how many horse hairs are on a violin bow
Bow (music) A bow maker or archetier typically uses between 150 and 200 hairs [4] from the tail of a horse for a violin bow. Bows for other members of the violin family typically have a wider ribbon, using more hairs. There is a widely held belief among string players, neither proven nor disproven scientifically, that white hair produces a "smoother" sound and black hair (used mainly for double bass bows) is coarser and thus produces a "rougher" sound. Lower quality (inexpensive) bows often use nylon or synthetic hair. Rosin, or colophony, a hard, sticky substance made from resin (sometimes mixed with wax), is regularly applied to the bow hair to increase friction.
Bow (ship) The bow /ˈbaʊ/ is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow. The other end of the boat is the stern.