Changes to www.FiddleandBowStore.com (Part 2): Observations and Insights

Part 1 of this series of postings summarized the 'top-line' things we learned from selling stuff at fiddlers' conventions. The part, appropriately named 'Part 2', focuses on our experience over the past several months with www.FiddleandBowStore.com. I'll start by addressing the matter of why I always refer to it as www.FiddleandBowStore.com. I think that some have guessed...you are correct; there is already a business called the Fiddle and Bow Store, which is not us. Don't know why they didn't get the domain name.

We carry a lot of different things, including:

• 26 different bow models
• 6 case models (actually 9, but we don't advertise the low end cases)
• 5 or 6 types of chinrest, in various materials (e.g. ebony, boxwood, polycarbonate, etc.)
• Over 25 violin/fiddle models, including some really interesting, unique pieces, including baritone/octave violins, as well as one of the largest selection of small fiddles, known as 'kits' or pochettes, to be found anywhere except a museum
• The German-made Shadow pickups, including the incredible NFX (also known as the NanoFlex)
• A pretty good selection of strings, rosin, tailpieces and tuning pegs
• Instrument stands
• Shoulder rests, including the high-end wooden kind, as well as higher-end carbon fiber type

What we carry and what people buy are two different matters. With the exception of the occassional piece of rosin or set of strings, we actually sell...

• Shadow NFX pickups
• Kun Collapsible Shoulder Rests
• Our lower-priced (but really good) Octave Violins
• Historic reproduction pochettes (based on a c. 1780 Scottish model)
• Bows (mostly Glasser octagonal braided carbon fiber bows and IncrediBows)
• Authentic Civil War era cigar box fiddles (but not as many as we would like to sell)

The next posting will try to make sense of the facts presented in this and the prior post, citing consumer interviews when appropriate.