DANGEROUS REHARINGS

As we saw last week, if  a hair change is done incorrectly, it can create significant sound emission problems.  But there are  some cases, unfortunately very common, in which  a badly  done reahairing can  be lead to irreparable damages.
You may object: "What has the opening photo to do with hair ?"... open the post and  you'll find out!

M° Franco Petracchi, John Patitucci and  me  

 Some time ago I was invited by John to the  Wayne Shorter Quartet concert,  that was held in Rome at the Parco della Musica. The concert was wonderful ! Danilo Perez, at piano,  Brian Blade, at drums and, of course,  John Patitucci at bass , under the guidance of the one who has evolved into an ascetic of music Jazz of  '900,  are able to convey  the listener inside sound  labyrinths in continuous change where space is left to the  transmission energy  of the performers,  that moving on preset plots develops  consciousness streams in cantinas evolution, having a   Joyceian taste.
 So John called me one  Saturday night to fix an appointment for the next day and while talking  he tells  me that he never had the opportunity to meet Maestro Franco Petracchi. "Perhaps I can  introduce him to you" I replied.
As the opening photo may witness, and thanks to Maestro Alberto Bocini, whom  I disturbed at half past eleven on Saturday night to get the phone number of the Maestro, I succeeded in. Maestro Petracchi was  enthusiastic about the performance of the group, and he liked John  so much that he thought of inviting him to a master class in Sermoneta, where he holds courses since  years. And now the hair .... 

 Broken ivory shoe

Let's start from minor injuries. What you see in the picture is one of the classic breakage of the shoe  due to a  poorly done reharing. In this case the rupture was caused by the wooden plug used to close the mortise of the head. The craftsman made a  too big plug  and when he tried to push it in with the punch, the ivory broke out. This is not an irreparable break, on the contrary this material is used because it is  brittler  than wood, and then breaks more easily, but it is  still an avoidable problem if the  bow maker is a good one. 
A small historical point: some of you have surely seen bows  with metal shoes, instead of ivory. Many musicians are convinced that it was  used to balance or increase the sound power of the bow. Nothing can be wronger, on the contrary the metal is a damper . The metal shoes was used for the first time by the English, not for sound, but for  practical reasons. In England there were not so many bowmakers , therefore it  was customary among musicians to change  hair by themselves. It's not so easy to do plugs  and shoes in ivory as it  breaks  easily  while with steel ones it was nearly impossible. This is the real reason for the metal shoe.

Break of the  back side of the mortise

Let's  remain on the head, but we go on speaking about more painful breakings. The photo above shows a bow  with a more  severe break of the previous one  but provoked by  the same cause;  the plug  was too big  and forcibly inserted into the mortise, which of course yielded. Although this break is repairable  if you deal with  a craftsman Maestro as Navea Vera , it is nevertheless  very difficult to carry out, it is expensive  and debilitating for the bow.

Frog and head  supports

You will not  believe, and I hardly do as well,  but there are  some  craftsmen that,  like you , do  not know what these nice gadgets in  the photo could be .They are the supports for the  head and frog and  these  two tools  are absolutely required  for a rehairing. 

 
 Closure of the head mortise

As you can see the head is placed in the V, thus can not move and especially can not break, because the force used by the craftsman is counter-balanced by the support. You will not believe it but we saw everything happening  when this simple tool is not used, even cheeks crushed by a wicked one  that had held  the head in a vice.

Frog with a damaged blade

If you watch  your bow at the heel, you'll notice that to keep the hair  combed,  there  is a small piece of wood on the back, to be clearer between hair and ebony. This piece of wood called wedge for its pointed shape  is fixed with a drop of vinylic glue. When you remove it, you need to to do it   with  great care, because otherwise some pieces of ebony may can fall off,   as you can see in the  photo. The rebuilding is not  at all easy, provided it could be  possible.

Closure of the  frog mortise

We go  now  to the support of the frog. It is used to insert the plug that closes the mortise, and the reason is the same one as  for the head:  to successfully download the weight that  the bowmaker uses  without damaging the bow. If you remove the frog of your bow, you  will see not only that the support of the frog is octagonal, but  also  halfway there is a brass screw. This support is essential because it is a kind of false stick and even forcing very much, it will not alter the shape of the  frog.

 
Closure of the mortise of the criminal frog

You will say: "Paul, we are not stupid,  we know well that you it is not possible to lean directly on a  flat surface.  It is octagonal and furthermore there is a  screw under it !"
You will not believe it, but a few months ago a  customer  came in a hopeless mood  because  the frog of his bow was broken while carrying out the rehairing. He was far  away, and went to a self-proclaimed maker that  put his  hands on the bow  not having the slightest idea of what he was doing, and this nice gentleman claimed to download the strength necessary to close the mortise of the frog as shown  in the picture, i.e. without support. As a result,  he metal slide altered its shape , and  its widening caused  the breaking of ebony.  
 These are just some of the damages  caused  by a reharing , but if you agree  I would open a small column with the disasters caused by incompetent people. We may call it  "  The little   Shop of Horrors by the  amateurish ones"
Apart jokes , changing  hair is important and must be made by a craftsman who knows how to do  his job well. I can not name anyone, it is such a  delicate work  that no craftsman  can advise you  where to go, but when you find the right one  keep him  tightly !

See you soon

Paolo