To want to know where the f is the biggest violin shop in London

[AliceMay55]

DS is after a violin bow. Codabow. Can anyone kindly tell me where is the biggest violin/bow shop within 1hr driving distance of Sevenoaks (Kent) where we can try some bows and buy?

I googled, but not sure if those shops stocked codabow. Before I spend an hour ringing them all, I thought I could ask here.

You are being unreasonable.

Ask his teacher. YABU

https://www.oldviolinworkshop.co.uk/
This is where I buy violins and accessories for my kids. No idea about that particular item but they are a friendly small shop and respond to emails promptly in my experience

Have you tried looking for a list of stockists on the Codabow site, rather tha;trawling the websites of individual retailers?

Codabow have a page where you can find a stockist.

Maybe try asking on the Spring 23 Music Thread under Talk, Education, Extra-curricular.

why do you need a large store?

It took me ten seconds to find that the only UK stockist is in Oswestry in the Midlands.

We asked his teacher, bought a bow with £200 just a couple of years ago. Which is now apparently not good enough anymore (DS says). Wtf 😳

DH acts like a millionaire granting boons without considering merits. He totally lost it on the day he got a big hike at work and “promised” DS a codabow. £500. Both of them sitting on their asses now expecting me to find a place to try the bow or they’ll “order it online”

So we can try a few different ones

DH has promised it, let him and DS do the leg work.

For god's sake, leave them to it.

Leave it to your dh, then, instead of getting worked up like this. You sound so needlessly angry

I have a Codabow diamond a carbon fibre bow which sounds and feels amazing, it was a US import (before Brexit) good bows can cost at least 2K so £200 for a bow is a good price.

If you go to a shop with multiple different CodaBows, you are aware that the chances are that the Best Bow Ever and the Only Bow I Can Ever Possibly Have or You're a Monster is going to be significantly dearer than a 500 quid jobbie, don't you? It'll be the ones over a grand.

Or they'll get him to try something even more expensive from another brand - they wouldn't be doing their job properly in terms of giving the customer the best sound/experience OR in terms of making a sale for the company if they just said 'CodaBow? Cool. Here are the two cheapest, knock yourself out'.

I'm not familiar with Codabows. However, having played a string instrument for almost 50 years, I wouldn't buy a bow online without trying it first. Decent string instrument retailers will let you try items on approval. Some will send out up to 4 bows within a price range for you to try for a week or fortnight.

I also don't live anywhere near Kent so cannot comment on retailers close by. However, I have dealt with Cambridge Strings who are nice people to deal with. Everyone else I know is either in the NW or SW of England.

Just sent you a pm.

JP Guivier on Mortimer Street are good and have a range of carbon bows at different prices (I got one from them last year). They have a little practice room upstairs where you can try anything out.

They're carbon fibre and quite different to traditional bows. I have one for my viola. It's very good and loud and proud. I paid £800 odd for it and am pleased with it. I got mine from the guy that rehairs my bows, he ordered it in for me.
I would order online and my favourite online violin shop is the string zone.

I'm not sure you need to try a few with these modern high tech carbon fibre bows. For background I'm an old bird of nearly 60, went to music college back in the day but never pursued it as a career. Now after a long gap in playing I'm back having lessons privately from a conservatoire level teacher and thinking I'll sit a level 6 music diploma next year to celebrate my 60th birthday and prove something to my self (so basically I'm quite a good player and have some idea of what I'm talking about )