Ahhhh! My ears! =)

[Iceman]

I just put on and tried my Piastro Olive gold E.. This thing squeaks more than a pig!I can't wait to try a different kind of E. I like the gold-plated sound... Nice and warm. What other good gold E's are there? (That don't squeak)

[Theresa]

Heh, Iceman--Wanna send your squeaky pig "E" to me to use in our country/western faculty show this spring? I'm always hungry for sound effects--and you cain't have too many l'il squeakin' pigs in a country/western shown.

Best regards,

Theresa

[Violinchick]

As I had posted before. I use the Obligato goldstahl E-string. It's very good. Many people say that the E-string whistles, however it hasn't whistled once on my violin (unless it was a technical error of mine of course). Though they are considered almost a clone of the Olive E's, maybe it's something to try.

I used to use the Dominant gold-plated E-string. It's an okay string, but by no means better than the goldstahl.

Good luck

Diana

[illuminatus]

When I was using Dominants, I thought the E string was OK. One day, I broke it and my friend recommended Goldbrokat. I tried it and it was much better than Dominants E string and much cheaper, too. But now I use Obligato E string. I can't tell whether or not it is much better than Goldbrokat. It seems that the return for the money that I spend on the string is not proportional. Obligato E string is better, but not as good as I expected for a string that expensive.

[Oldbear]

Iceman, like many others, I too am on the eternal quest for the perfect string set. Controlling squeeking, squealing, and whistling has a lot to do with technique, I'm sure, but I enjoy playing so much more when I don't have to concentrate on preventing it. For what it's worth, so far the only E-string that I've found (for my particular instrument) that absolutly did not squeal or whistle, is a wound E-string like the helicore aluminum wound. The tone does not "sing" like the gold plated steels though.

[Lydia Leong]

Iceman,

Have you tried the Olive E in heavy gauge? The normal, medium-gauge Olive E whistles to the point of unplayability on my violin, but the heavy gauge is fine, and the "ring" of the string is almost as good, with no perceptible difference in E-string speed of response.

[Brad Stevens]

Lydia, I bought heavy Oliv E's last time. (5 of them.) Either something in me has changed or they whistle at least twice as much as the medium. I'm thinking of trying the lights, but I worry about their carrying power.

[Greta Schmidt]

Iceman,

I use Helicores and have been happy with the E, especially after having Dominants.

However, I don't play in public so I have no idea how far they, or my violin for that matter, carry. They are nice for fingerwork and sometimes the E is the clearest of all the strings.

I only get a screech if I'm not paying attention and snag my bow on the upper corner!

- Greta

[SteveLaBonne]

In my hands, the Infeld Red E squeaks far less than the Obligato and on my violin it has a warmer sound (I found the Obligato E a bit shrill).