Warchal Brilliant

September 3, 2007 at 11:32 PM

Greetings,
Had an interesting few months trying a variety of instruments, primarily modern Italian. I have noticed a slight shift in the way instruments are presented to the customer these days. In the distant past they were fitted with either regular Eudoxa or Olive if they were more expensive. Five years ago it was mainly Dominants. Now the majority of instruments try seem to be strung with Evah Pirazzi. This last is not a string I would normally use anyway but I did get the impression they are not the best vehicle for selling very new instruments. One example I tried was a good violin by Collona which wa selling for 13 000 dollars. It was definitely made rather crude and over bearing by the Pirazzi. A more mellow string would I think, have highlighted its other qualities and made it much more saleable. This seems quite a problem for dealers in Japan.
I`ve settled on a ten year old Italian by Di Dario from Florence. IN Japanese prices it goes for about 20 000 dollars which I suspect is not representative of its cost in the USA or Europe. It was fitted with Dominants which worked reasonably well but as I was leaving the shop my eye was caught by a pack of Warchal Brilliant on the counter. The range of Warchal strings is barely known in Japan and I have never seen anyone using them but I thought I’d give them a try. The blurb on the packet said they had the brilliance and power to fill concert halls and the ability to satisfy all the demands of a soloist , or something like that. After using them for three days I would suggest the following:
They are stable but take about a day to play (5 hours) in to the extent they stay in tune. They are obviously a little more slender and not as taught as Dominant. They feel a little nicer to play. The sound is much warmer and more complex than Dominant and reminded me quite a lot of gut. This was a pleasant surprise. Are they brilliant? I don’t think so. They seem rather warm and reasonably bright. Would they fill a concert hall in the way the packet claimed? I am not convinced. I found them more charming than aggressive. The g string has the weakest sound and I think my next combination will be the three upper strings and an Olive g.
In sum, I think these strings are excellent value (very good price) and one of the most pleasant synthetics to play on. They would be a good choice for someone looking for a synthetic that is a little less tense and in your face but doesn’t want to use gut, either wound or plain. I highly recommend giving them a try.
Cheers,
Buri

From Yixi Zhang
Posted on September 4, 2007 at 3:48 AM

Hmm, Shar is not carrying them yet. Maybe it's been catering to the Asian market these days, as a quick online search I saw them being sold in Hong Kong and Japan.

From Stephen Brivati
Posted on September 6, 2007 at 1:49 AM

Greetings,
I`m now a week itno these strings and have become more and more impressed. I still stand by the remark that they are not really that `brilliant` but they are such a charming string to play on they are going to be my choice for some time I think. Its just too humid for gut at the moment.
Cheers,
Buri

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