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How to Restring a Fiddle's Bow

Fiddle bows are strung with horsehair, just like the bows of violins, cellos and even double basses. There is one thing you should keep in mind when you are restringing your fiddle bow. Many people who play the fiddle prefer light-colored horsehair bows. In many cases, suppliers of horsehair will bleach the hair to obtain this coloration, but this makes the hair brittle. For this reason, it is best to obtain light-colored natural horsehair that has not been "fiddled" with.

Things You'll Need

Horsehair
Scissors
Pliers
Rubber strips
Knife
Rubber band
super glue
heat gun

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the old hair from the bow by trimming it with a pair of scissors approximately 1 inch from the frog and the tip. The frog is the part that you hold when you play the fiddle, while the tip is the opposite end of the bow.
- 2
  Place a piece of rubber between the teeth of the pliers and then wiggle the metal ring that connects the remaining 1-inch of hair to the frog. Beneath this decorative metal ring you will find a wedge holding the hair onto the frog. Pry it up gently with a sharp knife.
- 3
  Use the knife to scrape the glue on the frog where the hair and the wedge met until you completely remove the glue.
- 4
  Secure one end of the new hair with a rubber band approximately 3 inches from the ends of the hair. Use the scissors to trim enough hair to create a straight line perpendicular with the length of the hair.
- 5
  Insert the round end of the hair into the small, round cavity in the base of the frog where the old hair was inserted. Thread the decorative ring over the other end of the hair and slide it down to the frog, but do not position it yet.
- 6
  Spread out the hair along the width of the frog and apply super glue generously. Before the glue sets, press the wedge on top of the hair, remove the rubber band and then slide the decorative ring into place. Allow the glue to set before continuing.
- 7
  Moisten the hair with water and then use a hair brush to smooth it out. When you finish, wrap a rubber band around the loose end of the hair. Wrap a piece of wire several times around the tip of the hair to make threading it into the tip of the bow easier.
- 8
  Remove the wedge, excess glue and hair from the tip of the bow in the same way that you removed the hair, glue and wedge from the frog. Be careful to retain the wedge if you do not have a new one.
- 9
  Thread the hair into the bow's tip and spread it over the width of the bow's tip, ensuring that the hair is tight over the length of the bow. If it is too long, remove the hair from the tip, trim it to the correct length and then reinsert it. Apply superglue to the wedge and drive it gently over the hair and into the hole for the wedge.
- 10
  Allow the superglue to set completely, then heat the hair with a heat gun. This tightens the loose hairs. Remove the broken hairs one at a time. Once the hairs are tight and trimmed, apply powdered rosin to the hairs before playing.

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