David, I've googled "Black Diamond". You might find #1 (Black Diamond Equipment Ltd) on the Google search list interesting. #6 on the list is Black Diamond Strings who appear to be a small USA firm specialising in strings for guitars and other fretted instruments. However, they also make a set of bluegrass silver-plated round wound fiddle strings. There is also a Black Diamond beer, which is how the name resonated with me.
I agree with your experience of Zyex. I used them a while ago, and they are indeed loud, but with little character, although they were stable in tuning and seemed to last a reaonable time. I think they would be most useful in an orchestral environment rather than in session playing (which is essentially one form of chamber music).
I'm forever trying out various strings but always wander back to Obligatos, which I currently have on my cello and both my fiddles. Obligatos are stable in tuning, have a tone that carries (not the same thing as "loud"), and last a fair time as well.
Obligatos - yes! just bought a replacement set but don't need to put them on yet. I've praised them before so if anyone from Pirastro is reading this can I have a free set please?
I've had very good luck with the D'Addario Pro Arte brand when buying for the instruments of the school orchestra I direct. They have that subdued perlon core sound that takes the edge off the tone of inexperienced players. I must say that I just hate the sound of old fashioned steel strings which are forever being given to people who walk into music stores and say they play traditional music. If you go back far enough everybody was playing on gut, and so I don't know why people keep thinking that traditional fiddlers automatically want a harsh, scratchy, steel sound killing their eardrums.
I once read, or was told by someone, that Obligatos are the closest in the synthetic core range to good gut, but with the advantage of being less susceptible to environmental conditions.
I'm not at all convinced by those who say that steel is louder than synthetic (or gut). Steel may well sound the louder right next to one's ear, but I think much of that loudness lies in the characteristic high frequencies (MickyMan's "scratchy, steel sound") which don't carry and so take energy away from the more important lower frequencies. It's no accident that classical soloists who arein the business of making themselves heard above an orchestra in a large concert hall without the benefit of a mic use top quality synthetic core or gut strings (you'll see them tune using the pegs).
There are other factors of course in a string player making themself heard - such as an instrument that is properly set up, bowing technique (for instance, pressing too hard with the bow will kill the tone and not release it), and certainly not of least importance the quality of the bow itself.
Regarding the longevity of gut versus synthetic core my opinion, based on my experience with good quality gut-core strings (Eudoxas) on my cello a few years ago, is that there isn't much between the two types. A synthetic core string will lose some of its tone quality after a few months, which should be noticed by a player who's paying attention, and so will be due for replacement. A covered gut string will behave in much the same way over a similar time scale. A bare gut string will eventually fray and snap (the fraying gives ample warning), but my cello experience (and that of my teacher) many years ago when I was using bare gut was that the bare gut would largely retain its tone until shortly before it gave up.
The main disadvantage of gut is that the tuning sometimes isn't stable, depending on temperature and humidity, which can be a right pain when playing in an orchestra, but not so much for a soloist who will often do a quick re-tune between movements of a piece. The second disadvantage is that good gut is expensive
But is gut per se necessarily at a disadvantage in a session? Unlike in an orchestra no-one is playing all the time for long periods without a break, so in any session you'll see fiddle players checking their tuning several times during the evening without any problem - and as for the steel-strung guitars ...! And in case anyone is bringing up that old story about gut (or synthetic core for that matter) being less responsive and "slower" than steel then the answer as far as I am concerned is that it is not, and they should pay a bit more attention to bowing technique.
Obligatos are wonderful on the fiddle I'm playing most - it's a big old Maggini copy. Dominants are too short for it - don't know why they make the G string so short. I find Dominants scratchy to the ear and they soon build up a layer of rosin for some reason. Obligatos and Evahs seem rarely to need cleaning. When I tried Evahs I thought they were terrific but I think they might suit a more brilliant style of playing than mine - I think Obligatos are yielding and sonorous and flatter my playing more - I'll leave the Evahs to Maxim Vengerov.
i've got some d'addario helicores which came highly recommended but i find them hard to play..i prefer more mellow sounding strings..any recommendations?
Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
Black Diamond were the worst strings that I ever tried.
# Posted on May 4th 2006 by dafydd
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
David, I've googled "Black Diamond". You might find #1 (Black Diamond Equipment Ltd) on the Google search list interesting. #6 on the list is Black Diamond Strings who appear to be a small USA firm specialising in strings for guitars and other fretted instruments. However, they also make a set of bluegrass silver-plated round wound fiddle strings. There is also a Black Diamond beer, which is how the name resonated with me.
I agree with your experience of Zyex. I used them a while ago, and they are indeed loud, but with little character, although they were stable in tuning and seemed to last a reaonable time. I think they would be most useful in an orchestral environment rather than in session playing (which is essentially one form of chamber music).
I'm forever trying out various strings but always wander back to Obligatos, which I currently have on my cello and both my fiddles. Obligatos are stable in tuning, have a tone that carries (not the same thing as "loud"), and last a fair time as well.
# Posted on May 5th 2006 by lazyhound
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
Obligatos - yes! just bought a replacement set but don't need to put them on yet. I've praised them before so if anyone from Pirastro is reading this can I have a free set please?
# Posted on May 5th 2006 by RichardB
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
I've had very good luck with the D'Addario Pro Arte brand when buying for the instruments of the school orchestra I direct. They have that subdued perlon core sound that takes the edge off the tone of inexperienced players. I must say that I just hate the sound of old fashioned steel strings which are forever being given to people who walk into music stores and say they play traditional music. If you go back far enough everybody was playing on gut, and so I don't know why people keep thinking that traditional fiddlers automatically want a harsh, scratchy, steel sound killing their eardrums.
# Posted on May 6th 2006 by MickyMan
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
I once read, or was told by someone, that Obligatos are the closest in the synthetic core range to good gut, but with the advantage of being less susceptible to environmental conditions.
I'm not at all convinced by those who say that steel is louder than synthetic (or gut). Steel may well sound the louder right next to one's ear, but I think much of that loudness lies in the characteristic high frequencies (MickyMan's "scratchy, steel sound") which don't carry and so take energy away from the more important lower frequencies. It's no accident that classical soloists who arein the business of making themselves heard above an orchestra in a large concert hall without the benefit of a mic use top quality synthetic core or gut strings (you'll see them tune using the pegs).
There are other factors of course in a string player making themself heard - such as an instrument that is properly set up, bowing technique (for instance, pressing too hard with the bow will kill the tone and not release it), and certainly not of least importance the quality of the bow itself.
Regarding the longevity of gut versus synthetic core my opinion, based on my experience with good quality gut-core strings (Eudoxas) on my cello a few years ago, is that there isn't much between the two types. A synthetic core string will lose some of its tone quality after a few months, which should be noticed by a player who's paying attention, and so will be due for replacement. A covered gut string will behave in much the same way over a similar time scale. A bare gut string will eventually fray and snap (the fraying gives ample warning), but my cello experience (and that of my teacher) many years ago when I was using bare gut was that the bare gut would largely retain its tone until shortly before it gave up.
The main disadvantage of gut is that the tuning sometimes isn't stable, depending on temperature and humidity, which can be a right pain when playing in an orchestra, but not so much for a soloist who will often do a quick re-tune between movements of a piece. The second disadvantage is that good gut is expensive
But is gut per se necessarily at a disadvantage in a session? Unlike in an orchestra no-one is playing all the time for long periods without a break, so in any session you'll see fiddle players checking their tuning several times during the evening without any problem - and as for the steel-strung guitars ...! And in case anyone is bringing up that old story about gut (or synthetic core for that matter) being less responsive and "slower" than steel then the answer as far as I am concerned is that it is not, and they should pay a bit more attention to bowing technique.
# Posted on May 6th 2006 by lazyhound
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
Obligatos are wonderful on the fiddle I'm playing most - it's a big old Maggini copy. Dominants are too short for it - don't know why they make the G string so short. I find Dominants scratchy to the ear and they soon build up a layer of rosin for some reason. Obligatos and Evahs seem rarely to need cleaning. When I tried Evahs I thought they were terrific but I think they might suit a more brilliant style of playing than mine - I think Obligatos are yielding and sonorous and flatter my playing more - I'll leave the Evahs to Maxim Vengerov.
# Posted on May 8th 2006 by RichardB
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
i've got some d'addario helicores which came highly recommended but i find them hard to play..i prefer more mellow sounding strings..any recommendations?
# Posted on May 31st 2006 by looci
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
tonicas
# Posted on May 31st 2006 by Sunnybear
Re: Set of Zyex for Fiddle Free to Good Home
thanks ill look into it
# Posted on May 31st 2006 by looci