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Gut,synthetic Or Steel Strings For Violin?

which is the best one

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6 Responses to “Gut,synthetic Or Steel Strings For Violin?”

  1. February 8th, 2010 at 8:35 pm

    guitarqu says:

    steel strings worked out best for me

  2. February 8th, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    deddradi says:

    It really depends on your budget & level of playing. If you are a beginner, then steel core strings are ok (their cost is very low). However, if you can afford it, synthetic core strings are much better. Steel core strings tend to sound strident & metallic-y, while synthetic core strings are more warm & flexible.
    Synthetic core strings are used from beginner to even the most advanced players. The price range varies, depending on the quality. You can purchase them from anywhere between $15-100 for a set. On the lower end there are strings like the D’Adarrio strings. Somewhere in the middle are the Thomastik Dominant strings, which are considered somewhat of a standard Violin & Viola string brand. These are pretty good too. Most expensive are some of the premium synthetic Pirastro strings such as the Evah Pirazzi’s & Obligato, or the Larsen violin strings. As a Violist, I use a combination of Evah Pirazzi’s & Larsens.
    And then there are gut. The only maker of gut strings that I know of is Pirastro (The Eudoxa, Oliv, & Passione are all gut or gut-core strings). However, there may be others. Gut are brilliant sounding, big in tonal volume, & rich in overtones. There is also a downside to gut strings, & that is that they are sometimes unreliable. They are often hard to keep in tune, which is why it is not recommended that anyone but highly advanced players use them. The result of these strings can be great, though!
    I guess there really is no answer to your question. Hopefully this will give you a general idea. =)
    Sydney

  3. February 9th, 2010 at 4:04 am

    lorileih says:

    I agree…match your strings to your instrument…steel strings sound best for fiddles & many of the fiddlers are switching over to synthetic strings. I was using Gut strings & switched over to Obligato strings with an Olive gold E…I LOVE them & would never switch back to gut!!! Once they get stretched out they rarely go out of tune..if only a bit..they are wonderful if you have a concert outside, I have never had one to break & simply have to change it because, it’s time. I cannot praise them enough. You simply have to try them & select what suits your violin’s sound best. These are less expensive than the gut strings I was using too…I believe a set is about $60.00…I was paying about $100 for gut…I keep a set of “stretched” out strings in my case should one break…but it has not happened. You can google up information about strings in many violinist websites which give good info on the sound & properties of different brands….Happy playing!!!

  4. February 9th, 2010 at 8:04 am

    brian777 says:

    The string has to be matched to your instrument. What sounds great on somebody else’s violin may sound awful on yours so you will have to experiment a bit.
    The synthetic strings like Dominants are used by a large number of people from students up to world class soloists. They only cost about $40 per set in the US so I would start with those & see what you think. (They cost about $75 per set in Australia so I cannot afford them. )
    The professionals that use the Dominants usually use another brand of E string like Gold Label or Jargar ; The dominant E string is not quite good enough.
    There is an interesting discussion on violinist.com about who uses which strings . You may find it very interesting to see what the famous violinists use on their very expensive violins :http://www.violinist.com/discussion/resp…
    Leave the steel strings for the fiddlers & the gut strings for the period instruments.

  5. February 9th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    techfidd says:

    Gut strings are used for baroque instruments; so unless you’re going to specialize in baroque performance practice, you wouldn’t use these. [See a photo of a modern baroque violin at the bottom of the page at http://beststudentviolins.com/early.html ]
    Steel strings are used for fiddle & also put on student instruments, as the steel string is the most stable & the cheapest.
    Most players use the wound string with a perlon synthetic core. This is the Dominant, Evah Pirazzi, etc. This is what you should use.
    So no string is “best”; it all depends on what sort of music you’re playing.

  6. February 9th, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    cherylpe says:

    I have use Thomastik Dominant strings for years & love how they sound. They have the feel & sound of gut but have a synthetic core, so they tend to last a lot longer. They can be a bit more expensive, howerver…running anywhere from $30 up to $60 per set. You also don’t want to use the “fine tuners” with them…only pegs.

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