I recently bought a new set of strings (called `dominants` or something) but they dont seem any different to the factory standard ones,at least not enough to justify how much I paid for them. My violin still sounds very begginerish and was wandering what strings will improve the sound?

More details, please, Mike: what violin have you got and how long have you been laying?

Liz

I`m afraid to say, changing the strings won`t have much effect on your violin. Strings are only a small part of this all. If you really need your violin to sound better, you have to get a new violin.

plus you are using dominant - the most popular, standard, quality strings available. Best strings on a very cheap violin is not worth it - it`s rather a waste of money.

Here is a Guide on purchasing a violin if you are interested.
http://soloviolin.com/music/index.php?showtopic=170

All the best

James - Administrator
Violinist Forum - http://soloviolin.com

Hmm, James, I have to say that your article is grossly over simplified and very out of date!

liz

Hmm, James, I have to say that your article is grossly over simplified and very out of date!

liz

Thank you.
I`ve already defended your criticism of Nox`s article in another thread.
James
Administrator
http://soloviolin.com
http://solomusic.net

And I`ve responded

Liz

I recently tried helicore strings on a Gama2 on which I had previously had Dominants. It soon became apparent that they were much louder when played in the same way, which was either going to deafen me or give me a permanent pained expression.

I put back on a set of Dominants that I luckily had on a old spare fiddle, and can play again without pain. Next time I need to change I may go the other way and try some gut core strings, though I`m happy enough with the sound I get with Dominants.

In the meantime the spare fiddle which was previously rather quiet now has the Helicores, which has beefed up the volume a bit, though it doesn`t beat the Gama for tone it is at least a workable backup.

I`d say different strings will affect the character of your instrument, but it takes experience to tell the difference sometimes.

I`m looking at purchasing obligatos becaus ethey`re on sale and i have heard good things about them. But, I am also looking at a new instrument.. worth it?
Mia

Depends on how long it`s going to be before you get your new instrument. Sorry, not an easy answer.

lzi

I don`t know what kind of violin you`re going to get, but I`ll tell you my experience with strings.

All violins I`ve bought came with Dominants. I heard that they were the best strings around and all the pros use them and stuff. So I kept them on. Most violins are strung with Dominants. They work well with almost every instrument, and they`re cheap too. Even Itzhak Perlman uses them on his Stradivari.

Then I wanted to try the Obligatos. I, like you, heard good things about them. I bought a set with silver G, D, aluminum A, and goldsteel E. They are the best synthetic strings I have ever played with. Everything was so effortless. I felt like I was cheating. So I stuck with Obligato. It`s worth the price.

About a year later, I had to play a contemporary concerto with my school orchestra. I wanted some power since lots of the time, people sitting in the audience couldn`t hear me. I made sure my violin was set up exactly how I wanted it, got some rosin that someone in this forum suggested, and went around trying strings. I was close to going with a metal string that I know is LOUD, and then I found a gut string called Eudoxa. I never thought a gut string could be so powerful. I sounded amplified!

Now I use Eudoxa with an Obligato goldsteel E, because they`re cheaper than Obligato, and suit my style. I don`t mind tuning often. If you`ve all ready tried the Dominants, take a shot a Obligato. I don`t recommend Eudoxa. They sound wonderful, but are pretty hard to find, and your teacher/concertmaster might forbid them. Some people use a kind of string by Thomastik that comes in two sets. The red set is darker-sounding, and the blue one is more brilliant. Since they have the same string tension as Dominant, you can use them at the same time as Dominant. You can mix red and blue to your liking. I...don`t like them. On my instrument they sound harsh.

Harvey

thanx harvey, I`m sure i could get ahold of some eudoxas... I haven`t heard of my teacher forbidding them, and well i won`t worry about the concertmaster thing either cuz that`s me. Which is partially why i`m looking into new strings... I actually think that one of the instruments at my house has eudoxas on it (or maybe a mixture of eudoxa and something else) I didn`t put the strings on, and it`s not my instrument. I`ll take your opinion in to account.
thanks,
Mia

I just bought a gama violin online that said it was fitted with dominant strings; however, when I got it in the mail the red tag around the neck of the violin was red and said infield. Those are different if I`m not mistaken. Are the dominants preferable? I don`t think I`ve used them before and I`m unsure of the tone.

That`s interesting. We have had many Gamas as you can imagine since we`re the UK dealers and never any with Infeld strings, just one cello with Infelds.

Anyway you can tell easily enough whether or not they really are infelds by the colour.

Infelds reds are dark and my feeling is that they may not suit Gamas very well. You could try getting a set of dominants out of Cristian Gliga (assuming that`s who it came from) if you don`t like the Infelds.

Liz