Does any one know how often you should change fiddle strings, or does it not matter? Also could any one recomend the best strings to buy, I play a lot of folk but also play classical for school so I need some new strings that will suit both well. I've heard that Dominant Strings are good?
It matters, but it depends on the strings and how much you play them. Gut strings will wear out sooner than steel, with synthetic somewhere in between.
I change mine about twice a year, but I only play for an hour or two each day. Some pros who play for five or six hours a day change their strings every month or two. You should notice a change in the strings when they start to wear out, they will lose some of their tone and intonation becomes more difficult.
Dominants were a standard in classical playing for a long time. They are a good place to start. These days there are many good strings out there and the choice of strings is a highly personal one, so it's really impossible for someone to tell you what strings you should use.
The strings need to match your fiddle, your style, and your personal taste. Experimenting with different strings is really the only way to find the ones that are right for you. Dominants aren't a bad place to start.
I use Dominants (except for the E--Pirastro Gold seems much better to me). They sound very harsh and brassy when you first put them on, but after few days they mellow out.
There's no such animal as a "best string". It depends on what sort of music you play, how you play, and the instrument. Having said that, many brands of strings can be used happily over a wide range of music types. Dominants have been around nearly for ever and a large number of players from all types of music are very happy with them. Go slightly up-market and Pirastro's Obligatos (synthetic core) give a good rich sound, are stable, and last well. Then there are good steel-core strings such as Helicor and Spirocore which are also used by classical as well as folk musicians.
How long should you change strings? Basically when the tone starts to deteriorate - i.e. goes dull and quiet - and this is usually long before they break. I tend to change synthetic core strings about every 6-9 months or so on a basis of 2-3 sessions a week plus home practice, but I would expect steel core to last a lot longer. It also depends on how you play. Long finger nails and "hammering" the strings with a high action will shorten string life. Don't forget that almost all strings take a few days to play in and acquire their true tone and stability. Dominants, for instance, tend to sound bright and metallic for the first few days, but then become mellow. You can hurry up the process with several hours hard playing at the start.
Excellent advice so far. The whole matching-string-to-fiddle is a bit of an art---is your fiddle bright and needs strings to mellow it out, or is it already mellow and dark and needs strings to brighten it up? Mine is more of the latter, so my last strings were Larsens and I liked them very much. This time I might try Vision Titaniums and see how they do.
If you have a violin shop nearby, try bringing your fiddle to them and letting them recommend something. Shops see so many fiddles that they usually have a good idea of what would make one sound its best.
Oh yeah, one way to tell when your strings need changing is to play a short note on an open string and listen to the ringing of the string as the note fades away---if the tone drifts upward, you need a new string.
I've shopped around abit and decided that infeld reds had the best sound and feel on my instrument. Tried dominants and *hated* them. Interestingly, a friend asked to play my instrumetn and commented on how pleasant it was to play, how it seemed to just "want the ntoes to come out right". later that evening we were talking strings and i mentioned how I was a fan of infeld reds and this friends response was how annoying they were to play on...I decided just to keep my mouth shut.
I've found that how often is just not as critical on a fiddle. Most of the problems caused by old strings are because the mass is no longer consistent across the string and adjacent strings will not be true to each other when played on different frets. Unless yours has frets, you're already manually compensating for the pitch differences.
I use gut strings and I live in a dry climate. If I don't buy them from a shop that turns them over pretty often, they are prone to prematurely break at the peg box.
I supposed if your instrument can't produce a decent tone on its own, you might get addicted to the bright sound of new strings. It might eventually be cheaper to find a nicer axe then keep shelling out for a new set of strings each week.
New strings
New strings
Does any one know how often you should change fiddle strings, or does it not matter? Also could any one recomend the best strings to buy, I play a lot of folk but also play classical for school so I need some new strings that will suit both well. I've heard that Dominant Strings are good?
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by Nicky.B
Re: New strings
It matters, but it depends on the strings and how much you play them. Gut strings will wear out sooner than steel, with synthetic somewhere in between.
I change mine about twice a year, but I only play for an hour or two each day. Some pros who play for five or six hours a day change their strings every month or two. You should notice a change in the strings when they start to wear out, they will lose some of their tone and intonation becomes more difficult.
Dominants were a standard in classical playing for a long time. They are a good place to start. These days there are many good strings out there and the choice of strings is a highly personal one, so it's really impossible for someone to tell you what strings you should use.
The strings need to match your fiddle, your style, and your personal taste. Experimenting with different strings is really the only way to find the ones that are right for you. Dominants aren't a bad place to start.
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by Marklar
Re: New strings
I use Dominants (except for the E--Pirastro Gold seems much better to me). They sound very harsh and brassy when you first put them on, but after few days they mellow out.
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by mickray
Re: New strings
There's no such animal as a "best string". It depends on what sort of music you play, how you play, and the instrument. Having said that, many brands of strings can be used happily over a wide range of music types. Dominants have been around nearly for ever and a large number of players from all types of music are very happy with them. Go slightly up-market and Pirastro's Obligatos (synthetic core) give a good rich sound, are stable, and last well. Then there are good steel-core strings such as Helicor and Spirocore which are also used by classical as well as folk musicians.
How long should you change strings? Basically when the tone starts to deteriorate - i.e. goes dull and quiet - and this is usually long before they break. I tend to change synthetic core strings about every 6-9 months or so on a basis of 2-3 sessions a week plus home practice, but I would expect steel core to last a lot longer. It also depends on how you play. Long finger nails and "hammering" the strings with a high action will shorten string life. Don't forget that almost all strings take a few days to play in and acquire their true tone and stability. Dominants, for instance, tend to sound bright and metallic for the first few days, but then become mellow. You can hurry up the process with several hours hard playing at the start.
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by lazyhound
Re: New strings
Some cross-posting there, but we all tell the same story!
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by lazyhound
Re: New strings
Excellent advice so far. The whole matching-string-to-fiddle is a bit of an art---is your fiddle bright and needs strings to mellow it out, or is it already mellow and dark and needs strings to brighten it up? Mine is more of the latter, so my last strings were Larsens and I liked them very much. This time I might try Vision Titaniums and see how they do.
If you have a violin shop nearby, try bringing your fiddle to them and letting them recommend something. Shops see so many fiddles that they usually have a good idea of what would make one sound its best.
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by kennedy
Re: New strings
Oh yeah, one way to tell when your strings need changing is to play a short note on an open string and listen to the ringing of the string as the note fades away---if the tone drifts upward, you need a new string.
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by kennedy
Re: New strings
I've shopped around abit and decided that infeld reds had the best sound and feel on my instrument. Tried dominants and *hated* them. Interestingly, a friend asked to play my instrumetn and commented on how pleasant it was to play, how it seemed to just "want the ntoes to come out right". later that evening we were talking strings and i mentioned how I was a fan of infeld reds and this friends response was how annoying they were to play on...I decided just to keep my mouth shut.
# Posted on October 7th 2007 by matan_fiddler
Re: New strings
I've found that how often is just not as critical on a fiddle. Most of the problems caused by old strings are because the mass is no longer consistent across the string and adjacent strings will not be true to each other when played on different frets. Unless yours has frets, you're already manually compensating for the pitch differences.
I use gut strings and I live in a dry climate. If I don't buy them from a shop that turns them over pretty often, they are prone to prematurely break at the peg box.
I supposed if your instrument can't produce a decent tone on its own, you might get addicted to the bright sound of new strings. It might eventually be cheaper to find a nicer axe then keep shelling out for a new set of strings each week.
# Posted on October 9th 2007 by monkey440