Here is an excerpt from the Arcus Owners Manual with some info on how to adjust to your new bow...
The Arcus bows are a completely new design. They follow traditional
concepts where it makes sense, but primarily they are made to fulfil the demands
of today’s musicians: a wide repertoire of music from four centuries, gigantic
halls, large orchestras, modern strings and generally very high expectations
and demands. The following suggestions are intended to make your mastery of
the Arcus bow as effortless and swift as possible.
Play the Arcus bows exclusively for several days
Over many years of playing an instrument, all of the movements required to
handle a specific bow precisely become subconsciousness. Anything new takes
time to adjust to. In particular the much higher spring rate of the Arcus bows,
which requires a small new “program”. This is similar for example to making
the switch from the viola to the violin. In direct comparison with the usual
wooden or composite bows, Arcus bow are much quicker and more direct in
feel.
As long as an Arcus bow feels “too light”, the learning process is not complete.
During this period we strongly recommend that you don’t play with your
regular bow, not even for a short time. If you do, then your old “program” will
instantly take control again and the learning process will be fundamentally
corrupted. The trial and learning period should run for several days in a row, so
that the new information can be processed over night.
Once you have gained total control over the Arcus bows you can very easily
switch between different bows. Now is the time for a proper comparison of
sound and play, as you can already use a lot of the potential of the Arcus bows.
However most musicians still report their continued discoveries of new
possibilities in bowings and the modulation of sounds.
Bassists usually need more time, often up to two weeks, violists about one week, violinists
3-5 days.
Cellists quite often have full control after only 1-2 days.
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