What players and viol(in)makers say :

Robert Brewer Young, France, USA, maker of world class violins and cellos, is close to my bowmaking from the beginning :
Coen works in the spirit of the great instrument and bow makers of the past. He responds to the native potential of the materials at hand, using a combination of musical instinct, classical aesthetics and a keen sense of what makes the best tool for a player.  As one of the rare individuals who is both a great  musician and a great craftsman, he brings a unique and much appreciated approach to bowmaking for period instruments. I am fortunate to have Coen as a friend.   www.robertbreweryoung.com

Pierre Thouvenot, France, made my two renaissance viols and suggested to use Acacia wood :
The articulation with these bows is quite extraordinary, although they are not heavy, so they do not squeeze the viol and they really leave out all harmonics. It is a pleasure to articulate the bass parts of the renaissance pieces and to be able to boost the ensemble music.
L’articulation avec ces archets est assez extraordinaire, bien qu’ils ne soient pas lourds, ce qui fait qu’ils n’écrasent pas du tout la viole et qu’ils laissent vraiment toutes les harmoniques sortir . C’est un vrai plaisir d’articuler les parties de basse des pièces de la renaissance et de pouvoir ainsi dynamiser la musique d’ensemble.

René Slotboom, Netherlands :
As viol maker I am specialized in making 16^th century viols and it was always difficult to find the right plain gut strings with the right tension and feeling for all six, but since  I discovered  the acacia bows from Coen Engelhard I can stop experimenting with the strings, these bows work very easy on every gut  string, thin or thick.
All horrible rasping renaissance errors are vanished, the bows play from themselves and combine lightness of playing with a very resonant sound on my instruments !
www.reneslotboom.nl

Franz Fink, Germany
Dear Coen, yesterday I came back from Concert-tour, we opend the Tube this night (23.30) with my daughters and my wife. We were playing until 3:00!!!! I think we found what we were looking for for a long time. The bows are awesome. So we would like to buy all of them.
Ich glaube, jetzt haben wir mit deinen Bögen das gefunden, wonach wir lange gesucht haben. Die Bögen sind genial. Also: wenn wir alle 4 Bögen kaufen dürfen, dann möchten wir das gerne tun.

Alejandro Marías, Spain : I use my Coen Engelhard’s Renaissance bow to play 16th and 17th century music on a pure-gut-stringed bass viol after Gasparo Da Salò. It’s a great partner for this instrument due to its articulation, fluidity, stability and comfort, matching perfectly with pure-gut sound in every register. www.laspagna.es
Je suis justement dans un avion pour faire un concert à Athènes avec ton archet ! J’ai de plus en plus de concerts dès que je l’ai acheté …

Julie Stalder, Switzerland : Coen’s bow is absolutely perfect to play the lirone, long but not heavy, and flexible. It makes a powerfull, resonnant sound, and facilitates the adaptation of the weight balance on the strings for chordal playing. It gives a lot of freedom in speed and dynamics, which is not always easy when one plays so many strings at the time ! Thanks a lot for your work Coen ! Julie’s Linkedin profile