What kind of bow can i get that dont take as much rosin as the one I have now? I have a fiberglass $25 bow. Or is there no such thing?

You got lucky with your fiddle.  Take another stab at a pawn shop bow.  You may get lucky again.  Barring that, there is no easy answer to your question.  First thing you need to do is figure out whether or not you are putting the correct amount of rosin on the bow.  If you have a fiddle-playing friend anywhere near you, that would be the person to go to.  It is very easy to over-rosin a bow.  Almost all beginners will do it.  I still do it, now and then.

The only distinction that I have found in inexpensive bows is between those that have  real horsehair and the ones that have artificial horsehair, which comes on lots of cheap bows.  The artificial stuff sometimes resists taking on enough rosin, and in my experience, seems to play it off faster than real hair.  Best bet may be to go to a good dealer, and let him sell you a relatively inexpensive bow with real horsehair on it.  Then ask him to load it up properly with rosin.  Once your bow is properly rosined, it should take very little rosin to keep it in shape, actually.  Wipe off the excess rosin on the strings now and then, too.  It will take time for you to get the feel for just how much rosin you want on your strings.  It will also take time for your ear to be able to hear the differences.  Time and effort.  Keep at it.

Since your bow is new, what might be going on, is that it really hasn't ever had enough rosin on it yet.  You'll get this after you have one rehaired too.  It takes a lot more rosin than you might think to get it to the point where it works well.  Then the amount needed to maintain that level will back off.  I would say try working a whole bunch of rosin into the bow, it should settle down.  Also the rosin may be a culprit here too.  Some cheap rosins, don't ever seem to really grab very well.  I think it's safe to say that most of the players here, though certainly not all, use Hill Dark.  It grabs really nice.

I remember early on when I started, I had a bow rehaired and it wouldn't even make a sound.  I made a fool of myself(never all that hard to do ) and took it back to the shop and complained that it didn't even work.  They of course explained about loading it with rosin, who knew????    Anyway try putting lots on, and see how it goes.

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Originally posted by OldNSlow

The only distinction that I have found in inexpensive bows is between those that have  real horsehair and the ones that have artificial horsehair, which comes on lots of cheap bows.  The artificial stuff sometimes resists taking on enough rosin, and in my experience, seems to play it off faster than real hair. 

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I may have led a sheltered life, but the only bows I've seen with artificial hair are old Glasser fiberglass bows and incredibows. Are there brands that I don't know about?

Horsehair won't rosin up well if it's dirty or contaminated. 

I'd recommend a Holtz fiberglass or carbon fiber bow to begin with, or a Shar Fusion or Presto bow. They work fine, and won't get in your way until you're pretty good - if even then.

Iam thinking of taking a stab at this one. cant afford much more then $150 but what i have read on this site it seems to be a ok bow.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIOLIN-BOW-CODA-CARBON-FIBER-PRODIGY-EXCELLENT-CONDITION-4-4-/290738790758?pt=String_Instrument_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43b161e166#ht_500wt_900

Well I won the Codabow prodigy on the ebay auction for $180. I hope its a good bow. and I didnt pay to much for it.

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Originally posted by woodwiz

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Originally posted by OldNSlow

The only distinction that I have found in inexpensive bows is between those that have  real horsehair and the ones that have artificial horsehair, which comes on lots of cheap bows.  The artificial stuff sometimes resists taking on enough rosin, and in my experience, seems to play it off faster than real hair. 

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I may have led a sheltered life, but the only bows I've seen with artificial hair are old Glasser fiberglass bows and incredibows. Are there brands that I don't know about?

Horsehair won't rosin up well if it's dirty or contaminated. 

I'd recommend a Holtz fiberglass or carbon fiber bow to begin with, or a Shar Fusion or Presto bow. They work fine, and won't get in your way until you're pretty good - if even then.

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Well, Woodwiz, I managed to accumulate two of the little no-name buggers, buying from a local "music" store.  No more for me, thank you.  I tried the burn test on a hair from each of them compared to a bow that I know had horsehair on it.  That bow had died an unnatural death, so no horsehairs were injured in my experiment.  I have managed to get used to the bows.  I use one, but it takes a little extra attention to get a good sound out of it.  The other decorates a corner behind a piece of furniture. 

Pogo actually helped me work out the problems I was having getting my second artificial hair bow to take rosin properly.  When the wind is right, it even sounds pretty good.  Just don't want to go through the work of finding a proper bow at this time, LOL.  I will take your suggestions to heart when I start looking.  Your recommendations are always well-founded.  First, I plan to annoy a couple of the local stores until I get a good feeling for what works best for me.

Jimmy,

I see you have already jumped to a Codabow, and that is a good choice from what I hear (I can't really afford one).

Part of what you may have been experiencing is just that priming a brand new bow is something that REALLY should not be left to beginners. I mean, it makes no sense- people have sold an instrument that will often be used by a beginner on a very difficult instrument, and the hair on the bow is slicker than black ice... not a speck of rosin on it. That's just CRUEL! The newb is NOT going to know how to deal with that, and the rosin that came in the case is the LEAST likely rosin to use to deal with it.

If a bow makes no sound at all when first tried, it's never been primed. Trying to prime a bow with normal rosin can be a long frustrating process- if you have to do it, I'd use an emery board to rough up the rosin cake and produce dust that can be applied directly to the hair with the emery board.

I find Kaplan Premium Light to be a very grabby rosin, and very good for priming bows. It's only moderately expensive. It doesn't dust off like a lot of other rosins- it clings to the hairs very well. And Kaplan seems to blend well with cheap student rosins.... if the Kaplan itself is too grabby (it really is too grabby for a beginner) , you can use an average student rosin like D'Addario, Supersensitive, or Becker for a more normal amount of grab. I myself use one stroke of Kaplan Premium Light with a stroke or two of Becker Dark as my normal rosining strategy, and I find the combo gives me better, smoother tone than any single rosin I've used so far.

So, I would prime the other bow that way, and use it for a backup. The threaded brass eyelets inside the frog can fail, and greasy hands can show up to handle the hair on your bow when you least expect them!!! You NEED a backup.

I have used those artificial horsehair bows and they don't hold rosin well nor pull a good tone from the strings, in my opinion. You got a $1500 fiddle for a song and now your are going to need a better bow. The Codabow could be real nice but I am also partial to pernambuco bows as well.