suggestion??my budget is around RM100-RM200,normally where u all purchase violin and bow???which import from Europe not CHINA kind of Europe???looking for a second handmade violin,my violin cant produce the kind of sound i wan ady~~~~~THX!!!!!!!
china violins are by far the best choice, or should i say, the ONLY choice, if your budget is below RM5k. even if you see violins from german that're under RM10k, mostly made in china, and send it over german to fine tune the carvings and assembly, then varnish and setup. not 100% china made, but not 100% european made either.
on the other hand violins are highly personal, even if you have high budget you might not find something you like, and some cheaper ones can surprise you!
as for bow, i highly recommend the carbon fiber bow selling at euro music KL, for RM230. they're by far one of the best i've tried for that kind of price. they don't have the best sound, but they produce clean and clear sound and the stick is more stable than many wooden bow of the same price range. however, their batch of that carbon fiber bow can be quite a hit and miss, quality seems to be more vary than it used to be, in terms of playability and sound. i've played one that produced quite a thin sound. another problem is the bow hair being made too long, so after a while the hair stretched, you can no longer tighten it enough to play due to the screw reached the end.