Jon Paul Vibrant Review

I've had a Jon Paul "Vibrant" violin bow for over a year now, and I have to say I like it...mostly. This bow is made of a unique red carbon fiber composite with aluminum strands woven through. Under stage lighting, the aluminum sparkles. The blend of these materials results in a very strong durable stick that can take quite the beating and is impervious to weather conditions. The Vibrant is not for everybody in every situation, but I find it to be a good addition to my arsenal of bows.

Craftsmanship wise, the Vibrant matches what one would expect from a bow in its price range. The fit and finish is mostly good, and the stick is very well shaped. I found no craftsmanship issues that negatively affect the playing of this bow. It is worth noting that the entire stick is formed in one piece, so there are no invisible joints to crack, as there are on some bows of this price range. The frog (which is just a mass-produced one) was mated well to the stick, and the nut turns easily and smoothly. The grip and winding are of fine quality for a bow in this price range.

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One disappointment I have about the quality of the Vibrant is that it uses a plastic tip plate. CodaBow uses a metal tip plate on their budget-friendly Prodigy model. I feel like a metal tip plate would take the Vibrant from merely durable to practically bullet proof. If it was ever dropped, the metal would hold up much better than the plastic.

I usually look for the frog mortise to be squared out, but I don't blame Jon Paul for not messing with this one. The carbon/aluminum material would be hard on tools and take a lot of time to carve out. I'll accept that the ends are rounded. Otherwise, the tightening action is slick and smooth. While not readily apparent in the picture, it appears to have taken some grinding to shape the stick exactly to the frog. It looks dull on the bottom, but none of that is visible with the frog on.

As with most Jon Paul bows, the tip is put together with a nice wooden plug--a nice thing for a technician to see!

A nicely shaped head

The most striking attribute of this bow is its power. It lacks nothing in this department. While the tone is kind of one-dimensional, boy can it get loud. I use this bow primarily for outdoor gigs, where I need the sound to be heard in open air over noise on a cheap violin. I find the feel of the Vibrant to be a bit stiff and harsh. If it encounters a bump over a string, you'll definitely feel it.

This bow has a particularly nice abalone underslide

Since the Vibrant is so strong, navigating three and four note chords without crushing the violin takes a deft hand. It also feels very heavy, so after playing the Bach Chaconne, my arm is tired. An attempt to draw out beautiful long tones reveals the Vibrant's tendency toward squawkiness. This may not be the case on every instrument, but this bow is much better at powering sound out rather than letting the instrument ring. In playing fast, arpeggiated chords, I felt that the Vibrant did not like to bounce. I can get ricochet strokes out of it, but its weight and strength hold it back in the bounce department.

With such a strong stick, I could almost fend off an angry animal with the Vibrant, then turn around to use it at a gig! If you need power and durability in a bow that's not a huge liability, then the Jon Paul Vibrant is the ticket.






Here's the bottom line:

Thumbs up for the power, durability, quality of the stick, and price.
Thumbs down for the one-dimensional tone, tendency toward squawkiness, and lack of metal tip plate.