Black Widow Noise

[Gil Verwey]

8.5" to 9" brace height with bow hush and cat whiskers. That always quieted my Widows. I now also put 6 strand 450+ padded loop strings on all my bows.

Gil

[AWPForester]

I read where someone above said use a D97.  In my expierence that would be the last thing I would do.  No such thing as a quiet D97 string.

However, just call pierre at sbd and be done with it.  God Bless

[arrowlauncherdj]

AWP, I have had the opposite experience.  And never knew a B50 that didnt sound like a banjo string.

[michigan bill]

i tell ya, Ross, why don't i just give ya a couple of "c notes" and take that bad boy off your hands.  it's the least i can do to help out a fellow Tradganger.  since i'm half deaf the bow will sound real quiet to me.
Bill

[LBR]

No such thing as a quiet D97 string.

I've made and used thousands of them, and had plenty of people comment on how quiet they can be--on my bow and others.  A little tuning goes a long way.

[Real Buckmaster]

I love the bows and would like to keep them but that thwak I just cant get over. I have had new PCH
and Ma 2

[manitou1]

My MA II is the quietest bow I own.  Rubber string silencers at 1/4 string points and felt under the string grooves.  Whisper quiet.

I spent yesterday afternoon at the Black Widow shop and shot many, many of their bows.  Strangely, even bows of the same model and poundage all had different sounds.  Some were very quiet and some were making a loud "POP" for lack of a better term.  I would have bought a beautiful little PTF if it were not for the noise.   It was the sweetest shooting bow I have ever shot.  Felt like it was drawing ten pounds lighter than it was.  I did, however, end up purchasing a Bacote (dark) PCH... another bow I fell in love with.  It also felt like it drew much lighter than it's actual weight.  Weird thing is, you could shoot the bow next to it at the same draw weight and it would feel MUCH heavier! Don't know what causes that.
I bought that PCH because it drew so SMOOTH and was VERY quiet!
That's two custom bows in two weeks... Momma is going to flip if (when) she discovers bow #2!!! Hee!
I have to thank Toby for all his patience yesterday though.  He worked hard for me and got arrows bare shafted and set up for the new bow too.
Great folks, great company.

[Ken Babicky]

In my experience the best thing I ever did was put an SBD bowstring on my PL3. Turned it into a completely different bow. I have SBDs on just about all of my bows and I have several. The next string that goes on my PSA will be an SBD.  My son just put an 8 strand SBD on his 64" Bill Stewart recurve and all you hear now is a whisper. Amazing strings.

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by The Vanilla Gorilla:
Keep in mind, quiet is subjective...

I've been to trad gatherings hearing guys brag on how quiet their Widow is.  When I hear their bow go off, I wonder about how many years they had to have worked in a foundery with no ear protection.

I've never heard a quiet Black Widow.  Ever. And I've been around a ton.  But...they just weren't quiet by MY standards.  The guy shooting them thought they were quiet as a mouse fart.  

Everyone thinks their own Widow is the quietest and everyone thinks their own kid is the cutest.

Posting can be subjective as well..... I sense a little hostility in this one, and not sure why.

I mostly shoot longbows, and on occasion shoot a recurve, and I don't own a loud bow...but I know what one sounds like.  So, my widow is not loud or I wouldn't own it.

Sounds like the author of this thread now has a quiet widow too.  Good to hear.

[STEVE R.]

Are your nocks too tight on the string.This may cause a loud noise.I have three widows and all are pretty quiet.I have people tell me this, that is how I judge my bows.If you pluck your string it is loud on a widow. The sliencers need to be in the right position on the string. I use the stock string.Also the stock sliencers or the wool puffs.Very few bows are as smooth to draw back to 30" as a widow recurve.I have shot a few different brands.I guess this is the main reason i chose to shoot a widow,if I drew only 28" or less I shoot a less expensive bow. Most bows are smooth to 27 or 28".Anyway sorry about the rambling.Good luck.

[foudarme]

try a 12/18 astroflight string with 25gr quiviut silencers (no more weight on them)...you should get a huge difference...the astroflight is significantly quieter than the D97 and the more you wax it, the more it is...