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Showing results for tags 'Dominants'.
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So..., The other day a very fine player was in the shop and we were assessing a violin I had recently completed a overhaul on for him. I had strung it with Dominants, a string that even a decade ago I wasn't a huge fan of. However, I had about 5 lightly used sets in my miscellaneous string box (because I never end up using them) but thought every once in awhile a violin sounds pretty good with them and I wanted to just put something on there to get a sense of the direction to go in. He played the violin for a few minutes then asked me to change the Dominants and I suggested Rondos (a bulk purchase only set also by Tomastik). The difference was stunning, where before it had a dull and grating sound, the violin now had a vibrant, colorful, and singing quality. This has played itself out over and over again over the years with many players and instruments. My questions are as follows; 1) why are distributors and many makers, shops, and teachers still relying so heavily on Dominants? and 2) is the Dominant domination coming to end? On that last question, I'm sure it is already happening as synthetic string technology has clearly come a long way since Dominants first came onto the scene and there are so many choices. I'm merely curious how others feel in general about this undoubtedly iconic string set. Love them? Hate them? Good for certain instruments? Do you use them much less now that there is such a panoply of choices? Any other comments about their continued success? Okay, unleash the hornets! Go! P.S. If anyone needs a bunch of hardly used Dominants cheap, I know a guy .
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I have an old violin (about 100 years old) that I had restored at my local shop recently. When in the shop I had them put on a set of Dominants (seeing how they are basically a standard to start with.) but the G was very thin and the instrument overall too bright. So I swapped a set of plain gut strings onto the violin and it was much happier (gamut tricolor.) Now that my guts are wearing, I'm looking into what to put on next, but feel very lost. The violin is smaller than most moderns, very light and narrow. I assume low tension, dark strings are needed, which brands of synthetics would you recommend? Thank you!
