Next time i change my violin strings (not for a few months yet) i think i'm gonna try evah pirazzis... my teacher uses them and loves them and i'm really not fussed on my current choice of Helicores. They're ok, but meh. I need something that'll bring the sound out of my quiet violin - and the description of them seems that theyre loud and brilliant sounding etc.?

Anyway! i was looking at a set for £42 and there's the choice of 'silvery steel' or 'gold alloy'... which i assume is the E string. i don't really get what it is though. is there any real sound difference?

If you're about to have a new bridge fitted, you'd do far better to tell the luthier that your violin is too quiet - strings make a huge difference under the ear, but not so much from a few metres away. A good set up, however, will bring out the character you want and the luthier will be able to choose the best strings to work with the set up he's put on your fiddle.

To answer your original question, I tried Evah's but didn't really get on with them.

I'm guessing a new set up would cost a lot more though? I'd love to be able to afford it but i can barely even afford the bridge change (i'm 17 so £70 is a lot of money for me!!)
Also i bought the violin from him - wouldn't he have made the improvements in the first place?

They're not improvements, as such - they're making the fiddle sound how YOU want it to sound, so until you tell him (more bass, or a clearer treble or whaever) he won't be able to do it.

You're right that it will cost more, though, but probably not loads more than the bridge plus the Evah's which, if your fiddle is a bit muffled sounding, aren't going to provide the solution I fear.

No harm in asking him!

I recently paid £155 plus vat to have my violin set up. Its made a massive difference. I didnt want my sound changing but the bridge etc was the original from 1927 and the bridge was low. I also wanted to change to Evahs as reccomended by my teacher. Ive Dominants at the mo, I mentioned this to the Luthier and he said to try it as it was after the set up and we would try differrent strings before I bought them, which I thought was really good of him. I tried the Evahs and they certainly do sound loud, they made my violin sound harsher as it is already bright so I tried Obligatos and I really liked them.

I really can't afford that right now
I'll ask my teacher about the Evahs, though she thought until the other day that i already had Evahs on there

I can't stress enough just how different a particular make of string can sound on different violins. Every violin has its own character and the strings that suit your teachers violin may not suit yours.

Evah Pirazzi strings, as good as they are, are high tensions strings aimed at the soloist performer who wants maximum boost to the volume of their violin over the top of a 100+ piece orchestra.

Regrettably, it takes time and costs money to find the right string ffor you and your violin. However, a well set up instrument is really the place to start. No it isn't cheap to have done, but getting the bridge and soundpost right to begin with will actually save you a lot of money and string trials later on.

*nods*

I had a 'set-up' on my new violin and changed the strings to find Obligatos suited both the violin and my ear (the set up, new bridge and sound-post moved, cost £25 but it was done by the luthier who made the violin in the first place). I did have Pirazzi strings on another violin and they were too 'grown up' for me!