WARCHAL STRINGS! reviewed...
Hello,
I haven't written anything in a while. Those who know me, know that I love this topic. However, with the new permanent reference, I guess that changes things.
In any event, I have been meaning to do this for a while now, but with concerts and being away teaching at a summer festival, with no access to internet, well...
First off, though this is no advertisement, let me thank very much Mr. Bodhan Warchal, who contacted me and sent me strings for trial and comments. Much appreciated.
I have to say that the strings are created from a different point of view than others. "Sounds fascinates us" is the companies motto and one can tell. This is one promising company with much potential and their products are worth checking out. Here are my thoughts on the strings they sent.
Ametyst: A low tension, perlon-core string. In feeling, it comes closest to playing on Eudoxa. The string is very malleable, and it reacts very well to changes in bow speed and contact point, in a way more similar to gut-core strings then synthetics. If one likes the feeling of the Eudoxas, but wants something synthetic, this might be a good place to look.
Karneol: Also a perlon-core string, but with a little more tension and brilliance than the Ametyst. Comparing this to the previous string, would be like comparing the difference between Eudoxa and Oliv. The string is, at least on my violin, probably the most resonant I have ever tried. There is an amazing amount of ring and resonance to the sound. The colour of the sound is nice, focused, and good shadings are possible.
Brilliant: I tried these, but my instrument does not react well to any of the non-perlon or gut-core strings. So, I gave them to a student, and it just brought her instrument to life. Plus, they have a long life. I saw her at the festival this summer (she no longer is my student) and after six months, there seemed to be no loss in sound or quality. On a fiddle on which these strings work, there is great resonance, good shadings and responsiveness, and a very focused and precise intonation. The sound character strikes me as having a blend of the Obligato and Pirazzi together. If your instrument responds well to Pirastro's new core type strings, it may respond well to these.
Thanks again to Mr. Warchal. I hope this may help to encourage people to try them.
All my best and Cheers!
Christian
Replies (44)
could you give me some websites that have their strings on it... I cant find any sellers. Thanks
Chris,
Warchal has another set of strings: Nefrit. Will you get a chance to give a review on these strings?
My luthier prefers Nefrit over Ametyst (on two different violins).
N/M about the website. I found sets on amazon. Reasonable prices too.. I just wish that they sold singles.
I've heard about these strings... it's just a problem, to get a set of each. Gets quite expensive. Right now I use pirazzi G, silver dominant d, dominant a and a westminster e. I think I want something new and better. Maybe I'll buy some Warchal strings if I can find them in Canada.
Hi, link here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&item=110018752045&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1. Ebay´s shop in L.A, with Suk´s advertising.
Hi,
Richard, I am sure someone somewhere must sell strings seperately.
Pieter - Wilder&Davis now carry Warchal Strings (prices are good too apparently). You could find them there since it's close to home.
Vivian - I don't know. They did not send their Nefrit strings to me, so unless they do, the answer is no (for the moment at least).
Cheers!
There is a US distributor with a website address of OttoMusica.
He doesn't provide details of prices or whether he offers individuals strings but does encourage visitors to contact him by e-mail for details & price lists.
hah and I have all this credit with them too right now. Guess where I'm going this afternoon.
Christian, I went and got a pile of testers from Emmanuel... I'll report back my findings.
Hi,
Thanks Peter - I am curious to know what you will think.
Cheers!
I'm afraid there will be no trial. I've spent the last 10 minutes trying to put one on, and I came close to smashing my violin. They all came looking as if a dog had chewed on the ends making it nearly impossible to install... it took me all of 3 seconds to thread the pirazzi G that was there for like 3 weeks.
Thanks so much for the review, Christian. I'd been looking for a synthetic alternative to Eudoxas for a while; much as I love their general sound and feel, I couldn't help feeling that my modest violin wasn't doing them full justice.
After reading your review, I bought a set of the Ametyst strings. Well, it was love at first sound. They're warm and resonant, and they're capable of a good deal of nuance.
Hello Helen,
I am glad to hear that! :=)
Cheers and Enjoy!
I just put the Brilliant E on my violin. It sounds wonderful. But the only problem is it tends to squeak easily (my previous Gold label never squeaks). Anybody has a solution to this.
The US distributor of Warchal products has launched a new web site. Full online shopping now available and new special pricing. http://www.warchalUSA.com
Christian (and All),
You said your student's Brilliant strings lasted for about 6 months. I just put on my first set in February, and just tonight my E-string broke. That's only 2 months! Also, the first G string I got was false and started unraveling after only 5 days. I'm afraid my new one has now become false as well. ( I can no longer play a full sound on the string w/o it cracking or breaking in sound). I feel as thought the A and D strings are still very strong.
Have you or anyone else heard of similar problems? I play on a new instrument (2001) and it requires me to have to force (instead of "sing") the sound out more than i would like. The time has come that this particular fiddle is "holding me back and hindering my progress." It will be awhile before I replace it, so I need the best fix with my choice of strings. I loved these strings because they allowed me to play lighter with a bigger, more resonate sound, without having to work too hard. Do you think a higher tension string would be better for my instrument, or perhaps a different "style" of Warchal? It seemed to respond well to "Vision" strings.
I am
Hi,
Ben, I don't know what to tell you. As far as I know, Warchal makes only one gauge of every strings. The other two sets they make, Karneol and Ametyst are vastly different from the Brilliant. With any instrument, the best is to try.
E strings breaking do happen (I broke three Goldbrokat mediums in two weeks recently for no apparent reason). I have never had any string last two months, so, for me that is a good time.
If you feel that there is a problem with the G string, contact the company. Mr. Warchal is extremely nice, dedicated and willing to help and cooperate. I think that there is an Email address on his website.
All my best,
Christian
Well Chris I'm curious about Warchal Ametyst but how long do in average Ametyst and Karneol last if compared with Eudoxa and Oliv?
Thank you
I tried the "Nefrit".
Disappointment.
Advertised as synthetic, but only G & D are synthetic. A & E are bare metal. Overall, a loud, thin, metallic sound. The A creates a twang. 3 days to be stable. Definitely not worth the price I paid (more than Dom's).
The E is nice, though - creates a softer sound than the Dom E. I put it on with Dom G,D,A and it blends well. The Warchal E is not a powerful as the Dom E in this blend - but softer and sweeter, I think. Low squeek. Warchal does not sell single strings, so this combo will be an experiment only.
Overall the Dominants are better.
I have just put on Ametyst after using the Karneol for only 12 weeks (only, for me, as I usually 6-12 months before I have to change). although I like the sound for the firs few days of the Karneol, they never really felt like they settled in, they continually slipped so that I would open my case and there'd be 3 or even 4 strings popped. And then the G had absolutely no tone for at least the past 4 weeks - I think it had gone false. finally, just as I was thinking I'd change over to the set of Ametyst I had bought at the same time, the e string broke.
the ametyst seem much more suited to my violin - which is a new hand made, but nothing special. I like the tone right up the G string, the e doesn't seem too bright or harsh.
My original strings were corelli crystal whcih I also liked a lot - they were, I think, abit ieasier to actually play. I'm not dure how to describe this, but its like they allowed my fingers to slide in and out of position jsut a bit easier. I felle a bit like there is a resisitance on the ametyst. But then, I been having atrocious practise for the past week, everything feels wrong anyway. I'll get back to you on this.
Let us know more, as I have am looking to try these.
Which one would you suggest for a violin that has Thomastik Visions?
Hi,
I would suggest the Brillant. They are of the new-core type synthetics and will feel closer to the comparative models of Pirastro and Thomastik.
Cheers!
So has anyone bought any of these strings from Otto Musica?
From time to time I stray into some discussion forums. I thank you for all your feedback. It is very valuable to us.
I am very surprised that you bought Nefrit more expensively than Dominant. Nefrit is our cheapest set, and it is the only set not intended for professionals. We sell it rather cheaply. Would you please let us know where you bought this set, so that we could take some measures to improve the price policy in our trade network. Thanks, B.W.
@ weeks into using the ametyst, and they are difinitely the better string for my violin. the tone is really nice right up, including the e and g strings, and my initial glitch in feeling resistence is lessening. I do notice that they are very different strings to play double stops on, double stops are one of my weaker weaknesses and I am super sensitive to the change in the feel of the strings and their different tensions (probably as a defense to not being able tog et my bow over the middle point of the two strings..).
the strings stay in tune well, and bring out a good sound on my little 3/4 instrument.
It would be nice if your distributor would actually accept online orders for your products. Not having them available on-demand in that manner really limits their sales!
There's a large part of this playing population that prefers to select what they want, put in a credit card number, and expect their goods to arrive on their doorstep in a couple days, without having to contact someone to ask about prices and ordering.
If you can get Shar Music, Southwest Strings, and perhaps Concord Music as well to have Warchal strings in inventory, I'll bet you'll find them getting much better exposure.
I enjoyed by set of Brilliant strings, but since the warchalusa.com site went offline (at least, for ordering) have not bothered to order again, since it seems that the other establishments that sell your strings priced them higher. I paid $39.99 for my set originally...
Gene- yeah I'm the same way. I just want to put my goods into a virtual shopping cart and then checkout without having to talk to anyone...But I gave Otto Musica a try and my inquiry was answered quite promptly! Their prices are very fair- I bought a set of the Karneol strings and paid $25.95 (suggested retail is apparently $69). The highest priced are the Brilliants at $39.95. I was also told they would arrive in about 3 business days (though I'm in no particular hurry).
Who knows how they will sound on my violin, but as long as they get here in a timely manner and do so in tact, I'll consider it a transaction well done. :)
It would be nice if there was a site like Shar that distributed it though. I definitely think more people would try them if they could buy them from a well-known, trusted site such as that.
my 2 bits...
I had the Karneol on my violin for about 6 weeks. The first 2 weeks were good. I did not get a great ringing sound, but the sound was bright, loud, well balanced. After 2 weeks, the strings steadily deteriorated. By 6 weeks,they were entirely unplayable: little sound, no response to bow strokes. At all times, they were very scratchy under the ear, though at first this could not be heard from a distance. Overall, I cannot say they improved the sound of my violin at any time. But for the first 2 weeks, I would say they sounded a tad better than Doms. Overall, I think I still prefer the Doms, which give me about 3 months of lifespan.
How long is the break-in time for Karneol? I have just changed them last night, from Brilliant with Gold Label E. At the moment, Karneol did not seem to agree with my violin. Not G string at least... response is kinda slow... Brilliant seems to do better on my violin... I am hoping they will sound better after while...
I've had the Amethyst on for over a month now. These are definitely superior to the other types used previously. They are the closest to Doms I have yet experienced. The E may be a tad less shrill, and the G perhaps a tad more harsh. But so close to Doms I really can't discern the difference. Except for price: the Warchals are higher priced than Doms, where I am.
Seems odd to me to see a company introduce strings that are very close to Doms but at a higher price.
Overall, a very good alternative when I can't get Doms.
"A low tension, perlon-core string."
Sorry for the beginner question, but as a guitarist I wasn't aware violin strings even came in different tensions. How does one go about figuring out what is the right tension for a particular violin?
In general, it can be said that the higher the tension, the louder the sound. Unfortunately, high tension has a number of disadvantages. First of all, it makes playability and response worse. This is manifested mostly in the softer dynamic ranges and higher positions. Moreover, with increasing tension, the number of overtones in the sound decreases; the sound becomes rather strong, but does not project well. When the tension is too low, the sound is thin and sharp, lacking a robust core.
Of course, strength of sound and responsiveness are also influenced by factors related to the structure of strings and the materials used in making them.
Hi Bohdan:
That is a very interesting and useful set of observations. I'm interested in how the tension (actually the thickness for a given stress) causes a loss of overtones. Perhaps it is merely a matter of the increased bending stiffness taking the string away from an "ideal" infinitely flexible chord--toward a beam-bending vibrational model. Recently I discovered something very interesting (on the ukulele but I use violin strings for it:): for the lowest frequency string, a plain gut string strung at the same tension as a nylon sounded much better. Thick nylon strings at low stress just sound bad. (Of course gut has the same issues but seems to be not as bad--the d-string on a fiddle can be difficult in plain gut). I also notice this with classical guitars--the g-string is often insipid and I wonder why it isn't wound, as with steel-string guitars.
On the violin, with winding, you can do all sorts of things to keep the stress of the core up while bringing the frequency down. It definitely seems that the lower frequencies are the biggest challenge--if one is trying to accomplish good sound with non-wound strings. But I haven't found any wound strings that have the same richness as plain gut. Winding seems to sap the higher overtones. If you do a fast fourier transform of a violin spectrum, would this be shown to be true?
One final thing that I found surprising is just how high the stress on a violin e-string is: It seems to work out to around 1400 MPa! (and the guitar e the same). I finally bothered to calculate it. Even more surprising, it seems that a gut e is well over 210 MPa.
I tried thes Brilliant strings and they are terrible on my fiddle. The G strings cracks with very little bow pressure. The A string is a little more stable but it will also crack quite a bit. At first I thought it was my fiddle but nope, a set of Evah's or Vision's removed any issue.
They don't come in different guages from what I could tell and they have a very low tension feel to them when tuned up. It takes very little pressure to depress the strings to the fingerboard which I kinda liked, but the G and A string are both for the birds, totally unuseable on my fiddle.
Maybe I had a bad batch but these strings did nothing for me.
I'm giving the Warchal's another go while I wait for Passione for viola to come out. I'm such a gut guy.
My previous set was from Duglecki. Not such a fan of the naked gut D (way too bright on my instrument), but I'm all over the naked gut A. A gorgeous string.
I strung my modern, 16" viola with Brilliants last night. I immediately liked them, even though they haven't been played in. (I'm not using the A string--naked gut is staying!). The are very responsive and have a nice sound so far. I will play them more over the next few days and see how they go.
BTW, I tried a set of Warchals before--Karneol--and the G-string pooped out in about 3 weeks. But I like the Warchal company philosophy and wanted to give their products another try. I did like how the Karneol's sounded, too.
I'm currently trying a set of the new Warchal Brilliant Vintage strings and really like them so far. response is better and I really think they add more color and roundness to the sound.
I've only had them on for about 15 hours of playing and they have stabilized well.
They are supposed to be tension adapted for antique instruments, so I'm not sure if that means higher or lower, but either way its a positive change for me.
I still prefer the gold Obligato E.
" Ametyst: A low tension, perlon-core string. In feeling, it comes closest to playing on Eudoxa. "
After never playing on gut strings before I just tried Eudoxas, and I am just in love with the sound and can't figure out what all the fuss is about. It only took a few days for them to stabilize, and while they violin needs slight tuning day to day, its stable throughout a two hour practice.
If by "feeling", do you mean the tension and elasticity, or do you mean how it sounds as well?
www.quinnviolins.com/qv_violinwarchal_main.shtml
Sells singles as well as sets for very reasonable prices. I have never had dealings with them, however so I don't know about their policies and workability and what-not.
Warshal strings and Tartini Green...
Many positive comments have been posted here on various Warshal strings. To get musicians to try them, Warshal has a trial program, where they offer one set of strings per user at very reduced cost. Go here http://www.warchal.com for more info.
(yes, I am a fan, guess my next sets will be at retail from a shop I like: Quinnviolins http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_violinwarchal_main.shtml ; )
On a rosin note - remember Tartini Green rosen? It was discontinued 5 years ago or so, but is now available again as 'Andrea A Piacere' from Quinn, who even offers it in half-cakes for 21.99. good job Quinn.
Actually you can get excellent prices on Warchal strings from here: http://www.gostrings.com/waamviset.html. As far as I can tell, you can get all the Warchal strings at trial prices from this site. I am a convert to Warchal Ametyst after going poor using Evah's!
would u recommend these over gut strings? i have a 90 year old japanese hand made violin. very beautiful and respond very well to pirrazis, do u recommend these strings, if so which ones? and do you think its work it? i just bought about 70 dollars worth of strings haha
I would classify these as bargain-steal budget strings. They are nothing special, but they provide nothing but the best standard responsiveness and tonal quality, especially for the price. I outfit all of my beginner students who are on a budget on Warchals. They last a long time, and they bring out the best in any beginner model violin. I've been pleased with how happy they make my students when I string them up with a set.
This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Violinist.com is made possible by...
Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases
Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins
Subscribe
Laurie's Books
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
August 13, 2006 at 06:22 AM · Wow I had never even heard of Warchal strings. But it is kinda difficult to find a low tension string (which my violin desperetally needs. Maybe when I need new strings (unfortunetally I just purchused new ones) Ill try some of theirs.