Violin make and strings?

[Deltafour1212]

Just curious

What is the make of Hanneke violin and strings in (Hector The Hero)? and Casey’s violin and strings used in Tennessee Waltz?

Thank you

Carl

[Roland White]

Hi Carl, I’m pretty sure Casey uses Prim Strings except for the E. I’m not familiar with what Hanneke plays on. My string of choice is the Perlon Style String It has a non steel rope core, made of synthetic materiel. I like them because they last long are very stable, resonate, and have beautiful tone. Its unfortunate that strings are just expensive enough to make it hard to experiment. If you get out to enjoy music and like what you hear you might ask the players what they are using and get some feedback that way. Be sure and check back in as I’m sure Casey will chime in and let you in on what he plays. Thank you and keep enjoying FV dot com. Forum Moderator

[Pat Willey]

Hi Roland. Nice to know Casey uses Prim. About 15 years I talked to Byron Berline and said he used Prim strings for his fiddle. That’s two reputable recommendations for Prim. I have seen where other fiddlers have recommended them, but I have never tried them. Maybe someday…?

[DanRoseberry]

I am so glad to hear this question asked. I would like to hear all of you guys chime in on string choices. I have a set of Evah’s on my little fiddle. It is a Cannone copy from Infinite Strings and is somewhere between a 7/8 and 4/4. It came with Evah’s on it and I have been afraid to change brands. However, I have been thinking about taking the leap. There are a lot of forums out there with good string advice, but nobody seems to be addressing strings from the fiddler’s perspective. I have never tried Prim’s or Perlon strings on any of my instruments, but maybe I should give them a go.

[Casey Willis]

I do use Prim mediums except for a Thomastik Dominant wound E string (#129 or #130). I’ll pose the question to Hanneke and see what she uses. Stay tuned…I’ll update here once I hear back.

[Deltafour1212]

I am also curious what make violin Casey and Hanneke have and everyone else who post on this discussion.

Carl

[Casey Willis]

Hi Carl.

Per Hanneke today:
Strings: Kaplan Vivos by D’Addario. Medium tension

Fiddle: Bob Childs, Cambridge, MA (2001)

And my fiddle is likely a mid-grade German student model from around 1910. It has a replaced top with workmanship less than the original. I use a L.R. Baggs Peizo bridge and a Joe Mills custom made condensor mic suspended over the F-hole. Depending on the situation, I’ll use one or the other of the signals…or a mix of both.

My fiddle isn’t worth much, but I wouldn’t take money for it…!!!

Hope that helps, sir. Thanks!

[Deltafour1212]

Just goes to show you, it’s not the cost of violin that gives it its sound but the player.

[Casey Willis]

Thanks, Carl….and I’d say the recording engineer has a hand in it as well 😉

[DianeG]

Hi Casey and others. Yes, the D’Addario, Kaplan (newer generation of synthetic core) strings the Vivo and the Amo are exceptional strings for fiddles. Medium tension strings. The Vivo for darker instruments too, “lighten’s” them up a bit and Amo for brighter instruments to bring them to a more mellow tone. Various results, use at your own risk …depending on your fiddles arching of the plates, tone woods and over-all setup.
Casey…next time you change your E string…try out the Lenzner Goldbrokat E string, two tensions. 0.26 lighter gauge and the 0.27 a bit heavier gauge. Fabulous E string…we put them on all our instruments both for fiddlers and for classical players. Cheap too, about $2 bucks per string.
Enjoy. Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal
Bobs Violins and Bows
San Diego County, CA.

[Roland White]

Hi DianeG, Thanks for the additional comments on Strings. I really like it when players post their experience with string products, saves us fiddlers testing time, money and gives us insights to your history and knowledge of strings without paying the price. Thanks for sharing. Best Roland FV Moderator.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Roland White.

[DanRoseberry]

Here we go again…
Two more questions about strings:

1) What strings does Kevin use?

2) What is an economical place to purchase strings? (I have bought them for my various instruments from different places, and they are all quite expensive. I am hoping you guys might have a recommendation that might save me money.)

[Ringlets]

I found this on Kevin’s website: http://www.kevinburke.com/tools-of-the-trade/

But up to a certain level, I suspect that it’s the player, not the tools, that makes the music sound so good. *sigh

[Roland White]

HI Dan, I’ll pass that question on to Casey and Kevin on what type string he uses but I can make some recommendations for purchase. GO Strings in NY consistently has the best prices I’ve found. I’ve had folks tell me Shar Music and SW Strings are good outlets too. Strings seem to steadily go up in price but also up in quality for the better sets, lasting longer and much more stable in tuning. Good luck with your search Dan. Best Roland

[DanRoseberry]

Thanks Roland. I have been using both Shar and SW and they are both good to deal with, but I have not checked out GO Strings yet. Thanks for the tip; I will give them a try.

[DanRoseberry]

Quick question for Roland — You mentioned that you like the Peter Infeld strings. Which ones do you play, the Red’s, Blues, or Pi’s?

[Roland White]

Hi Dan, I play on the Pi’s. I love the resonance and tone wearability and stability. They last really good too. It’s to bad that strings are not more reasonably priced. Its hard to spend over $100 bucks just to try them out. I would also say that I’m lucky they sound so good on my fiddle. Let me know what works for you. Best regards, Roland

[Wafflestomper]

@Roland
How often do you have to change those? Are they pretty resilient?

That fiddle I bought had a set of Infelds, not sure which version. Even though they were pretty old.. I kinda liked the way they sounded.

I put a set of Helicores from another instrument, and they were way way too bright.. its a pretty loud fiddle.
Obligato’s warm it up quite a bit, but I really like the way those Infelds felt softer under the fingers, kinda like fancy Prims.

[Roland White]

Hi WS, one of the things I like best is they last. The G & D go for 8 months or more depending on how much you play. For me that was about 1-2 hours a day for practice. I would wear out the A & E in about 4 months so I replaced with Vision Titanium. The strings do have a soft feel settle in quickly and hold tuning with a nice full warm rounded sound balanced through all the strings. The Platinum E string though expensive is the sweetest I have played. I have tried the Eva Pirazzi string sets and they take a long time to settle in and are coarse sounding compared to the Pi’s. Hope that helps, as I mentioned to Dan, I wish us fiddlers could get them for 1/2 price to test them out, but I don’t see them doing that. But if you have a good fiddle I think its worth it. Have fun, Roland

[DanRoseberry]

Roland, I was able to find a set on Amazon for $89.50 with free shipping. I ordered the set with the platinum E. My fiddle is a bit small. Not quite a 7/8 but close. I’ve been using the Evah golds on it and they sound pretty good except for the D. They are pretty hard for my left hand fingers too. I have Obligatos on it now but I’m still not 100% happy with it so I am looking forward to trying the PI’s. Here goes…

[DianeG]

Hi…I’ll chime in on strings as well. My husband, Bob, is a luthier and we have a violin shop out here in SoCal…San Diego area. Bob has set up several 7/8’s violin with heavy tension stings. They sound great and work well with the 7/8 size violin. Medium are ok as well, but there is a big increase in tone production with the heavy tensions. You might try a set of heavy’s on your smaller fiddle and see how they work. Not all brands come in heavy (AKA Starks). The new D’Addario, Kaplan line…the Amo’s and the Vivo’s are great strings and relatively new to the market. Not sure what Ebay sells them for. BTW, stay away from China sales…the has been some coping from the industry even down to the packaging from some of the countries and they are really cheap strings.
One of the E strings that we have discovered that are sweet and true are the Lenzner (German), Goldbrokat E strings…either the 0.26 gauge (medium) or the 0.27 gauge (heavy). These really last and are highly recommended. I use the 0.27 on my three old fiddles. Dan your question to Roland regarding the strings that Kevin uses. Each fiddle is so different in construction…the arching of the plates, tone woods, workmanship…so that a string set on one fiddle which might sound fabulous…might not sound so great on your violin. You can however find different brands that will help to give you a brighter tone or a more mellow tone, this depends on what your looking for in tone. This also depends on the strings core material. Either synthetic (to imitate gut) or braided steel core or plain steel core. So many choices…it’s like tunes…so many tunes not enough time. Strings….so many strings not enough money….: >) LOL. Hope this helps.
Sometimes the big internet stores have sales and that can be a good time to pick up a couple of different sets.
Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

[DanRoseberry]

Thanks for the tip Diane. I have never tried stark on any of my instruments. I would have never thought of putting a heavy string on a a smaller instrument, but it is worth a try. If the PI’s don’t pan out I might give them a try next. I did pick up a Goldbrokat E awhile back but don’t think I used it. I used the Evah gold E that came with the set. I will give it a try. Thanks for the tips!!

[Roland White]

Hi DianeG and Dan, Thanks for posting string comments, I learn something every time I read a posting. Yes the Pi’s can be that price for $89 but it’s not a Silver D or Platinum E unless you specify so I hope you get what you need.

I think the Silver D is better on my fiddle, than the Aluminum. Best price for those better strings is about $109 that I’ve found on Go Strings. If you register on their site they are always sending 10 & 15% OFF coupons. Believe it or not they settle in very quickly, usually put on in the am and tuned up throughout the day and they are pretty stable by afternoon. You can also play them in with a couple hours of practice. Have fun

Good luck with the Pi’s Dan, Let me know how you like them. Best Roland

[DanRoseberry]

Roland, I checked and the set I ordered did have the Platinum E and Silver D so I should be alright. It does have an Aluminum A though. I’ll let you know how they sound on my fiddle. If I hate them I can always trade them with a different fiddle I have coming back from my luthier in Nashville. It will have a new set of Evah’s on it. I have a Gold E that is still good I can slap on it too if need be. I also found an unused Goldbrokat E if that doesn’t work either. Stay tuned! Dan

[DanRoseberry]

Good News, Roland!

My new Peter Infeld string set came in the mail and I have had a couple of days to play them in on my 7/8 fiddle. So far, so good! The set did come with the Silver wound D and the Titanium E, and so I ended up getting a pretty good deal on them after all ($89.50 with free shipping through Amazon, from Newstarr Violin Strings in North Wales, PA).

After several re-tunings they seem to be settling in nicely with little need for tweaking. At first it seemed the Aluminum A string was louder and maybe brighter than the rest, however it does blend well with the set. D/A double stops are great. The Silver wound G&D are mellow and resonant. The Titanium E string is smoother and not as bright as the Evah Gold E I have been playing. It took a little getting used to but it is sounding really nice now. While most of my playing is in first position, I am extremely pleased so far with the tone in the upper positions — the best I have attained on this instrument after trying four other kinds.

Now here is something I did not expect — my 7/8 fiddle has had a nasty wolf tone on the D string at G/G# that always drives me crazy. After two visits to the luthier and after trying four other sets of strings I had begun to replace the instrument with another, and is being set up now by my luthier. Well, the wolf is almost completely gone with the Peter Infeld Pi’s. I hope it stays that way. If it does, I can’t imagine I would ever put anything else on this particular fiddle in the future.

I also noticed immediately how much easier they were on my left hand fingertips, than the Evah’s I had been playing. I don’t want to wear out this thread Roland, but I would appreciate it if you could share your thinking about switching out the A&E strings for Vision Titanium’s when they wear out. (Also, would those be from their solo set or their orchestra set?) I am wondering if it is because of the Aluminum wound A not sounding as nice as the Vision A?

At any rate thanks for your input everybody, and especially you Roland. It really helped me to think through my string purchase. Regards, Dan

[John W.]

i might be a little nervous about buying strings on amazon, the ceo of shar music recently sent an email saying that there alot of cheap chinese knock offs on amazon. He says the packaging looks identical. buyer beware!
and because of this he has a smoking deal going right now.
i am not affiliated with shar, but i live nearby and have been to the store a few times. it is the most amazing violin shop, and the people and prices are great.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by John W..
• This reply was modified 8 years ago by John W..
• This reply was modified 8 years ago by John W..

[Casey Willis]

Thanks for that update, John. I had no idea. Hmmmm…now you have me wondering if I’ve been playing on knock-off strings for a while…

I’ll definitely order my next set from Shar or Southweststrings…

Cool.

[Pat Willey]

I think Diane is right about string choice being very specific to a violin. I suggest you might benefit from checking with a good luthier for string recommendation before spending a lot of time and money experimenting. My luthier felt the stiffness of my old German violin said it would do best with a higher tension string. I do not normally play this fiddle, it is my ‘camp’ fiddle. I normally play my Czech fiddle with Evah’s.

I used this string chart:
http://www.violinstringreview.com/uploads/1/5/0/1/15014224/tension_set_201409.png

to direct me to strings with higher tensions. I did try several sets of strings before finding the right set, Thomastik Superflexible (one of the higher tension sets) with a gold-plated Pirastro E-string. I would probably have benefited from testing some starks rather than medium tension strings. I have found that either an aluminum wound Kaplan E string, or gold plated E string keeps my fiddle from whistling (could be partly technique?). I am sure there may be a better string choices somewhere out there, but I just cannot test everything.

[Sunbreaker8898]

My old fiddle teacher, who did lots of country/bluegrass stuff, swore by D’addario Zyex strings. I just bought some to put on my fiddle after using Helicores, which I hate xD.

[Sunbreaker8898]

I’m curious about what fiddle Niall uses. I know it’s a 5-string, and it has a very unique tone.

[Casey Willis]

Hi, Sunbreaker. Niall generally plays an AES violin. He plays one London 5 and one Dahlia 5. Strings are D’ Addario Helicore, and shoulder rest is Mach One. Tuner is also a D’ Addario Micro Violin Tuner. Cheers!

[Sunbreaker8898]

I might have to save up for a London after buying a new bow

[antonvon]

Can anyone identify what chin rest Kevin uses? I tried one like that a long time ago and it was perfect but I can’t find it anywhere – except on Kevin’s fiddle!
all info most most welcome!

[Casey Willis]

I’ll ask him. A couple lessons currently out for his review.

Keep your chin up…

[antonvon]

Thanks a lot Casey!!!

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