My violin currently has Helicore strings on it, but I am keen to try something else that will give me a fuller tone, without losing the smoothness of the Helicores. I tried Dominants, but they sound very scratchy and not right at all for this instrument (a much-modified 200 year-old violin). It has a lovely mellow tone, and I'd like something that will allow me to make the most of it.

Any ideas, please?

You could try Pirastro Obligato. They work well on my English violin which is similarly around 200 years old.

Sounds like Larsen would work well but you should consider strings which enhance your violin's worse features rather than just those which complement its strengths. For example if your violin doesn't project awfully well then Dominants or Evahs might help. But I had a 300+ year old violin which sounds like it was similar to yours and Larsens really worked for it. They have a full, rich, but exceptionally sweet and rounded sound, particularly the G and D. I don't use them any more because my new violin just doesn't work with them but I would definitely give them a try if I was in your position.

my violin has a very mellow tone too, i use pirastro synoxa strings.

x

Thanks for these suggestions. A few additions for my Christmas list!

I like using Pirastro Eudoxa on my violin. It give my violin an absoloutely gorgeous tone when playing in high positions

I love gut strings, but hate all the problems they suffer from temperature and humidity changes - especially in the UK this time of year!

Pirastro Obligato are as close as you can get to Eudoxa, without all the associated expansion/contraction issues.

Eudoxa are soooooo good, I used them once for about 2 months in December/January which wasn't too much of a problem but as a year round string they're a bit rubbish! That's why I went over to Larsens actually but I might give Amanda's suggestion a try if they're in a similar sort of vein...