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| CodaBow Joule Viola Bow |
The CodaBow Joule Viola bow is an amazing bow for the price. The suggested list price is $735.00. The bow has a sleek carbon fiber design with a Kevlar acoustic core and a graphite diamond weave. The frog is the “turbo” design manufactured specifically for CodaBow by the Walter Paulus Gmbh of Germany. It is made of Xebony, which is engineered ebony. The frog is nickel mounted with a sterling silver coda sign inlaid on each side. This bow is very attractive visually. The bow also boasts a 10 year warranty.
The Joule gets its name from the Joule unit for measuring energy. The bow adheres well to the string in when playing detaché strokes. It pulls an even sound from frog to tip and back from tip to frog. The Joule is easily controlled in martelé strokes and has a fast and even spiccato. The ricochet and sautillé strokes are easy to control.
The Joule is marketed as a bow designed for extended range instruments but plays great on a standard four string instrument. This bow weighs 70.2 grams and the balance point is 9 3/4 inches. The bow is very stable on the string in legato passages and is extremely responsive. The Joule with the turbo frog makes long slow bows feel like they can be sustained for a longer period of time than a bow with a traditional frog. The sound produced by a carbon fiber bow tends to have more clarity than a wood bow although some warmth of sound is lost. Because this bow is so responsive hair tension and hair length greatly effect the way the bow plays. Upon finding the appropriate hair tension the bow reacts to every nuance. This bow rivals a fine pernambuco bow. It is an excellent choice for viola because it allows good grip on the C string and a fluid and silky sound on the A string. This bow drives like a finely tuned Lamborghini but is priced like a Toyota. The Joule viola bow makes a wonderful bow for an advancing student or an excellent addition to a professional violist's arsenal of bows.
Sheila Graves
Violist, Violin Dealer, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Simply Violin, House of Note
