The Force Is Strong With This One
The styling of Luke is just a lot of fun. Whether your into Star Wars or just like turning heads, you are likely going to be the only one in your section with a Jedi bow. This bow is a lot of fun for the price point. I highly recommend it for teachers working with young students or parents trying to motivate a young Jedi Cellist. It is an affordable, durable, and serviceable bow and it does come in 1/2 and 3/4 sizes for those growing cellists! The Piano Guys have a fantastic re-hair program so don’t worry too much about wearing out the green hair. With Ziggy and Luke, I think the bows would still look very cool with regular white hair, but the green hair really is the defining feature of Luke.
When you are considering upgrading your bow do your homework on the construction, materials, and comparable products in that price range, but what is most important is how the bow feels and responds when you play. Where these bows are hard to find in stores, I’m going to do my best to help! Thankfully, The Piano Guys website says that they offer a money back guarantee so if you purchase the bow and do not like its performance you aren’t stuck with it!
I spent several days playing each bow. I had a long conversation with Steven Sharp Nelson on what went into bringing these bows to market. I highly suggest you checkout the back to back review where I play all 4 bows back to back and compare them to my two wood bows. Also check out the review videos for Carmen, Ziggy and Bruce Lee before you go all in on any of these bows. Each bow has different strengths and excels in different playing styles and playing situations.
Luke is a serviceable and affordable bow with unique styling. It won’t give you top quality response or tone color but at this price point you have to keep expectations low. For just a little bit more than what you pay for the cheap bow that the music store “throws in” with the purchase of your student cello, you could be playing something that makes you smile both when you pull it out of the case and when you pull it across the string. The construction of the stick is identical to the Bruce Lee but the less coarse green hair and a little bit lighter build make the Luke easier to maneuver. Of the two entry-level bows, I far prefer the Luke. It’s sturdy, predictable, and doesn’t have any particular playing tendencies that require the student to correct for their equipment. Many entry-level composite bows are not this well balanced and are tip heavy. With a little effort I can balance the Luke and even play ricochet and spiccato bowings. It feels like a blunt tool compared to the Carmen or a fine wood bow, but again, I think any bow in this price range would. I think the true strength of the Luke is not its playing but its ability to get players excited about cello. In talking to Steve, that was one of his driving motivations behind this line of bows to begin with. If there is one thing that The Piano Guys do better than anyone, it is make cello FUN!
Pro Tip
Try to find equipment that offsets your weaknesses. If you are a naturally coarse, aggressive player look for equipment to mellow your sound. If you are always being coaxed to play out more, seek out equipment that really amplifies your sound.
Luke stats:
- Weight 78 grams (on my unofficial scale)
- Lightweight and robust carbon fiber/advanced composite blend
- Silver plated winding
- Glimmer chrome stick
- Custom green slide and colorized pearl signature
- Custom half-lined ebony frog
- Monogrammed ferrule
- Lizard grip
- Colorized natural aduu horsehair (green)