Heyo all! My fiddle is a new instrument, set up about a little over a year ago, and it has a pretty bright, sharp tone, with fairly powerful volume - it can pierce through a lot of noise to be heard, anyhow. Now as the case may be, she's been swaddled in Helicore heavy tension strings from the inception, and I wanted to try something radically different, figuring it's time for a switcheroo.
I had a gut-string discussion a while ago, so I'm kind of revisiting the synthetic side of that issue. I want a somewhat older, thicker, more resonant sound to the fiddle - pipesy is really the key, I play with a lot of drones and frequently tune down. I've read up a bit, pondered, and was wondering if there were any thoughts had about the following outfit:
Super Sensitive Sensicore G and D
Pirastro Aricore A
Prim E - as odd as it sounds, but I recently heard Caoimhin o'Raghallaigh in concert and he said his Prims gave him a really old-timey, heavily accented feel. That accent was most powerful on the E so that's where I'm sticking, anyhow; I put my fingers to it and it was like nothing I could imagine!
So there we are. If I did my math right I should be paying about 30 bucks for all, which shouldn't be exorbitant considering what whole sets of each might be instead. Questions/comments/ideas/mebbesos? Any input would be grand
Although the string makers provide matched sets which are ok for most purposes, there's no law stopping you from mixing strings to get the special tonal effect you need, or to suit your fiddle.
An example (from the classical violin world) - it's not unknown, especially among the Russian violinists, to have steel E and A coupled with top quality gut-cored G and D. Those two lower strings drive the tone of the rest of the instrument.
Cellists are forever mixing strings, more so than fiddle players, for some reason. In fact, I'm about to do it today for a much-needed change of strings on my cello.
Sounds like a fun experiment. The Aricore A might blend better with gut G/D strings, but who knows. You never really know how a string is going to sound on a particular fiddle until you string it up, so it's all guess work until then.
The Prim E should sound pretty fiddle-esqe, maybe a bit bright for the other strings, but if you're wanting the E to jump out that's probably what you'll get.
If you want an authentic traditional fiddle sound, you might as well string up some Super-Sensitive Red Labels. Nothing says old-timey fiddle like crappy steel strings
On second thought, forget about Red Labels. Some fiddlers really do like them, but if your fiddle already sounds bright and sharp then Red Labels will sound extremely harsh.
@lh: Yeah, I think the deep tone on the low strings should kind of provide a warm sound environment for the upper register to play off, with that droney sympathetic-y thing going on. Hopefully, anyway >_>
@Scratch: Yeahyeah, the Prim is pretty bright, but what it actually manages to pull off is a tone approximating the heavily-accented 'pop' that pipers get off high notes. Plus, that dichotomy between the kind of deep gut-style strings and the sparkly E should be a pretty cool gig, methinks.
There's a reason why most fiddle players *don't* mix their strings, Trevor, and I think it probably *would* be different for cellists ...
String sets are not only matched for tone, but also for pitch. Depending on the type of string/make of string you use, the various notes will be in slightly different places as you play up the fingerboard. With fiddle, there is a lot of playing with the first finger holding down two adjacent strings simultaneously. Sometimes with other fingers too (especially the third). If you do not have matched strings the intonation is more likely to be out. Personally, I would never mix strings on a fiddle for this reason.
And I wouldn't have a gut G and D and a steel A, for tone reasons as well as pitch. Fiddles - violins, specifically - are made to resonate around the notes of D and A more than other notes. You really want the two strings related to those notes to have similar tone qualities.
I have several fiddles that I use for different purposes. I have an old (c 1750) English fiddle that sounds absolutely gorgeous, but only when strung with something like Eudoxas or the like - I use Olive label strings on it. The fiddle I use most of the time is a modern one and is strung with Spirocore, and actually sounds good for most purposes.
Oh, and by the way, Trevor, when you talk about "Russian Violinists", you're not talking about that *awful* Vengerov chap are you? Ugh, shudder. Personal taste, I know ...
No, Ben, I was referring to Russian violinists of an older generation. I'll try to recall the names of one or two.
Oh, and thanks for the explanation. Cellists, as you know, often use the thumb position in the higher registers (for the uninitiated, this is when the cellist places the side of his/her thumb across adjacent strings to act as a capo). If the two strings turn out to be slightly off pitch relative to each other then it's easy enough for the cellist to adjust the angle of the thumb across the strings to compensate.
And I forgot to say that I've changed my cello strings to Spirocores for the A and D, and Helicores for the G and C - all steel-cored of course, but the Helicores are a little more flexible than the Spirocores and so are more suitable for the bass register (on my cello at any rate).
Oh go for it and make em all different.
I'd go for a Prim A, Helocore D, whatever you want G, maybe Jargar, and a Gold E.
I almost never use the E that comes with.
Well, benhall and all, let's find out how they all like one another fingering and feelwise - went for the gusto and ordered the lot of them just this evening. I'll keep us all posted while the opinions and experiences keep rolling.
I don't like Aricores much except the steel one to go with teh Eudoxas..
you said you are looking for a pipey sound...but think more of your ornamentation...I still say Dominants with gold label e or the jargar forte if you want a bit tighter sound...
when it all comes down to it, you will not be able to change the inherent sound of your violin TOO much, no matter what the string manufacturers want you to believe...a little yes but not soooo much..in other words if your fiddle is bright, it will always be..you could put "darker" sounding strings on it, like the Aricores or Obligatos, ut it will still be a bright fiddle...and I guess that is why I like Dominants...they allow your fiddle to be what it was meant to do
I was chatting to a violin maker / repairer / dealer etc. geezer the other day and wingeing about how much of his stock is tied up in strings, and I agree. I think the whole thing is such a white whale.
It's like on that other thread about missing the sound on your e-string. 95% there advocate that it was about changing your strings, hardly any of it was about learning how to play a little better.
agree about the e-string...I don't know anybody around here who has trouble with their e string and there are all types...changing the attack of the bow solves the problem...but yes, it is hard to make a wound e whistle..too bad they sound like crap
if you want to sound like a piper listen to some pipe music and place some of the ornaments where they do...flicks et al
Sunnybear, thanks for mentioning those names using the mixed steel A/E gut D/G setup. All world-class players, of course, but I think it's reasonable to assume that what they did would have influenced others down the line, especially their pupils. Hence the possible emergence of a "Russian school". You get these national "schools" also in the details of the bow-hold: the Russian v the French styles, for example.
All of which, I must say, is fairly academic as far as most folk musicians are concerned!
yes, academic I agree, but still interesting...ever see Annie Sophie Mutters bow hold???
Pirastro came out with (yet another) new string set last year, the Wondertone "Solo"..they said it was designed to emulate the old setup of Eudoxa G and D and a steel A...my son has the set on his fiddle...(I got free samples)...I do not care for them much at all..another high tension string that feels like barbed wire under your fingers...loud, too...
I really wish that fiddlers/violinists would get over the idea that they are not playing a trumpet and quit trying to make their fiddles as loud as one by using all these new high tension high tech strings...of course I blame marketing though, not the fiddler....
I always use Prims, *except* for the E string. On my fiddle, they never seem to sound like siblings of the other three. They’re a bit tinny sounding and more likely to whistle. However, one of my friends takes my Prim E’s to tone down the squawky high end of her fiddle.
Ya gots ta match the string to the fiddle. And to the bridge. And the soundpost. Guitars are *so* much simpler!
"yes, academic I agree, but still interesting...ever see Annie Sophie Mutters bow hold???"
from what I have seen of her bow grip, she uses a modified Russian hold, in which the bow set below the third joints in the right hand, but she seems to use a real high wrist, and her fingers are nearly wrapped all the way around the bow...describing this, one would think she has a death grip on the poor thing, but evidently not, listening to her play...
"if you want to sound like a piper listen to some pipe music and place some of the ornaments where they do...flicks et al"
Of course! But there's more to it than merely the ornamentation and articulation - things like that accented pop on the high notes, or the ringing of drones to provide a rich harmonic "bed" for the tune. Maybe I should just get a Hardanger fiddle, eh? : P
"I always use Prims, *except* for the E string. On my fiddle, they never seem to sound like siblings of the other three. They’re a bit tinny sounding and more likely to whistle. However, one of my friends takes my Prim E’s to tone down the squawky high end of her fiddle."
They do have a very...treble-y sound to them. I guess...yeah, as you said, gotta match fiddle and strings and all. Again, it's gonna be a learning experience!
It's worth pointing out that with the likes of Oistrakh, Heifetz, Perlman, Zuckermann, Mutter etc, and the fiddles they play, these guys could string their instruments with almost anything up to and including garden wire and still blow everyone else out of the water
It just occurred to me, of all things, that I should probably get used to peg tuning with synthetic cores, given their greater flexibility. Has anybody here made the transition from steel to synth and had a crazy adjustment period getting it down without fine-tuners?
Hopefully hopefully strings arrive tomorrow, and we can start tuning up and breaking them in...
DtM, if you go down the route of tuning by the pegs - which is what you've got to do with gut anyway - you'll soon find out if your pegs need looking at by a luthier
At the other end of the scale I know a classical soloist who tunes his steel-cored Helicores on stage with the pegs.
I am happy with Eudoxa E, wound and A steel core. Jargur DG. I allmost allways use the pegs for tuning, a judicious use of soap and chalk facilitates this.
For the record, new strings came and went on today - I was pretty shocked tuning up ("I turned your peg three inches around, HOW ARE YOU STILL FLAT"), but once they actually reached pitch it warn't too bad. I did indeed have to retune after pretty much every set, consistently ending up a couple cents flat on at least one string...which I would retune, throwing the other two around it out of whack : P
Sound-wise, the Sensicores are actually way thicker than I anticipated, and unfortunately, I have my doubts about the tone off the D - it seems pretty weak, and for some reason it's really tough to tuck into the sound, with rolls and bowed triplets both lacking the snap I've come to associate with them. The G sounds, oddly enough...more metallic than the Helicore G did >_> The A and E on the other hand are pretty snazzy, with the Prim in particular sounding very fine; I honestly don't know how some people fault the Prim E for bad tone or squeaking problems, as it's working grand for me as is. We'll see how they settle in...
What ever other strings i have on, the eudoxa wound E has impressed me so much that i wouldnt dream of anything else.Has anyone found a string they rate higher?
DtM, some new strings have a bright metallic sound, which disappears in a few days, and with some others the tone starts off relatively dull and gets richer as time goes by, so give your new ones a week or so to settle in. Lots of hard playing in the first few days is a great help.
Gut strings seem to take a day or two longer than synthetics for the tuning to stabilize, but a lot of it is to do with the care you take to fit them to the pegs. Avoiding any contact with the inside of the peg box, having no more than 3 or 4 widings on the peg, and making sure the grooves in the nut are well lubricated with soft pencil lead, are among the more important points.
Once gut strings have settled in I'm not aware that they need retuning in the course of a session any more frequently than synthetics do.
A major factor affecting the quality and volume of tone a fiddle player produces, a factor which is often overlooked, is the bow. Some bows can kill the tone, others can open it up. The only way is to try out various bows. Any good bow dealer will happily let you spend a couple of hours trying out various bows.
A tip someone gave on this website a while ago on chosing a bow is to play and compare 2 or 3 bows in a lower price range, select the best and compare it with 2 or 3 in the next price range up. Again select the best and repeat the process in successive price ranges until you can't tell the difference between the set you're trying out and the best of the previous set. That best one of the previous set will be the one for you at the price you're prepared to pay.
Hmm - I don't know how much bows cost where you are, Dan, but that's a very cheap bow where I come from. The one I'm just about happy with cost more than four times that amount. My cheapest cost the equivalent of about 800 dollars and is just about adequate in an emergency.
Hehe...everything I play is on the bottom end (budgeting for a high school senior with no job!). My luthier set me up with a 1200-dollar fiddle and that bow, and he says as a fiddle player himself, those are pretty much the lowest things he can satisfactorily play himself without thinking, "Ew, beginner gear." Good enough for me then!
Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Heyo all! My fiddle is a new instrument, set up about a little over a year ago, and it has a pretty bright, sharp tone, with fairly powerful volume - it can pierce through a lot of noise to be heard, anyhow. Now as the case may be, she's been swaddled in Helicore heavy tension strings from the inception, and I wanted to try something radically different, figuring it's time for a switcheroo.
I had a gut-string discussion a while ago, so I'm kind of revisiting the synthetic side of that issue. I want a somewhat older, thicker, more resonant sound to the fiddle - pipesy is really the key, I play with a lot of drones and frequently tune down. I've read up a bit, pondered, and was wondering if there were any thoughts had about the following outfit:
Super Sensitive Sensicore G and D
Pirastro Aricore A
Prim E - as odd as it sounds, but I recently heard Caoimhin o'Raghallaigh in concert and he said his Prims gave him a really old-timey, heavily accented feel. That accent was most powerful on the E so that's where I'm sticking, anyhow; I put my fingers to it and it was like nothing I could imagine!
So there we are. If I did my math right I should be paying about 30 bucks for all, which shouldn't be exorbitant considering what whole sets of each might be instead. Questions/comments/ideas/mebbesos? Any input would be grand
--Dan
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Although the string makers provide matched sets which are ok for most purposes, there's no law stopping you from mixing strings to get the special tonal effect you need, or to suit your fiddle.
An example (from the classical violin world) - it's not unknown, especially among the Russian violinists, to have steel E and A coupled with top quality gut-cored G and D. Those two lower strings drive the tone of the rest of the instrument.
Cellists are forever mixing strings, more so than fiddle players, for some reason. In fact, I'm about to do it today for a much-needed change of strings on my cello.
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Sounds like a fun experiment. The Aricore A might blend better with gut G/D strings, but who knows. You never really know how a string is going to sound on a particular fiddle until you string it up, so it's all guess work until then.
The Prim E should sound pretty fiddle-esqe, maybe a bit bright for the other strings, but if you're wanting the E to jump out that's probably what you'll get.
If you want an authentic traditional fiddle sound, you might as well string up some Super-Sensitive Red Labels. Nothing says old-timey fiddle like crappy steel strings
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by Marklar
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
On second thought, forget about Red Labels. Some fiddlers really do like them, but if your fiddle already sounds bright and sharp then Red Labels will sound extremely harsh.
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by Marklar
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
@lh: Yeah, I think the deep tone on the low strings should kind of provide a warm sound environment for the upper register to play off, with that droney sympathetic-y thing going on. Hopefully, anyway >_>
@Scratch: Yeahyeah, the Prim is pretty bright, but what it actually manages to pull off is a tone approximating the heavily-accented 'pop' that pipers get off high notes. Plus, that dichotomy between the kind of deep gut-style strings and the sparkly E should be a pretty cool gig, methinks.
--Dan
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
There's a reason why most fiddle players *don't* mix their strings, Trevor, and I think it probably *would* be different for cellists ...
String sets are not only matched for tone, but also for pitch. Depending on the type of string/make of string you use, the various notes will be in slightly different places as you play up the fingerboard. With fiddle, there is a lot of playing with the first finger holding down two adjacent strings simultaneously. Sometimes with other fingers too (especially the third). If you do not have matched strings the intonation is more likely to be out. Personally, I would never mix strings on a fiddle for this reason.
And I wouldn't have a gut G and D and a steel A, for tone reasons as well as pitch. Fiddles - violins, specifically - are made to resonate around the notes of D and A more than other notes. You really want the two strings related to those notes to have similar tone qualities.
I have several fiddles that I use for different purposes. I have an old (c 1750) English fiddle that sounds absolutely gorgeous, but only when strung with something like Eudoxas or the like - I use Olive label strings on it. The fiddle I use most of the time is a modern one and is strung with Spirocore, and actually sounds good for most purposes.
Oh, and by the way, Trevor, when you talk about "Russian Violinists", you're not talking about that *awful* Vengerov chap are you? Ugh, shudder. Personal taste, I know ...
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by ethical blend
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
No, Ben, I was referring to Russian violinists of an older generation. I'll try to recall the names of one or two.
Oh, and thanks for the explanation. Cellists, as you know, often use the thumb position in the higher registers (for the uninitiated, this is when the cellist places the side of his/her thumb across adjacent strings to act as a capo). If the two strings turn out to be slightly off pitch relative to each other then it's easy enough for the cellist to adjust the angle of the thumb across the strings to compensate.
# Posted on September 16th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
And I forgot to say that I've changed my cello strings to Spirocores for the A and D, and Helicores for the G and C - all steel-cored of course, but the Helicores are a little more flexible than the Spirocores and so are more suitable for the bass register (on my cello at any rate).
# Posted on September 16th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Oh go for it and make em all different.
I'd go for a Prim A, Helocore D, whatever you want G, maybe Jargar, and a Gold E.
I almost never use the E that comes with.
-dogma
# Posted on September 16th 2007 by dogmageek
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Well, benhall and all, let's find out how they all like one another fingering and feelwise - went for the gusto and ordered the lot of them just this evening. I'll keep us all posted while the opinions and experiences keep rolling.
--Dan
# Posted on September 16th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Yes, please let us know. I'm really curious as to how it will turn out. Even if it doesn't work well, you'll likely learn something.
# Posted on September 16th 2007 by Marklar
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
You go for it, Dan. And, like Screetch, I'm curious to know what happens next ...
# Posted on September 16th 2007 by ethical blend
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Lazyhound..
Oistrakh was fond of that setup...Eudoxa G and D and steel e and A
I also think Szeryng was...
Heifitz used Eudoxas and swithcehd to Olives later (I think)
Perlman was one of the first to use Dominants...before that, Eudoxas...as was Pinky Zimmerman
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
but to the topic,
I don't like Aricores much except the steel one to go with teh Eudoxas..
you said you are looking for a pipey sound...but think more of your ornamentation...I still say Dominants with gold label e or the jargar forte if you want a bit tighter sound...
when it all comes down to it, you will not be able to change the inherent sound of your violin TOO much, no matter what the string manufacturers want you to believe...a little yes but not soooo much..in other words if your fiddle is bright, it will always be..you could put "darker" sounding strings on it, like the Aricores or Obligatos, ut it will still be a bright fiddle...and I guess that is why I like Dominants...they allow your fiddle to be what it was meant to do
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
I was chatting to a violin maker / repairer / dealer etc. geezer the other day and wingeing about how much of his stock is tied up in strings, and I agree. I think the whole thing is such a white whale.
It's like on that other thread about missing the sound on your e-string. 95% there advocate that it was about changing your strings, hardly any of it was about learning how to play a little better.
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by llig leahcim
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
agree about the e-string...I don't know anybody around here who has trouble with their e string and there are all types...changing the attack of the bow solves the problem...but yes, it is hard to make a wound e whistle..too bad they sound like crap
if you want to sound like a piper listen to some pipe music and place some of the ornaments where they do...flicks et al
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Sunnybear, thanks for mentioning those names using the mixed steel A/E gut D/G setup. All world-class players, of course, but I think it's reasonable to assume that what they did would have influenced others down the line, especially their pupils. Hence the possible emergence of a "Russian school". You get these national "schools" also in the details of the bow-hold: the Russian v the French styles, for example.
All of which, I must say, is fairly academic as far as most folk musicians are concerned!
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
yes, academic I agree, but still interesting...ever see Annie Sophie Mutters bow hold???
Pirastro came out with (yet another) new string set last year, the Wondertone "Solo"..they said it was designed to emulate the old setup of Eudoxa G and D and a steel A...my son has the set on his fiddle...(I got free samples)...I do not care for them much at all..another high tension string that feels like barbed wire under your fingers...loud, too...
I really wish that fiddlers/violinists would get over the idea that they are not playing a trumpet and quit trying to make their fiddles as loud as one by using all these new high tension high tech strings...of course I blame marketing though, not the fiddler....
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
“Prim E - as odd as it sounds,...”
I always use Prims, *except* for the E string. On my fiddle, they never seem to sound like siblings of the other three. They’re a bit tinny sounding and more likely to whistle. However, one of my friends takes my Prim E’s to tone down the squawky high end of her fiddle.
Ya gots ta match the string to the fiddle. And to the bridge. And the soundpost. Guitars are *so* much simpler!
"yes, academic I agree, but still interesting...ever see Annie Sophie Mutters bow hold???"
Tell us about it.
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Bob himself
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
from what I have seen of her bow grip, she uses a modified Russian hold, in which the bow set below the third joints in the right hand, but she seems to use a real high wrist, and her fingers are nearly wrapped all the way around the bow...describing this, one would think she has a death grip on the poor thing, but evidently not, listening to her play...
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
"if you want to sound like a piper listen to some pipe music and place some of the ornaments where they do...flicks et al"
Of course! But there's more to it than merely the ornamentation and articulation - things like that accented pop on the high notes, or the ringing of drones to provide a rich harmonic "bed" for the tune. Maybe I should just get a Hardanger fiddle, eh? : P
"I always use Prims, *except* for the E string. On my fiddle, they never seem to sound like siblings of the other three. They’re a bit tinny sounding and more likely to whistle. However, one of my friends takes my Prim E’s to tone down the squawky high end of her fiddle."
They do have a very...treble-y sound to them. I guess...yeah, as you said, gotta match fiddle and strings and all. Again, it's gonna be a learning experience!
--DtM
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
"But there's more to it than merely the ornamentation and articulation "
not really
remember what instrument you are playing, and have at it
# Posted on September 17th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
It's worth pointing out that with the likes of Oistrakh, Heifetz, Perlman, Zuckermann, Mutter etc, and the fiddles they play, these guys could string their instruments with almost anything up to and including garden wire and still blow everyone else out of the water
# Posted on September 19th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
well, maybe that is true enough, but they still want the best possible sound/tone they can achieve from their fiddles
also worth noting that Hilary Hahn, of the newer generation chooses Dominats with the Gold Label E as does Midori, while Joshua Bell is using Evahs...
# Posted on September 19th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
It just occurred to me, of all things, that I should probably get used to peg tuning with synthetic cores, given their greater flexibility. Has anybody here made the transition from steel to synth and had a crazy adjustment period getting it down without fine-tuners?
Hopefully hopefully strings arrive tomorrow, and we can start tuning up and breaking them in...
--DtM
# Posted on September 19th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
DtM, if you go down the route of tuning by the pegs - which is what you've got to do with gut anyway - you'll soon find out if your pegs need looking at by a luthier
At the other end of the scale I know a classical soloist who tunes his steel-cored Helicores on stage with the pegs.
# Posted on September 19th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
I am happy with Eudoxa E, wound and A steel core. Jargur DG. I allmost allways use the pegs for tuning, a judicious use of soap and chalk facilitates this.
# Posted on September 19th 2007 by piobagusfidil
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
For the record, new strings came and went on today - I was pretty shocked tuning up ("I turned your peg three inches around, HOW ARE YOU STILL FLAT"), but once they actually reached pitch it warn't too bad. I did indeed have to retune after pretty much every set, consistently ending up a couple cents flat on at least one string...which I would retune, throwing the other two around it out of whack : P
Sound-wise, the Sensicores are actually way thicker than I anticipated, and unfortunately, I have my doubts about the tone off the D - it seems pretty weak, and for some reason it's really tough to tuck into the sound, with rolls and bowed triplets both lacking the snap I've come to associate with them. The G sounds, oddly enough...more metallic than the Helicore G did >_> The A and E on the other hand are pretty snazzy, with the Prim in particular sounding very fine; I honestly don't know how some people fault the Prim E for bad tone or squeaking problems, as it's working grand for me as is. We'll see how they settle in...
--DtM
# Posted on September 20th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
What ever other strings i have on, the eudoxa wound E has impressed me so much that i wouldnt dream of anything else.Has anyone found a string they rate higher?
# Posted on September 20th 2007 by piobagusfidil
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Helicores, even though they are a wound steel string are surprisingly warm in tone
is the Sensicore D aluminum or silver wound (or none of the above?)
# Posted on September 20th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
DtM, some new strings have a bright metallic sound, which disappears in a few days, and with some others the tone starts off relatively dull and gets richer as time goes by, so give your new ones a week or so to settle in. Lots of hard playing in the first few days is a great help.
Gut strings seem to take a day or two longer than synthetics for the tuning to stabilize, but a lot of it is to do with the care you take to fit them to the pegs. Avoiding any contact with the inside of the peg box, having no more than 3 or 4 widings on the peg, and making sure the grooves in the nut are well lubricated with soft pencil lead, are among the more important points.
Once gut strings have settled in I'm not aware that they need retuning in the course of a session any more frequently than synthetics do.
A major factor affecting the quality and volume of tone a fiddle player produces, a factor which is often overlooked, is the bow. Some bows can kill the tone, others can open it up. The only way is to try out various bows. Any good bow dealer will happily let you spend a couple of hours trying out various bows.
A tip someone gave on this website a while ago on chosing a bow is to play and compare 2 or 3 bows in a lower price range, select the best and compare it with 2 or 3 in the next price range up. Again select the best and repeat the process in successive price ranges until you can't tell the difference between the set you're trying out and the best of the previous set. That best one of the previous set will be the one for you at the price you're prepared to pay.
# Posted on September 20th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
ahhh..the bow..
most fiddlers say "can I play your fiddle"
I say "can I play your bow"
# Posted on September 20th 2007 by Sunnybear
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Day two: tone improving, sort of equalizing between the strings. Pitch basically stable, articulation on D (aluminum wound) still iffy...
Of the bow: 400 dollars of pernambuco, so it better draw out all the sound I damn well want it to : P
--DtM
# Posted on September 22nd 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
That's the right attitude - you control it, it doesn't control you.
# Posted on September 22nd 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Hmm - I don't know how much bows cost where you are, Dan, but that's a very cheap bow where I come from. The one I'm just about happy with cost more than four times that amount. My cheapest cost the equivalent of about 800 dollars and is just about adequate in an emergency.
# Posted on September 22nd 2007 by ethical blend
Re: Stringing a fiddle - mixed sets?
Hehe...everything I play is on the bottom end (budgeting for a high school senior with no job!). My luthier set me up with a 1200-dollar fiddle and that bow, and he says as a fiddle player himself, those are pretty much the lowest things he can satisfactorily play himself without thinking, "Ew, beginner gear." Good enough for me then!
--DtM
# Posted on September 22nd 2007 by Dan the Man