Pernambuco (Paubrasilia echinata) is protected under CITES, and the rules are being tightened step by step. The wood for our bows comes from legally acquired stocks with complete documentation. Each bow now comes with a certificate confirming its legal, CITES-compliant origin.
We are happy to answer any questions about the certificate. Talk to us.
| Instrument | cello |
| Model | 82 |
| Stick | pernambuco |
| Size | 4/4 |
| Frog | Ebony |
| Species protection | CITES Appendix II |
| Item number | BO-C82-4_4 |
A 4/4 cello bow measures around 710 mm without the button (the screw head at the frog), weighs 80 to 84 g when finished and carries around 210 hairs. In a pernambuco bow, typically around 55 g of that is the wood of the stick alone. For the powerful cello strings the bow is solidly built, with a hair ribbon around 12 mm wide, around 61 cm of playing length, a head 28 mm high and a frog 24 mm high. Every Götz cello bow has a rounded frog.
Pernambuco (Paubrasilia echinata, Caesalpinia echinata in older literature) is the wood with which François Tourte established the form of the bow around 1790 that is still valid today. In this Brazilian wood Tourte found the combination a stick needs: light, strong and flexible.
Air-dried at 12 % moisture content, pernambuco has a density of 900 to 1,100 kg/m³ and a modulus of elasticity (a measure of stiffness) along the grain of 18,000 to 25,000 MPa; sound travels along its grain at around 4,000 to 5,300 m/s. A high speed of sound and low damping are what make its quality as bow wood, and bow makers select their wood by density, speed of sound and modulus of elasticity.
The stick is cut straight along the grain and then bent over heat towards the hair side. Hair tension and pressure meet most strongly at the head.
The Massaranduba models 62 with a round stick and 63 with an octagonal stick sit between 22 and 66 in this series. Up to model 73 the mounts and wire winding are nickel silver (an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc); from model 74 they are sterling silver 925. A lined slide means that the mother-of-pearl slide on the underside of the frog is framed in metal; the Parisian eye is a mother-of-pearl inlay in the frog, set in a brass ring. The frog is made of East Indian ebony (Diospyros ebenum); neither this ebony nor the mother-of-pearl on our bows appears on the species protection lists.
The stars on the stick show the quality grade of a pernambuco bow; besides the wood, details of the finish such as winding and button feed into this grading. Pernambuco bows are stamped on the frog and on the stick, Massaranduba bows on the frog only, and since 2025 every bow has also carried a laser-engraved serial number.
In our experience our cello bows usually weigh 80 to 82 g. The C70 and C71 cello bows are among the best-selling of all Götz bows.
The wood for our pernambuco bows is seasoned for 30 years and more before it becomes a bow. We watch a newly made, high-quality bow under tension after it is finished to see that it holds true. The best care for a pernambuco stick is to slacken it after playing: in our experience a stick breaks almost only where full tension, dry air and long periods of lying unused come together.
In our experience a model with a higher number brings a harder stick and more handwork.
Usually 80 to 82 g.
At a bow speed of 20 cm/s the stable range lies, depending on the distance from the bridge, between a few grams and around 100 g.
The rounded frog is the design used on every Götz cello bow.
Yes, Fernambuk is the spelling used in German bow making; the botanical name of the wood is Paubrasilia echinata.
Yes, travelling for performances and repairs without a change of ownership remains free of permits after the CITES conference CoP20 as well. A sale to countries outside the EU requires a permit.
The fittings are the same; model 73 additionally has a titanium screw with a copper nut. At 4,510 kg/m³ titanium weighs little more than half as much as steel at 7,800 to 8,000 kg/m³.
These texts hold decades of experience and a great deal of heart. They are protected by copyright, C.A. Götz jr. GmbH. Please ask us before any use. Thank you for your appreciation.