Generally speaking here at P H bows we only stock the higher end French bows for our customers, this has been so for now approaching forty years! However, there is one exception, and that is with the young gentleman below, why so I hear you ask. Well, it is straightforward, several years ago I took in a Tubbs bow in part exchange for a bow, on a whim I decided to use it in a practice session. What occurred truly amazed and shocked me, if I allowed the bow to tell me how to play it played beautifully. It opened up new ways of playing and also suggested specific, unthought of phrasing, truly a new experience. At that moment I was nearly converted to being a Tubbs player! However such is the interest in this maker that I generally don’t have a Tubbs for long, they go out almost as soon as they arrive! I love his spirit and the determination to make on his own terms despite several high up people in the trade suggesting he should emulate the latest trends from Paris.
This bring me to another area he was involved in, making fine bows that do indeed look like bows from an earlier French period in making.
Occasionally when on the continent looking for stock I am offered bow sticks of undoubted quality, also from very fine pernambuco, not Tubb’s normal rather unique type. Mostly the dealer imagines they are by a maker like Maire or Pajeot, but they are not quite the same, these bows are clearly (once you know what to look for) by James Tubbs, an interesting departure for him from his usual bow!
As a life long admirer of French bows there is a small part of me that truly loves this great maker, we should be proud of his achievements and the owner of a fine Tubbs is a lucky person indeed!
