I have acquired an old fiddle, in need of restoration. Also the bow is "bowed" ie. shaped like it's ready to fire an arrow. I assume I need to replace this but saw someone playing fiddle recently with one in a similar condition. The sound he made was not pleasant to my ears and I thought it might in part be due to the state of his bow, but what do I know - next to nowt when it comes to this instrument.

How important is the quality/shape of the bow - how much should I expect to spend on a decent one?