What's your string recommendation?

MacKeagan

Just curious to compare notes. Current setup 1-old no-name violin, possibly Juzek, very loud and dark (3/4 viola??). I have gone from Dominants to Preludes, and recently restrung with Thomastik Praezisions mediums. Like wise for violin 2, another no-name with a brighter tone. I feel the Praezisions have more "punch", while also having less sliding noises. Yours?

MacKeagan

Ah, I forget to mention--I am using those inexpensive carbon-fiber bows, if that makes a difference, and Hills' Dark rosin.

Jazzaferri

This from the violin player in our duo. Get a really good bow. His cost nearly 5k vs his violin at 3k (both several years ago.).

MacKeagan

Different (bow)strokes fer different folks, I guess. To be fair, I've never owned a bow that cost over $100 US, but I'm real pleased with the carbon fiber--good balance, good weight, nice straight sticks. And, far as I know, pernambuco wood is still on the endangered list. I read somewhere that in Mozart's day, bows were dirt cheap so when the hair went bad, they just burned them in the fireplace... :hmmm:

Jazzaferri

Robert said his bow made a huge difference then proceeded to show me playing the same thing with his old and new.

Like going from a base model Gitane to a great old Busato. Convinced me.lol

Mandobart

A basic rule of thumb for most fiddlers I know is 3:1 ratio; so play a $3000 violin with a $1000 bow. I know a bow freak in Lahaina who has sunk hundreds of thousands on bows. I play mostly 5-string 16" violas now, so I like a heavier viola bow with dark cello rosin. I like the Incredibow viola bow currently.

Mandobart

Here is another cool string option. I put Octave (not to be confused with octava) strings on my old, overly bright Roth student violin. These are an octave below regular pitch and bring a violin down into the cello range. Cool sound, but you have to amplify it to really hear it well. Aka "chin-cello."

AndyW

A number of players recommended "Dominant" strings to me, but I'm using D'addarios sets for now. I 'd like to try a 'heavy gauge" set , wondering if hat would improve projection / tone etc. Though my fiddles are both very old, low-budget no-namers (about £70 each) and bows are cheap new beginners bows (£15 each) -Andy-

Jazzaferri

I just asked Robert (he is classically trained with. BA in violin performance if that matters) and he uses Evah Pirazzi (spelling may be off a bit) regular but they run about 100 a set.

He says they give a fairly bright sound and are more for solo work than Orchestral.

MacKeagan

Never tried Pirazzis. They probably sound great. I just put the Praezisions on both my fiddles, and of course I'll want to wear them out, but I might consider the Pirazzis.
Like the octave-strings idea, too--wonder how they'd sound on a viola?

Mandobart

They also make octave strings for viola (C-G-D-A vs G-D-A-E). Scroll down to the bottom of the link. Same pitch as a 'cello, but of course not the same timbre on a smaller bodied instrument.