The combination of violin, its strings and the bow is an endlessly complex equation on which some musicians and luthiers elaborate all their life. Such kind of "three-body-problem" can't be solved in astrophysics as well. Our advantage is that we can stop one or even two of our "stars" to find a perfect solution.
To begin with, we need to have our violin in proper condition, no open seams or any weird "solutions" attached. Next we need to understand our instrument properly, particularly two aspects: its timbre and its elasticity. The elasticity of the instrument is the key to its sound production as it is the flexing, moving top and back that set the surrounding air in vibration. On the one end of the spectrum we find violins that are rather flexible (soft, light) and on the other end stiff ones (heavy, strong). This is mainly the result from the selection of the wood, wall thicknesses, arching and the size of the bass bar.
More flexible instruments need more flexible (soft) strings to vibrate freely. Those could be Thomastik Dominant or Vision Titanium Orchestra, Pirastro Perpetual Cadenza or Violino or Corelli Solea. Rather stiff/strong instruments work best with stiff/strong strings like Larsen Il Cannone Soloist, Virtuoso Strong or Tzigane Strong. For violins of medium build there is a plethora of medium tension strings.
For each of these types of violins we have developed specific bow models. For the more flexible instruments with their more flexible strings it's our relativ flexible M- and A-series violin bows. For the stiffer, heavier instruments it's the P-series, and for the medium violins can can find the perfect bow among our T- and S-series models.
The second step it to find the best sound. Here we have two main aspects, the tone (bright - dark) and the character (broad - focussed). Regrading the tone we normally try to find the right balance so that the violin will sound round and warm but also brilliant and lively over the entire register.
For a warm or dark sounding violin bright sounding bows like the S- or A-series will be the best match, for brilliant sounding violins the warmer, darker sounding T- P- and M-bows are a good match. This should give you the option to fine-tune the sound color with various strings.
We can now look at the sound character of the violin. Is it rich, broad, complex, maybe even unclear or diffuse, we can balance that by selecting focussed strings and bows. On the other hand, very clean and focussed violins will find their best balance with strings and bows that sound rich, broad, complex.
Our 7- to 9-class high end bows deliver a sound that is more focussed and cleaner than any wooden bow, which means that focussed sounding strings like Pirastro Evah Pirazzi or Thomastik Peter Infeld almost always sound too narrow and simple and allow too little modulation. We have had much better results with strings like Jargar Superior and Evoke, Thomastik Vision Titanium Solo, Rondo and Vision Solo, Larsen Il Cannone, Kaplan Vivo. Not overly focusses are strings like Pirastro Perpetual and Thomastik Dominant Pro which can make a good match with our mid range bows up the class 6.

~ T ~ Series
Since their introduction in 2019 the T-series bows are our worldwide best selling models. Their resilience resp. elasticity perfectly fits all "regular" violins and medium tension strings. They deliver a sound that is perfectly balanced - full, round, warm but also brilliant and colorful.
Their handling offers a unique combination of power, agility and stability allowing you to utilize your own full potential and that of your violin like never before.

~ S ~ Series
The S-series bows are without any doubt the fastest playing violin bows that ever "walked" our beautiful planet. Their low weight and particular mass distribution offer plenty stability and agility combined with incredible strength and rapid bounce. Their brilliant sound perfectly matches all darker sounding instruments, especially precious old instruments can develop a miraculously lively sound with them.
Brilliance, clarity and power - the S-series bows make every violin shine, particularly older instruments with a soft and warm sound. They are absolutely fantastic to play baroque and classic music on modern set-up violins. The S-series bows with round sticks offer "normal" playing characteristics while those with octagonal sticks are particularly agile and lively.
The S-bows are very popular for folk, jazz and rock. On electric violins the difference to wooden bows or "simple" carbon bows is absolutely amazing.
S

~ P ~ Series
The P-models ideally suited to get the best out of stronger build instruments and heavy gauge strings. They suit typical Guarneri model violins and many equally powerful modern instruments. With the round sticks the bows are absolutely stable and calm, with the octagonal sticks they handle more lively.
Due to their incredible strength they are perfectly suited to 5- and 6-stringed instruments, both acoustic and electric.

~ M ~ Series
With their somewhat more flexible sticks the M-series bows are a great match for more flexible, lighter build instruments and lighter strings. Their sound is balanced to warm, open und colorful with a beautiful range of overtones. Though they feel never hard, they can draw a very powerful sound surpassing even the strongest wooden bows. If you want a more brilliant, brighter sound you may also take a look at our A-series bows.
The warm sound and elasticity render the M-series bows also perfect for 7/8 violins with their reduced string tension and often somewhat brighter sound.
Special Models
We never cease working on research and development and every now and then we not only find ways to improve our regular line of bows, but find alternate solutions that are, if maybe not right for a majority of players and instruments, still worthwhile to follow up. Thus we have defined and produced some special series of bows in small numbers that can sometimes outshine all our standard models.
Earlier Series
We delivered the first ARCUS bows in 1999. Starting with these very first models, we show you here the series that have since been discontinued.