Berg violin bow

Description

Berg bows occupy a significant place in the history of the development of the bow.  They are amongst the earliest examples of bows made from synthetic materials.  Development commenced in the early 1980s in Wellington, New Zealand by former professional double bass player Robert Berg, and continues to this day in Bloomington, Indiana, USA by Michael Duff.  Musicians who use or have used Berg bows include Yfrah Neaman, Igor Ozim, Riccardo Odnopossoff, Henryk Szeryng, Eduard Melkus, Gerald Fishbach, Joseph Gingold, Ruggiero Ricci, Franco Gulli, Rostislav Dubinsky, Rivka Golani, Csaba Erdelyi, Pierre Amoyal, Roger Coull, Augustin Hadelich, Leonidas Kavakos, Mimi Zweig, Joshua Bell, Federico Agostini and Jaime Laredo.  A significant attribute of Berg bows in contrast to other carbon fibre bows is their more refined sound, probably due to the fact that each Berg bow is hand crafted by Michael Duff, not mass-produced in a factory.  When I hand this bow to violinists, and, after letting them play on it for a while, inform them the stick is made of carbon fibre, they usually express disbelief!

This bow was bought for professional use during the 1990s, partly for playing 20th Century string quartets demanding much col legno, in order to avoid damaging valuable antique bows.  Rehaired by Yuri Djachenko, it is priced at the new equivalent catalogue price plus GST.