Roth & Junius RJSW-01S Snakewood Violin Bow

Beautiful and exotic

My example is beautifully sculpted out of hard interesting to look at wood, and is almost more of a work of art than a just a regular fiddle. The bow is definitely on the heavy side (I measured it at 73 grams) due to the dense snake wood and the sound is clear, bright and loud-not wooden or soft. At first I did not like its sound as being too hard and bright, but with time I am beginning to appreciate the ringing clarity of the bow. It certainly does not sound like a normal wooden bow, but it has its own virtues. I am also getting used to the extra weight.

I have noticed one small defect in that the part of the frog with the mother of pearl eye (the part that slides) is not completely aligned to the attached bow stick at one end. At the tip there is a half mm gap, which should not be there. Instead, it should be flush with the stick. It does not seem to affect performance, but it is noticeable when looking closely.