My name is Adam R. Sweet.  My wife, Emily, and I run the import/export side of the business.  My expertise is in music, marketing and doing business with the western world. Emily's is in accounting, shipping and doing business with the eastern world.

In 2002, I started a company called Pioneer Valley Luthier Supply Co.  My 'silent' partner was Erich Husemoller, formerly of Wagman Primus. From him, I met Michael T. Sowden, of Sowden & Sons, where I learned everything I know about preparing horse hair for the western world. I also met and spent some time with the owner of Glasser Bows, Andrew Glasser. I met his father, one of the founders of Glasser, before his death in the early '00s, and got to know how Glasser does business.

In 2004, I traveled to China, discovering more truth about horse hair than I thought possible. 

I spent several months following the hair back to the source. I started in Anping, the city of hair; took a train with empty pallets and bales to the slaughterhouses in Harbin and Liaoning Province. From there, I went to inner Mongolia and the far Northeastern parts of China where the animals that produce bow hair mainly live. There I spent some time with the farmers on the land, learning about the animals, their life-cycle and the way of the culture relating to the animals. A fascinating trip where I came away with a fresh perspective on the world of horse hair.

During my travels, I found several people I trusted to supply me with the highest quality horse hair, and some other people I trusted to prepare it the way I knew my western world clients wanted. I followed Michael T. Sowden's guidelines of color, drift, texture, shape and elasticity. I thought about Andrew Glasser's desire for strong white hair at an affordable price. And I thought about the other challenges facing the western music industry.

The end result is a very decent line of hair, prepared for the western world. Here you will find:

• Premium Select - double drawn, triple sorted, unbleached natural white hair with little to no color drift. Suitable for the highest quality bows, the most demanding and professional players.
• Professional Select - double drawn, double sorted, unbleached natural white hair. A slight color drift may be present, but otherwise very strong, supple, easy to work with and produces a professional tone, while looking fantastic. (Color drift doesn't affect performance. Some people would call this Mare's hair, but you will have to go to Asia and watch the animal's behavior, then follow the tails through the slaughter houses, auction yards, train stations, warehouses, processing areas, cleaning rooms and sorting areas like I have to tell that there is absolutely NO WAY to tell the difference between Mare's hair and Stallion's hair!).
• Manchurian LIVE -- a new product not yet on the market.
• Salt & Pepper (also referred to as "silver grey")
• Double Black (double-drawn, very well sorted black hair for bass bows)

Here is some information relating to my bow hair background and experience:

Training/Education:

New England Conservatory of Music 1980
Certification - Performance, Violin

Hampshire College 1985
BA Ethnomusicology
Certification - Performance, Violin

Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music 1995-1999
Webmaster, Development Consultant

Stamell Stringed Instruments 1999-2000
Sales Manager

Michael T. Sowden 2000-2002
Selection, sorting, evaluating bow hair

Erich Husemoller 1999-2004
Sourcing, selection, sorting, evaluating, buying, selling bow hair

University of New Hampshire 1999
Lecture Series - Bow Hair: The History, Culture, Development & Future of the Industry

Customers/Clients/Associates:

Glasser Bows
Bowworks/Steven Beckley
Michael T. Sowden & Sons
Potter's Violins
Reuning Violins
Johnson Violins
Stamell String
Lynn A Hannings
Potter's Violins
Eastman Strings
International Violin Co.
The Violin Shop at Nashville