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Help me pick some strings!

April 9, 2006 at 5:26 AM

It's time for me to replace my strings, and I've decided I'm going to try something new. I've used Dominants forever--I don't even know why!--although my luthier did put a Gold E on my instrument last time. I like them fine, but I don't know what else is out there. It could very well be that Dominants are the best strings for me, but I'll never know unless I try something else.

So, I'm feeling similarly overwhelmed as I did when I began my bow shopping, although thankfully this time I'm dealing with smaller amounts of money and much less permanent changes. I've read most of the discussion threads that deal with strings, but they honestly don't make much sense to me because I've never tried gut or steel. It's like wine---if you've never had a drink, adjectives like "woody" or "fruity" don't really mean anything.

This is my idea: I'll buy 3-4 sets of strings and keep each on for a couple of months, which should be long enough to break them in. Since I'm going to be working on the same piece for a while and don't have any auditions or major performances coming up, it seems like a good time to do this experiment. Here's where I need help, though: which strings should I play with to get a good representation of the full range of sound? I was thinking of 1 gut, 1 steel, and 2 synthetic. Based on what seem to be the most popular names, here is what I thought I'd try:

Gut: Eudoxa or Olive
Steel: Jargar
Synthetic: Evah Pirazzi, Infeld Blue, Titanium Vision

Any comments? I'm going for a reasonably bright (but short of "brilliant") sound. Also, my instrument isn't super high quality, so anything that will give me power and volume is good. But at this stage I'm mostly interested in experiencing all the differences, so please let me know if I'd be better off trying other types first. I don't want this to turn into another "favorite string" discussion since there have already been so many good ones.

Thanks!

For synthetic, Zyex works amazingly well, and they last an insane amount of time. It seems to be a favorite over here.
In the Oregon and Seattle area, I saw predominantly Evah Pirazzi, Dominant, and Vision, with various E's on all the violins I tried out last week. Those were by far the most popular, so you think that might say something about the quality of string. I tried lots of different kinds only to come back to Dominant for a while, and then I fell in love with wound gut. If you are looking for lots of color and no metallic flavor, gut is the way to go, but they can be finicky about how you play on them, and they do stretch a lot. I'm getting ready to try out a set of Olivs.

I think the thinness/tension of the Evahs and Visions make them very stable. But I can't get them to speak for me quickly enough without using more weight than I'd like.

Dominants are a very good string. You could always experiment with the E, and the silver D can do a lot for them as well.

(Disclaimer: everything I wrote is basically what fellow member Christian Vachon would write, since he's someone who's given me a lot of good advice. I agree with him because in my experience I've also found the same to be true.)

I use zyex and love them :)
Karin, I've been using Zyex for about a year now and I really enjoyed them. They have a really warm sound to them and did last a long time for me.
Thanks for the responses, everyone. Maybe I'll try Zyex after all, it's just that in one of the recent threads there were a number of people who said they were bad. But what I really want to know is whether I'm going about this the right way. Is there a better method of testing strings when you have no real sense of what you want?
Remember that all instruments are different. Zyex works well on my violin because it has a softer projection and warmer strings help improve the instrument's voice. So far it seems that it's mostly trial and error. Try different brands and different string compositions and see what works best for you.
Evahs worked just wonders on my violin, you should try them
I think those are all good strings to try.

I use Evah Pirazzis (with the gold E) myself, and I adore them!

Karin,
Pirastro will send you 1 set of strings for free on request (one time only). Just look up the contact info at pirastro.com & e-mail them asking for a set of whichever ones you want to try that are most expensive... Olivs, I think. They just ask that you send them feedback about how you liked the strings.

Also mention to the folks in your local shops that you're trying out strings.... some are very generous. My cellist friend is trying some d'Addarios (cello strings = $$$)& if she decides to keep them, she buys them, if not... she just brings 'em back.

Personally, I have gone to the Titaniums and getting ready to put my third set on my violin. These strings really increased the sound on my instrument. I am using the Solo version not Orchestra, so for the playing that I do as part of a church orchestra where the Brass and Winds out number the strings, it allows me the additional power that I need without loosing the tone and sound that I was having before changing from Dominants. The strings also are as advertised that they have a short break in period. I would highly recommend them. Hope that this helps.
Oooh, Christina, thanks for the tip! I'd heard about free strings from Pirastro, but I didn't see anything on the website so I thought it was just a short-term promotional thing. I've already ordered a set of Evah Pirazzis and Infeld Blues from Shar, but I do intend to try the gut strings as well.

Also on my list are Titanium Vision and Zyex (after all the good comments) but I figure I should order just two sets at a time since it'll take me a while to get a feel for them.