The Jade rosin that came with the fiddle that I bought 7 months ago is hard as a rock. I can't scratch it with my fingernail. I sand the surface with some fine grit sandpaper and that provides enough rosin for a few passes on a couple bows for awhile but then the surface is polished and I have to scratch it up again.
Is this normal or not? The rosin seems to work pretty well. It doesn't work quite as well on my really cheap C.F. bow (my $30.00 experiment) but works fine on my Fiddlerman C.F. bow. It doesn't produce much dust on the fiddle. Should I "stick" with it or try another make?
I've read a lot on the Hangout about rosins and vowed to not fall into the trap of becoming a rosin collector as I chase the "perfect" rosin. At this late date, I'd rather play my fiddle than spend time obsessing about rosin.
I view rosin like I would fertilizer--a commodity--are all the same, except
You don't want a soft gooey rosin for violin--it will gum up the hair. Celloists want that stuff, in order to grip those big gage strings. If you're in Wyoming, I would expect rosin to be hard most of the year anyway if you keep the house at 65 degrees like we do.
I'm not an expert, but I would not get caught up in special marked-up, cutesy rosins. Hidersine 1V, or shoot, if you have enough pine trees around you, make your own.
I like the Exp in your icon--looks durn fast!--got 6500hrs mil, very little civ, and been retired on the ground 15 yrs. I let my civ credentials run out. Expensive hobby. A different thread...
I have a cake of Jade that is the same way. I went back to Hill.
quote:
Originally posted by Flat_the_3rd_n7thI like the Exp in your icon--looks durn fast!--got 6500hrs mil, very little civ, and been retired on the ground 15 yrs. I let my civ credentials run out. Expensive hobby. A different thread...
It's a RV6 that I finished in 1995 after 5 years of building and overhauling the 150 hp Lycoming that put in it. Two place, side by side, stick, 180 mph TAS. I put 475 hours on it and sold it in 1999.
My wife prefers my banjo/fiddle hobby to my airplane building and flying hobby of 25 years
I keep an emery board around to scratch up my rosin. When I get a bow re-haired I ask that they put no rosin on it. When it gets "home" I scratch up my rosin cake with an emery board to get a good coating on the "bare" horsehair. I prefer Motrya but one of my teachers preferred Jade. To each their own. R/
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Originally posted by snakefingerI have a cake of Jade that is the same way. I went back to Hill.
Dark?
The surface of any rosin I've ever used looked polished. I rosin lightly in any case. I've never had the feeling that I'd not gotten rosin from the cake or that I needed to load on more rosin to git 'er done, regardless of brand, which does not include Jade in my (re)collection. You're not getting any rosin off the cake unless it's been ground up somehow first? Weird.
Nothing wrong with jade, or olive. Yes, an emery board or garnet paper's a good scatcher. Don't drop it
I really like Jade rosin. It seems to smooth out my bowing and doesn't leave a lot of dust on the fiddle. It also seems to stay on the bow a long time. I just bought a cake of Yumba rosin and am starting to try that out. I scour the top of the rosin with a pocket knife tip every so often.
I don't think you can scratch any rosin with you fingernail, although I've never tried. If you don't like the Jade, why not just try something else? Hill (light and dark), Oliv, and Hidersine have all worked well for me. Just the bowhair is enough to dull the surface, the way I rosin.
Edited by - DougD on 03/30/2020 13:20:33
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Originally posted by SchreechI really like Jade rosin. It seems to smooth out my bowing and doesn't leave a lot of dust on the fiddle. It also seems to stay on the bow a long time. I just bought a cake of Yumba rosin and am starting to try that out. I scour the top of the rosin with a pocket knife tip every so often.
The Jade does seem to work well on my Fiddlerman C.F. bow. On $30.00 bow, not as well. I have a 72 gram wood bow that came with my Kennedy fiddle that I don't use anymore but I think the Jade on that one was too "grabby". Maybe I'll try the amber that came with the kit on the wood bow and see if it's less grabby though I really don't like playing with it due to it's weight.
I get very little dust on my fiddle and not much on the strings (which I wipe off at the end of the day).
I once bought the high price Andrea rosin and never really cared for it. It seamed to really coat the fiddle strings .
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Originally posted by DougDI don't think you can scratch any rosin with you fingernail, although I've never tried. If you don't like the Jade, why not just try something else? Hill (light and dark), Oliv, and Hidersine have all worked well for me. Just the bowhair is enough to dull the surface, the way I rosin.
I really don't dislike Jade. But, I do like to tinker (a tendency that I fight and fight ). I've thought about buying some Hill Dark or perhaps Kaplan Premium just for kicks (but I don't want to "fall down the rabbit hole").
The amber rosin that came with the kit feels soft to the touch and does dull the surface with few strokes of the hair which is kind of how I figured rosin was supposed to behave. But, on my two C.F. bows that rosin didn't work well. No staying power.
Jade works fine for me, the main reason I like it is the plastic case, so I don;t drop and shatter it.
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Originally posted by WyoBobquote:
Originally posted by snakefingerI have a cake of Jade that is the same way. I went back to Hill.
Dark?
Yes. I'll experiment with others, but Hill darks is generally what works best for me.
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Originally posted by SchreechI once bought the high price Andrea rosin and never really cared for it. It seamed to really coat the fiddle strings .
You’re probably using too much then. I greatly prefer Andrea over Jade (which I bought to put my string order up to free shipping). Two, three swipes max is all that is needed with Andrea.
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Originally posted by ChickenManquote:
Originally posted by SchreechI once bought the high price Andrea rosin and never really cared for it. It seamed to really coat the fiddle strings .
You’re probably using too much then. I greatly prefer Andrea over Jade (which I bought to put my string order up to free shipping). Two, three swipes max is all that is needed with Andrea.
You might be right. I've since cut back on my rosin use. You can get by with a lot less then you think. Especially with a good quality rosin.
I've really reduce my application of rosin. When there's no rosin residue on the strings and the bow seems to glide with no sound, I do three passes with the Jade. This is after I scratch up some new rosin that wants to leave the cake and attach to the strings.
Seems to work OK.
I ordered some "Super Sensitive" dark, mini rosin ($4.69 delivered) just for the heck of it, because, I'm just a super sensitive guy.
Don't use much rosin lately been using don't know what but I always take my pocketknife to it making a crisscross design on top when new. And don't think about it again. Never used an entire cake in nearly 50 years. Usually they break or someone gives me something they think is better.
There’s no need to score the surface of the rosin to get it going. The friction of the bow across the surface creates heat, which softens the rosin so that it will stick to the hair. The hair itself is coarse enough that it cuts into the surface of the rosin, which is why rosin dust accumulates on the sides of the cake. Scoring the top only wastes rosin and leaves a lot of jagged edges to catch hair and break it.
If you’re concerned that there is oil or some other contaminant on the surface of a new cake, a quick and gentle wipe with alcohol will remove it.
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