Do you have a store front? Can I come visit and try the instruments?
No, we are 100% internet-certified! In some cases we can come to you! If you are located in Massachusetts, for example. Simply send us an email with your address and phone number, and we'll set up a time to visit your home or place of business if at all possible: adamrsweet@gmail.com.
Are you hiring?
Yes we are hiring! Currently, we do not have reps outside of New England, so if you or someone you know is interested in becoming a sales rep, please have them send us an email: adamrsweet@gmail.com
Where did you go to School? How do you know so much about bow hair and five string violins?
Adam received his BA in Ethnomusicology from Hampshire College and has certifications from the New England Conservatory of Music and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. A semi-professional violinist and violin teacher, his passions surrounded the instruments themselves. He spent 4 years working with a professional luthier learning the trade, and another six years importing and selling horse hair for bows.
Adam has spent extensive amounts of time researching the horse tail hair market in China, and with Emily, has toured the sources (farms, slaughterhouses) of the material and followed it throughout the process: to the processing shops in Anping, to the warehouses in Beijing, then overseas to distributors in North America and the UK where in some cases it is dressed again. With his wife Emily, he researched and uncovered a source of hair coming from animals who were still alive in Northeastern China near Harbin. They contracted with these farmers to give them exclusivity of this "Manchurian LIVE" hair, and are now the exclusive purveyors of this fantastic bow hair.
What is "Manchurian LIVE" bow hair?
Manchuria describes an area North East of Beijing, north of Korea, South East of Mongolia, and South of Siberia. In China, it describes several provinces including Liaoning, and several large cities including Harbin, Dalian and Shenyang.
Traditionally, horse tail hair is a byproduct of the slaughterhouse industry in countries or regions where the animals are still a major part of the agriculture.
Since 2004, Emily and Adam have been looking for a stable source of quality horse tail hair. In 2006, while touring Harbin and the surrounding area, they came upon the Chinese version of a farmers' cooperative. There, the farmers culled tail hair from their horses, and sold it or stored it for sale to craftspeople and businesses. We found this hair to be a very clean, very white, and very sturdy. Emily and Adam met with the leaders of this cooperative and signed a contract to receive exclusivity of the sale of this fantastic hair product only to us A new industry was born!
