lauragigs Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 Hi all, I have a St. Patrick's gig Monday night. I ordered new strings (light tension Helicores) that should have come last week at the latest, but they have yet to arrive!!! The strings on my fiddle now are medium-tension helicores that are getting older and therefore sounding gritty and really screaming under my ears. (I'll be playing through a good preamp and can possibly dampen that though.) Also, I would like a lighter tension to make the cuts and other celtic ornaments easier to play. A knowlegable luthier/shop in my area (Boulder CO) has medium-tension Tomastik Dominants that he says are still much lighter-tension than the medium-tension Helicores. Problem is, I've never played this fiddle with that brand. (I used them on my viola all the time but it took a good week & 1/2 to break them in, intonation-wise.) So my choices seem to be: 1) Keep the old strings despite the grittiness and try to mellow them best I can with the preamp 2) Get Dominants for the newness and lesser tension, at the risk of them going out of tune periodically at the gig 3) Get a new set of medium Helocores (no shop has the light-tension in stock) and deal with the higher tension. 4) Get another brand of string that yall may know of that are relatively lower-tension then medium Helicores, that can also break in quickly!!! Thanks for listening. Advice, please!! color> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
administrator Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 I'm an Irish fiddler, used Dominants on all my fiddles for 20+ years without a problem. Now use exclusively Larsen strings (pre-tensile). Go for the Dominants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Bailey Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 Get the Dominants, and then play them a lot, and I mean a lot between now and Monday. They should be settled in by then, but you'll be constantly retuning tonight and tomorrow. By constantly, I mean every five to fifteen minutes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidstimson Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 I've noticed that the Dominant A strings turn to barbed wire long before the others wear out. I switched to Pirastro Tonicas, and found the A-string to be much more durable. So go easy on that A between now and monday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mthss Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 On the flip side, unless you really..really need new strings before, the old "scratchy" helicores might give you what some would consider that "authentic" fiddlin' sound. Hope your new strings arrive today. Not sure who you "ordered" from, but if it were me and the strings were a week overdue, I'd be on the phone politely telling them to ship them overnight (possibly their charge). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
administrator Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 I agree. Who did you order them from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlefaddle Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 you can stretch the strings on the fiddle with your finger to quicken the break in time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Bailey Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 It's funny, but I always used to do that when I played guitar, but I can't bring myself to do it on a violin. I know a fiddle's not as delicate as all that, but I'm afraid I'll break something. But yes, wrap your index finger under the string at about the middle of its length, and pull it up (away from the fingerboard) gently a few times to get a lot of the stretch out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauragigs Posted March 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 What are all your opinions of Infeld Reds for this purpose? Will they break in quickly, do you think? And do any of you know how the tension compares with Helicores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_A Posted March 15, 2003 Report Share Posted March 15, 2003 I'd either stay with the ones you have or get a new set of the medium tension Helicores. Dominants just take too much to break in, and if you DON'T get them broken in, they'll likely sound worse than your current set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmageek Posted March 16, 2003 Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 I agree with D_A. I would never change string brands this close to a gig or even switch rosin brands. -dogma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauragigs Posted March 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 Thank you all for the advice, everybody -- I will heed the suggestion to stick with my old strings for this gig. For yall who were wondering, it was Quinn Violins whose string delivery is A.W.O.L. I'd checked Maestronet for which online string place is best, and like many of you I was impressed with their site. But not anymore at this point! I called their customer service # and their outgoing message was something like, "This is Chris. I'm out of town until March 24..." (I always thought Priority Delivery means 2 - 5 working days, not whenever Chris makes it back into town!!!!) </rant> I will press Quinn for some proper restitution as yall suggested. Will let you know the results! -Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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