String Review: Warchal Karneol
Let me start by giving you an idea of what they might be like on your instrument by giving you a run down of what I've tried so far on my violin.
My violin started with Dominants. They were terrible! Just the most shrill sound came out of them. I waited though till they wore out and was relieved when one randomly snapped (even though it shouldn't have yet) because it meant I could change them haha.
Next I put on Obligato's. They were nice. For the most part they suited my violin and were very nice to play on. The E string did leave something to be desired though.
After that I tried Tonica's. They were even worse than dominants! Shrill and scratchy all the way through. I took them off a couple days later after they had stabilized and hadn't get any better.
I put on Evah Pirazzi after that. At first, I fell in love with them. They were so nice and for the most part still are. The higher tension though made them harder to play. At least, I believe it was the higher tension. They needed more bow pressure and generally longer bow strokes. If you play them correctly, they are beautiful. The E string just sang for me also. It was enchanting, if I played right. But that was hard due to my level of experience.
I decided to order a set of Warchal Karneol. I was excited about the trial set idea and figured that I didn't have much to lose. They arrived and I put them on.
WOW! I love them! They are rich and have a nice complex sound. The E, like the Evah's, just sings. The tension is just right. Very noticeably so compared to the Evah's tension which is very high. I would say that the volume is comparable to Obligato's. Bow pressure, for me, is just right. I don't have to push as hard as the Evah's.
The only thing that was a pain was the E string bridge protector. It was a little difficult to get it seated correctly. It's a small piece of leather-like material. I think it might have something to do with the E sounding so nice. That's just a guess though haha.
I highly recommend giving them a try. Especially considering that they offer your first set at just under $30 Canadian.
Currently I'm using Oliv Rosin because it's so dry here in Alberta. I can't wait to try out the Liebenzeller on them though. The Liebenzeller makes every string sound better haha.
All these strings have been middle tension, standard sets off the shelf with Obligato's and Evah's using their own sets steel E's.
Replies (18)
I love the Karneols, they just don't last quite as long as some of the other brands. For the violin, the first versions (different colors on the tailpiece end) had some bizarre tuning issues after a few weeks, but the version 2 that is sold now (all the same color on the tailpiece end) is much better.
However, at their price, it's actually nice to have new strings more frequently! :)
(back to using Obligato again at the moment though...sometimes it's on sale)
I too tried the trial Karneol set. I did like them. I thought they were very much like Dominants but softer and sweeter. The E was very nice on the Karneol set, though they only lasted about 3+ months. Dominants had a bigger sound I thought and could be stretched to 6 months. (except for the E).
I am now on the Ametyst set. And truly seem to like this set on my violin. It is the sound I imagine a violin should sound like I guess. They are soft on the fingers, and brings out my instruments acoustics. I still have to try the Brillant set but as of now I would buy Ametyst again. Perhaps even be bold enough to say they could be my strings of choice.
A couple days in now and they have stabilized. The sound remains the same as when I put them on. I found other strings sound changed slightly once they stabilized. So that's a plus for sure!
Another update. I tried the Karneol Strings with Liebenzeller Gold II rosin and it didn't sound very good. They lost their "edge" and sounded dull. I'll be sticking with my Pirastro Oliv for these strings. They sound great with that rosin. I'm curious what they would sound like with Andrea Rosin but I would have to buy some haha.
This is why we decided to execute a big rosin test. We as asked literally daily - "What rosin goles best with Warchal strings?" by our customers.
We put 40 rosins in test, the results is here http://www.warchal.com/the_big_rosin_test.html
I am not going to make any promotion for any brand here, in fact, we are not rosin distributor, we just stock the winners on warchalshop in order to serve our customers (actually almost without any profit). The test taked a lot of time, but it was very interesting and sometomes exciting to compare the rosins. Some of them were really different.
We was not able to test all product available worldwide for sure. From the commercial point of view, I found curious, that we were even rejected by one of the manufacturer. They said: "we are not interested in any promotion and increasing the sale..." :-)
It would be interesting to see the list of rosins included in the test - even without any ranking between them. I am guessing that Baker was the one not interested in increase in sale - they struggle to fill their waiting list.....
I would be interested in seeing the full list as well. I'm sure you were thorough but I would like to know what you tested against.
also interested in seeing the full list as I'm planning on trying warchal anywhere soon.
off-topic: as a violinist and a marketer at the same time, I find warchal's (as a company) approach of directly interacting with the community brilliant. i do have the feeling that the objective data (imo) the company has provided us with, goes beyond profit purposes. wish you all the best and keep up the good work.
Bohdan, your rosin comparison is very helpful! I have just ordered the two top contenders. I've also ordered your trial Vintage string set to test on my old German violin.
I just installed a set of Karneols yesterday. E, A, D sounded pretty OK straight out of the package, but the G was horrible on my violin! I was about to switch out the G back to the Tonica G that had been on there previously.
However, due to time constraints (quick lunchtime practice) I didn't bother. Boy it really sounded flabby, airy, bad. I tried warming up with a G major scale and it was pathetic.
Anyhow, so I got down to sawing away practicising my other assorted jibber-jabber, and was none the worse for wear. Had to retune a few times, as would be expected.
Anyhow, toward the end of the session I ventured back to the G, which now sounded quite nice, full and resonant!
A surprising change in just half an hour or so. It had sounded SO bad to begin with, I was really dissapointed that perhaps the Karneol G just wasn't a good fit for my fiddle. The other three sounded fine. But the G really blossomed in such a short period of time.
Anyhow, just some initial impressions from a beginner. I'm looking forward to seeing how this set rounds out in the next couple of weeks.
Violins are odd creatures.
Mine does well with standard middle of the road medium tension strings like Dominant and Tonica, so when I was offered a discounted set of Karneols I gave them a try. A luthier I respect recommended them highly, and uses them on most of his shop instruments.
But they were a bit of a disaster. My instrument has rich overtones, and with fresh Karneols the overtones went crazy for a week or two - to the point that the sound didn't seem to have any core. The weather was very damp, and the tuning took over a week to settle down.
I then got around 3 weeks of nice playing, and which point they rather suddenly went very dull.
A lovely company, as others have said, and I'm a big fan of the Russian A. But for some reason the Karneols just didn't work for me. A bad batch perhaps??
Hi Geoff,
Warchal makes fantastic strings(!), but experience varies from instrument to instrument. This is part of the drag in my experience with the current strings. You see, violins respond to different balances in weight and tension, most within the "medium" range, but with only one gauge, it is often a hit or miss between a match between a violin and a modern string set. Sadly, after years of trials, experiments and tribulations with strings, I can assure you that it is not the product but the match that is the difficult thing to achieve.
Cheers!
Hi Christian
That was pretty much what I was trying to say, when I wrote that Violins are odd creatures. I found it surprising when a string in the same tension range as strings that perform well for me should behave so differently.
The reason I mentioned a bad batch is because they went off for me so quickly - I expect to get more than a month from a set. I'm only an amateur and practice an hour or two a day...
Having said that, my (rather fine) modern instrument seems very sensitive to strings, and when they start to go dead it falls off a cliff. I've seen you write that your instrument is also very sensitive string-wise. I sometimes play with a rather good classically trained amateur who hasn't changed her strings in a decade. I guess it takes all kinds...
Hi Geoff,
I understand. My current instrument is sensitive to strings but in a different way than the previous one which was very sensitive for a host of reasons. I tried the Warchal on the previous one, but not on the current one. My experience is that the life of a string can vary a lot. Also, strings change differently over time depending on the material used for the core. As for tension, it's just part of the equation as core material and flexibility also play a role. So many factors go into it that at this point, I find that one cannot make generalities. The one thing that I have noticed though, is that whatever one chooses for A, D, G, the character of the set will change depending on the choice of E. Whatever you choose, it is often good to try several Es to see what works for the instrument.
Cheers!
Hmm..I wonder if the list of 40 rosins includes Liebenzeller gold?
You should email a Warchal and ask privately.
Down the road a bit with Karneols at about 120 hours of playing. The A string has no after ring with colle or pizz. changed out today for another brand used string with similar tension. Can't remember what ring the A had in its prime.
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January 22, 2013 at 04:06 PM · Keep us informed as to their durability, Tristan.