I have no doubt Mr. Duff's Berg Bows are of good quality. I have tried a $7,000 bow of his, and although it might be too big of a price to pay for a composite bow, it seemed very good.
I am, on the other hand, greatly disappointed by Mr. Duff's lack of honesty and collaboration. Due to his deceiving tendencies, I am now forced to sue him in state court.
As I spoke with Mr. Duff over the phone a few months ago, he assured me that all he needed for me to be able to try a bow of his was a 30% refundable deposit. He specifically insisted on the deposit being refundable. A few weeks later, once he had received and cashed the 30% deposit I sent him, he asked for the remaining 70%, without which he refused to send the bow for me to try. This contradicted directly our agreement over the phone. Mr. Duff simply claimed that "it was (my) responsibility to read the policy on his website," which he avoided mentioning on the phone.
As I attempted to find some common ground, Mr. Duff proved to be uncommunicative and rather rude. He did not answer a single email I sent him from then on, and when I tried to reach him by phone, he hanged up the phone.
It is unfortunate that in our relatively small classical music world there are still instances of deception and lack of cooperation among musicians and instrument makers. As I said before, I am pretty certain Mr. Duff's bows can be of great value to some musicians.
However, I do warn any potential client of Michael Duff to be really careful, or even to look into other composite bow makers (there are several good ones out there.) I have, unfortunately, been witness of his occasional lack of honesty, and I do not wish anyone to live through the same.
Nikita
