Viola String Choices

[scordatura]

What are your favorite Viola string choices? One of the common choices used to be Jargar A and D and Dominant G and C. Curious about other setups.

[Christian Pedersen]

My current favorite set is Rondo Thomastik-Infeld. Other popular choices are regular Evah Pirazzi and the gold version often with a Larsen a string.

[Mel S.]

My luthier recommends Obligato (happy with that) or the "Russian mix" for more power, but I don't remember what it consists of.

[Dwight Brown]

Evah Perazzi Gold for all four strings is my current favorite.

DLB

[Bo Pontoppidan]

Tricolore C and G, Oliv D and Eudoxa-aricore A

[Don Noon]

I'm not a viola player, but I assume the string choice depends on the instrument and what you intend to do with it.  

I make a small-ish (40cm) viola, light and loud and bright, and have been putting Obligato strings on with the thought of making it sound more like a viola and less like a violin.

Any  other recommendations for this situation?  With obligatos, it sounds like this:

 

[Dwight Brown]

The Jargar A string was a standard for a long time for almost any bottom three strings. A lot  of folks switched to Larsen A later on. I used to love all four Eudoxa and then shortly thereafter when the Eudoxa A string broke or died replace it with a Jargar!

 

DLB

[The Violin Beautiful]

My top three currently:

1) Rondo

2) Obligato/Larsen medium A

3) Evah Pirazzi Gold/ Larsen medium A

[GoPractice]

Need to get the Rondo to try.

I spoke to someone using Obligato/ Evah Gold a- string. Ha ha...

Have not performed recently in a tight chamber group. Have the Pirazzi Gold on main viola currently, maybe 12- 16 hours. Sounds nice, students impressed. In prepping auditions, the main instrument makes sense. It sounds nice, phrases well, meaning it sounds quite excellent.

But one student has the PG on her viola and the articulation is mixed. Of course, clarity, evaluate it however one might. There is so much work behind it, not necessarily the end all in a viola.

Not trying to be pissy, but will try the original Evahs again on her instrument. She has learned how to play broader, use more bow carefully, and the left hand timing is improved. So the strings no matter how much, was well worth it. 

[Christian Pedersen]

Bump

[Andrew Victor]

Don, It sounds great to me.

One of my 16-inch violas has done well with every stringing since I got it in 1973. In fact it has acted as a home for rejects from the "other one."

The "other one" has been very "picky" and seems to need low tension A and C strings. I've been "fighting " it since getting it in 1996. Right now I'm trying a full set of (long) Warchal Ambers and it is good with them. Previously I had settled on Dominant Weich A & C and Pirastro Permanent D & G. When the strings are right for i9t I think this is a better instrument.

[David Burgess]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:01 AM, Don Noon said:

I'm not a viola player, but I assume the string choice depends on the instrument and what you intend to do with it.  

I make a small-ish (40cm) viola, light and loud and bright, and have been putting Obligato strings on with the thought of making it sound more like a viola and less like a violin.

Any  other recommendations for this situation?  With obligatos, it sounds like this:

To me, this recording sounds like a super-bright viola. If you are already using Obligato strings (the deadest and least bright that I have experience with), my opinion is that string choice won't fix it.

[Zeissica]

Love the sound of the viola in that video, Don!

Jargar A with Dominant D, G, &C was the standard for a long time. I played on that combo in the 80s, and picked it up again in the early 2000s when I started to play again.

Nowadays there are so many other choices. Larson A strings for me are the top - I've tried many others and nothing sounds as good nor responds as easily, and stays pure in the higher registers. 

I like the Rondo D, G, & C a lot and have played on them quite a bit. 

Lately I've been fond of the Spirocore D, G, & C, with the Larson heavy A. On my current viola, this combo is really outstanding. 

No question the instrument, bow, player, and even style of music to some extent will drive the string choices. And, sometimes changing strings just to get a different sound will provide new interest and inspiration. 

[Don Noon]

5 hours ago, Andrew Victor said:

Don, It sounds great to me.

5 hours ago, David Burgess said:

To me, this recording sounds like a super-bright viola. If you are already using Obligato strings (the deadest and least bright that I have experience with), my opinion is that string choice won't fix it.

39 minutes ago, Zeissica said:

Love the sound of the viola in that video, Don!

The recording is in a hard-surface room recorded on iPhone, so it probably gets a brightness boost from that.  But still, I think it came out as intended as a powerful, projecting soloist viola,  which apparently some people like and some don't so much.  It's not the blendy type.  I guess I'll stick with Obligatos to tame it a bit.

 

 

[Tets Kimura]

A lot of people here use Spirocore Tungsten C, Evah G, Evah D, and Larsen A.

[Mark Norfleet]

Amongst the instruments I work on regularly which, include some exceptionally good sounding violas, players are using Larsen Virtuoso, Thomastik Peter Infeld and Pirastro Evah Pirazzi, both versions.  Pirastro Perpetual are very likely another good option, but I don't have experience with them on violas yet.  They're all good strings and have different strengths and playing characteristics.  In my experience it comes down to player preference and good adjustment to suit the strings on the instrument at the time.  I always try to discourage the use of Spirocore C as I feel like they are often a crutch to address adjustment deficiencies and on most instruments they require a different approach by the player.  Only one of the violists I work for is still using a Spirocore C.

A strings are usually Jargar or Larsen, occasionally Pirastro Chromcor.

[Mark Norfleet]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:01 AM, Don Noon said:

I make a small-ish (40cm) viola, light and loud and bright, and have been putting Obligato strings on with the thought of making it sound more like a viola and less like a violin.

Any  other recommendations for this situation?

It's so hard to know from a recording, but it seems like a very interesting sounding instrument with great tonal clarity.  I'd love to see what it sounds like under my ear.   That said, if it were mine I would probably try Evah Pirazzi Gold for a somewhat more complex sound.  I think they would project better than the Obligato string as well.  As David mentioned, Obligato strings tend to be relatively dead sounding.

[GoPractice]

15 hours ago, Tets Kimura said:

A lot of people here use Spirocore Tungsten C, Evah G, Evah D, and Larsen A.

Sort of a strange question, but are these newer instruments?

I spent several very humid summers in the midwest and the Northeast US and the Heavy Tungsten somehow offset the a- string, Meaning that it tightened up the lower end and added clarity to the a- string.

Playing in central and southern Japan during the summer was equally humid.

[Tets Kimura]

1 hour ago, GoPractice said:

Sort of a strange question, but are these newer instruments?

No, I've never had the impression they are mostly used on newer violas.
 

1 hour ago, GoPractice said:

I spent several very humid summers in the midwest and the Northeast US and the Heavy Tungsten somehow offset the a- string, Meaning that it tightened up the lower end and added clarity to the a- string.

That's interesting. Come to think of it, the combination of Spirocore, Evah, and Larsen tend to sound more balanced during summer. 

[Tets Kimura]

10 hours ago, Mark Norfleet said:

I always try to discourage the use of Spirocore C as I feel like they are often a crutch to address adjustment deficiencies and on most instruments they require a different approach by the player.

Mark, I'd like to know more about this. Are you saying Spirocore C is often a quick but insufficient fix for some problems? What GoPractice said made me think its popularity here is down to seasonal humidity change, which can be extreme.    

[Mark Norfleet]

10 hours ago, Tets Kimura said:

Mark, I'd like to know more about this. Are you saying Spirocore C is often a quick but insufficient fix for some problems? What GoPractice said made me think its popularity here is down to seasonal humidity change, which can be extreme.    

Yes, that’s one way to put it, though clearly it’s sufficient for many.  If a player doesn’t have ready access to someone who can adjust to compensate for humidity changes it’s a good option.  I’ve found though that I can achieve better overall sound and more consistent playing characteristics on all strings through adjustment and using a C string of the same type as the G & D.

It may not be as consistently humid here as Tokyo in summer, but we almost certainly have wider swings of humidity through the year here as it get much colder in Michigan than it does there.