Strings

[ChristisKing]

I am considering purchasing strings.  I currently have a set

of dominants with a Jarger E. My sister recently purchased Warchal

Kerneol strings, and In my opinion they are very good.  The

ones I am considering are Warchal Kerneol, Brilliant, or Evah

Pirazzi, although I am open to suggestions.  Has anyone tried

any of these?

[stevenwong]

2 cents worth...

but different strings work differently on different violins... having the vote may not mean anything as to how they will work on your violin...

why dont you try them out instead....

[thom]

Amen to stevenwong's advice. Because we cannot hear your violin with its current strings, our advice would be well-meaning but useless to you. Go to your luthier. After listening to your violin, s/he will be in a good position to suggest strings to try which will help you achieve whatever sound you are searching for.

[Banzai]

Why do you want new strings?  If you post what it is about the

sound that you want to change, you may get some more meaningful

advice.

Are you trying to make your fiddle sound

warmer/darker/brighter/louder/softer/etc.  That will influence

what string you want to steer towards.  It's not just a

question of best/worst.

Dominants are kind of a "baseline" string that tends towards slight

brightness and decent power.  Peter Prier tells me that

Perlman uses Dominants on his Strad, so they can't be all bad.

If you're considering Evahs, I'll assume you want greater

brightness and power.  Evahs might be the best bet to get a

significant increase in power over Dominant...is that what you

want?

You can also check out "http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/Strings95/coverstory.shtml">Strings

magazine review of 30 strings.

[dfxlr]

I've never heard of Warchal strings. I must be living in a hole

(aka Hawaii).

Generally, what are they like? Are they comparable (keeping in mind

the differing responses on different violins) to other commercial

brands?

I don't think I've ever seen them on a violin either. What does the

tailpiece silk look like?

[ChristisKing]

Warchal strings sound very good, each string has a different color

thread on the end.

[ChristisKing]

I do not have a luthier, the nearest one is probably an hour away.

 

[ChristisKing]

quote:

---

Originally posted by:

Banzai

Why do you want new

strings?  If you post what it is about the sound that you want

to change, you may get some more meaningful advice. Are you trying

to make your fiddle sound warmer/darker/brighter/louder/softer/etc.

 That will influence what string you want to steer towards.

 It's not just a question of best/worst. Dominants are kind of

a "baseline" string that tends towards slight brightness and decent

power.  Peter Prier tells me that Perlman uses Dominants on

his Strad, so they can't be all bad. If you're considering Evahs,

I'll assume you want greater brightness and power.  Evahs

might be the best bet to get a significant increase in power over

Dominant...is that what you want? You can also check out

"http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/Strings95/coverstory.shtml">Strings

magazine review of 30 strings.

---

My strings are 6 months to 2 years old, the G being the oldest, A

being the newest, thus I need a new set.  I like a fairly

bright sound, thus the Brilliant and Evah pirazzi are my primary

choices.  

One main thing I want in a string is strings that will last a long

time before they need replacing.  One problem with the Warchal

 is the difficulty of replacing a broken or worn out string,

since to my knowledge they can only  be bought in sets.

[xdmitrix420]

d'addario helicores are good for lengivity, as are pirastro

obligatos..... the obligatos, because they are darker than evahs,

you don't notice the degradation in the sound quality as much as

you do with the evahs.  the evahs when new are extremely

vibrant, and then they lose that intensity after 2 months and they

basically sound like oblgiatos.

[stevenwong]

another 2 cents (so that makes 4 cents)...

if you like bright sounding strings, you may wish to try Titanium Vision strings.... i tried them on mine, and find them too bright sounding, as, in the first place, my violin sounds rather bright...

steve

[dfowler1685]

I've also found the D'Addario helicores to be an excellent string. They respond well to changes in bow placement, pressure and speed, meaning you can adjust timbre through your technique. The helicores also feel nice under the fingers, are very stable in temperature and humidity change, and they last a long time.

[Cassi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by:

dfowler1685

I've also found

the D'Addario helicores to be an excellent string. They respond

well to changes in bow placement, pressure and speed, meaning you

can adjust timbre through your technique. The helicores also feel

nice under the fingers, are very stable in temperature and humidity

change, and they last a long time.

---

one caveat: i think that you will need fine tuners on all four

string if you use Helicores? so if your violin doesn't already have

these, you will have to have your tailpiece changed, which requires

a luthier!

FWIW,

cassi  

[sweetmusic]

I prefer Larsens on all my violins and violas. Sorry I don't

believe that old wives tale that different instruments require

different strings. An instrument can be set up optimally for any

set of strings. I like Larsens because they bring out the warm dark

notes and support the highs without allowing them to be too shrill.

[sweetmusic]

I have to laugh. I just noticed the banner ad at the top for Warchal strings. It looks like a cigarette advertisement for one of those snooty flavored cigarette lines! hahahahhahahhahahahaha

ok done laughing now

[Guest]

-cassi,

i have been using Helicores for quite some time now, and i do not

use or feel that i need fine tuners.

they are very stable strings, (for me), do you know something about

them that i don't ???

E.

[rutherford]

Titanium Visions get my vote for a bright string with quality sound.

[DutchViolins]

quote:

---

Originally posted by:

Cassi

quote:

---

Originally posted by:

dfowler1685

I've also found

the D'Addario helicores to be an excellent string. They respond

well to changes in bow placement, pressure and speed, meaning you

can adjust timbre through your technique. The helicores also feel

nice under the fingers, are very stable in temperature and humidity

change, and they last a long time.

---

one caveat: i think that you will need fine tuners on all four

string if you use Helicores? so if your violin doesn't already have

these,

you will have to have your tailpiece changed, which requires

a luthier!

FWIW,

cassi  

---

If the tailpiece has to be changed by e.g a Wittner with integrated fine tuners than a luthier will not be needed. This can easily be done by any person (violin player) with 'normal' developed technical skills.

But anyone is free to consult a luthier of course.

[DutchViolins]

Sorry: double post!

[yaumnik]

I had a set of Warchal Karneols until last week. And before Karneols, I had a set of Warchal Brilliant's on. I liked Brilliants a lot - on my violin, they sounded very much like Titaniums, but without a hard edge, more rounded like. Karneols were nice at the beginning, OK through next 3 or so months and then quite quickly afterwards they just lost it all completely, started to sound real dull and tinny. To top it all off, G broke up at the peg at a very inopportune time before I was ready to replace the set. I ended up playing at a performance dress rehearsal with a (real old used) Oliv rigid G and tinny D-A-E Karneols. The sound was ... from crappy to non-existant. Since time was of essence to get something for the performance, I put the only strings I could get my hands on in a hurry: regular medium Vision G-D-A and a (Strad mag's sample) Pirastro Wondertone Silvery Solo E. A big improvement right away, although just like Titaniums, there is that prounounced edge on the lower strings.

The next full set I am going to try is Pirastro Wondertone Solo. I am curious about those new Larsen Tzigane strings, but so far have been able to gather next to nothing information-wise. If anyone has already tried those, please post here.

ATB, Gary

[Banzai]

Gary,

I'm currently using the promo set of Wondertone Solo.  It's

been a few weeks now, and I have to say I really like them.  I

think the A could be fleshed out/ring a little more, but mostly my

only gripe is that the E seems very thin and rather bright.

They're a nice string though.  Clear and strong, with a

brightish tone, and subtle complexities.  

I honestly find them to be rather similar to Dominant in quite a

few ways too...

[yaumnik]

Banzai, thanks for the update on Wondertone Solos. I am curious enough to try them out. As I said in the previous post, I put Visions on out of desperation only. If I had my choice, I'd put Titaniums insted of regular Visions, but then I'd blanket my entire amateur symphony orchestra's violin section which is good if I practices the score enough or really bad if I didn't (which is lately the case due to a huge work overload).

I've noticed that my violin is really picky about D-string in particular. It'll take most of As in stride, will work with just about any Es other than Thomastik's, not to picky about Gs either. But I've had my problems with D strings. At one point, I tried D strings: Doms, Titanium, Oliv, Pirastro Gold, you name it. None of them just did the trick. I am still seaching, so I hope that maybe Wondertone Solo D will do the trick. The others would sound (not in any particular order): dull, tinny, wobbly and unfocused... I had a set of Evahs on it when it came to me brand new a few years ago - they were good for breaking it in, but Evahs are soooo bright that I had the same issues as above with Titaniums. Plus, Evahs just did not generate enough overtones for my liking to go with the brightness. Titaniums were just like Evahs, but with a pronounced edginess that I didn't like much either. Funny thing, the violin sounded best with Warchal Brilliant's - must be something to be said about my Ukrainian origin Strad (no, not from Crimea or Cremona! going with its Slav brethren's Slovakian strings. But again, Brilliants were way too bright for playing in an orchestra. I even thought of using my (very) spare violin for orchestral play, but after one rehearsal, my stand partner threatened to take it away and use it for firewood. Karneols were OK for a few weeks and then went kaput. So, I am stuck with this dilemma: a violin that likes well rounded brighter strings and need to blend into orchestra section's sound.

Any creative suggestions are welcome!

ATB, Gary

[andy9891]

How about Infeld Blues? Maybe Helicores--they're warm, bright, and

well-rounded, but I find them lacking in overtones and

complexity.

Another bright but warm string that may work well for you--one of

my favorites when it works well--is Tonicas.

[GalwayGirl]

I asked this question myself not too long ago, and got several very

informative responses. In the end, I took the violin into the

luthier, and he suggested I try Infeld Blues. They are similar to

the Dominants you used to, but brighter, keep their tune better,

and I don't mind the E string. I am mostly an Irish style fiddler,

though, so it may come down to what kind of sound you want from the

strings.

[T_Yee]

i'm a very avid string experimenter, and have tried nearly every pirastro/thomastik set and combination. Right now I'm using an oliv g, evah d, vision a, and a thomastik melange e. Works quite well, but I just ordered a set of dom g, inf blue d, vision a, and melange heavy e, which I think will make a very bright and powerful set with lots of color. What do you think?

[MANFIO]

I think that the most drastic change will be the Evah D for the Infeld blue D.

You will change too much strings at the same time... If I were you, I would change one by one, you may get lost with all those different strings at the same time. Ciao!