Strings have been covered in other discussions, but I hope to focus on
cheap strings in this one. I asked a famous Irish fiddler with several CDs
out what he uses and the answer was Prims (not Evah Pirazzi or some
other really posh brand). That got me thinking, as the saying goes.
Since I'm getting tired of buying $30 A strings all the time, I'm thinking about
going that way too. Are there fiddlers hear that use el cheapo strings
like Prim or Lenzner Goldbrokat or that sort of thing?
I don't want to hear about Eudoxa, Vision, etc etc - we all know about
those. They cost more than my bow!
Prims are popular around here - a lot of the local old-time fiddlers use them (the good ones anyway). Helicore heavies are also el cheapo and muy bueno
When I say "$30" I mean $30 Australian, which would probably
buy a Big Mac and a small coke in Dublin.
Haha. That's right...so if you buy el cheapos in Oz, you can still have the Big mac, a *large* coke, coffee, apple pie, eat them in a heatwave...and have change left over. What a great country eh!
I use the Lenzner Goldbrokat E string in combination with Thomastik Vision Titanium solo G, D and A. Then you have a set that is much cheaper than Eudoxa or Evah Pirazzi and only slightly more expensive than a set of Dominants (which are crap).
I started with Prim in my early days. Wouldn't wanna go back to them now. Hard work both for the left hand and the bow hand.
Just checked, the price of a Prim set is about € 30, and the set I just described costs ca. € 38. Not much of a difference, hey? And with much better quality and more possibilities....
Maybe not in the el cheapo category, but compared to Evahs (£49.25 with gold E at Stringmail - ouch!!!!!!!!), Tonicas are quite reasonable (£35.75) and I like them better.
I’ve used Prims for over thirty years. I’ve occasionally tried something else, including Evah P, but nothing suits me as well as the Prims. I know a few pros who also use them. You just have to suit yourself and your instrument. I seem to recall paying around 30 USD for the last set.
Huh - I didn't realise Prims were that expensive. One of my
goals (still elusive) is to find a good A string that lasts at least
6 months. If it lasted that long, it wouldn't even have to be
'el cheapo'. What I bugs me is playing an A string for 3 to 6 weeks
and having it wear through the casing.
Yeah that Lenzer E is the sh*t isn't it? I'd like to strongly advise against the rest of the pack though. I got it once thinking, hey for a few bucks how bad can they really be? I found out the answer in a hurry.
They're sort of middle of the road price-wise, but Pirastro Tonicas are pretty terrific. They seem to jive really well with my fiddle at least. They're the first wound strings I've used where the A string didn't wear out and fray under my 2nd finger.
There an E on the market that is pretty well guaranteed not to whistle and seems to give a good solid tone with most strings. It's a wound E (not all that common) made by Pirastro; it has purple winding at the tailpiece end and green at the other. It was designed to work with Pirastro's gut A,D and G, but as I said it's good with other strings. I can't remember the price, but if you've got a problem with a whistling or ghosting E, this may be the one for you.
I'm playing an unwound Infeld Blue E at the moment, but that other Piastro
wound E string - the Universal has worked well for me in the past and is
pretty durable. I have more 'ghosting' than whistling at this stage.
By the way, my Infeld Blue Hydronalium A string self-destructed in 6
weeks recently. I knew it was going to happen; my fingertips were grey after the first 2 hours of playing on it.
I just bought a Jarger A to replace it, then I remembered the last one
died in 8 weeks. It's interesting that the Jarger sounds weak and dull
with the two Infeld Blue strings, but fit in nicely with Helicore mediums.
This suggests to me that the Spirocore A might be a good match with
the Blues.
Something to bear in mind when you hear about the make of strings fiddler X uses is if he plays regularly with a pickup in a band. As soon as you start pumping the signal through the electronics you're going to get a very different sound to what you hear acoustically. Some strings may be better with pickups than others, but may not be quite so appropriate when playing acoustically on a particular fiddle - obviously you can't keep swapping strings depending on whether or not you're using a pickup.
El cheapo fiddle strings
El cheapo fiddle strings
Strings have been covered in other discussions, but I hope to focus on
cheap strings in this one. I asked a famous Irish fiddler with several CDs
out what he uses and the answer was Prims (not Evah Pirazzi or some
other really posh brand). That got me thinking, as the saying goes.
Since I'm getting tired of buying $30 A strings all the time, I'm thinking about
going that way too. Are there fiddlers hear that use el cheapo strings
like Prim or Lenzner Goldbrokat or that sort of thing?
I don't want to hear about Eudoxa, Vision, etc etc - we all know about
those. They cost more than my bow!
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Hup
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Prims are popular around here - a lot of the local old-time fiddlers use them (the good ones anyway). Helicore heavies are also el cheapo and muy bueno
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by airport
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
When I say "$30" I mean $30 Australian, which would probably
buy a Big Mac and a small coke in Dublin.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Hup
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Goldbrokat E strings work great on my fiddle.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by polkageist
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
El cheapo?
Is that the brand that the Spanish use on their guitars?
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
When I say "$30" I mean $30 Australian, which would probably
buy a Big Mac and a small coke in Dublin.
Haha. That's right...so if you buy el cheapos in Oz, you can still have the Big mac, a *large* coke, coffee, apple pie, eat them in a heatwave...and have change left over. What a great country eh!
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
...and the heatwave is at Christmas too.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Value for money
I use the Lenzner Goldbrokat E string in combination with Thomastik Vision Titanium solo G, D and A. Then you have a set that is much cheaper than Eudoxa or Evah Pirazzi and only slightly more expensive than a set of Dominants (which are crap).
I started with Prim in my early days. Wouldn't wanna go back to them now. Hard work both for the left hand and the bow hand.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Henk Bos
Compared
Just checked, the price of a Prim set is about € 30, and the set I just described costs ca. € 38. Not much of a difference, hey? And with much better quality and more possibilities....
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Henk Bos
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Maybe not in the el cheapo category, but compared to Evahs (£49.25 with gold E at Stringmail - ouch!!!!!!!!), Tonicas are quite reasonable (£35.75) and I like them better.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by RichardB
When is cheap cheap........
What is cheap if the Prims still cost € 30......
Any cheaper offers?
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Henk Bos
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Hey, Prims are good strings. They don't have a rope core, but they're great, and at least moderately priced as others have pointed out.
Next I'll read that Larsen and Jargars are cheap strings too because they're not rope core...
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by reenactor
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
I’ve used Prims for over thirty years. I’ve occasionally tried something else, including Evah P, but nothing suits me as well as the Prims. I know a few pros who also use them. You just have to suit yourself and your instrument. I seem to recall paying around 30 USD for the last set.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Bob himself
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Huh - I didn't realise Prims were that expensive. One of my
goals (still elusive) is to find a good A string that lasts at least
6 months. If it lasted that long, it wouldn't even have to be
'el cheapo'. What I bugs me is playing an A string for 3 to 6 weeks
and having it wear through the casing.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Hup
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Duijera Dubh - yes, I'm happy to living in the land of Oz,
even with the refreshing change that's just happened in my
home country.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Hup
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Feels pretty safe doesn't it.
# Posted on January 20th 2009 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Yeah that Lenzer E is the sh*t isn't it? I'd like to strongly advise against the rest of the pack though. I got it once thinking, hey for a few bucks how bad can they really be? I found out the answer in a hurry.
They're sort of middle of the road price-wise, but Pirastro Tonicas are pretty terrific. They seem to jive really well with my fiddle at least. They're the first wound strings I've used where the A string didn't wear out and fray under my 2nd finger.
# Posted on January 21st 2009 by _Steph_
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
While I'm sadly due for a change, I've had the same set of Tonicas on my fiddle now for about a year and a half. No wear marks at all.
# Posted on January 21st 2009 by _Steph_
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
That's awesome Steph - maybe I'll try them. The only wound A I've tried
that doesn't quickly self destruct is a Spirocore but I didn't like the sound
# Posted on January 22nd 2009 by Hup
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
There an E on the market that is pretty well guaranteed not to whistle and seems to give a good solid tone with most strings. It's a wound E (not all that common) made by Pirastro; it has purple winding at the tailpiece end and green at the other. It was designed to work with Pirastro's gut A,D and G, but as I said it's good with other strings. I can't remember the price, but if you've got a problem with a whistling or ghosting E, this may be the one for you.
# Posted on January 22nd 2009 by Trevor Jennings
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
I'm playing an unwound Infeld Blue E at the moment, but that other Piastro
wound E string - the Universal has worked well for me in the past and is
pretty durable. I have more 'ghosting' than whistling at this stage.
By the way, my Infeld Blue Hydronalium A string self-destructed in 6
weeks recently. I knew it was going to happen; my fingertips were grey after the first 2 hours of playing on it.
I just bought a Jarger A to replace it, then I remembered the last one
died in 8 weeks. It's interesting that the Jarger sounds weak and dull
with the two Infeld Blue strings, but fit in nicely with Helicore mediums.
This suggests to me that the Spirocore A might be a good match with
the Blues.
# Posted on January 22nd 2009 by Hup
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Hup, who is the "famous Irish fiddler" you referred to ?
# Posted on January 26th 2009 by hauke
Re: El cheapo fiddle strings
Something to bear in mind when you hear about the make of strings fiddler X uses is if he plays regularly with a pickup in a band. As soon as you start pumping the signal through the electronics you're going to get a very different sound to what you hear acoustically. Some strings may be better with pickups than others, but may not be quite so appropriate when playing acoustically on a particular fiddle - obviously you can't keep swapping strings depending on whether or not you're using a pickup.
# Posted on January 27th 2009 by Trevor Jennings