I have a new set of the above strings which I managed to get at a discounted price and will probably fit them on daughters violin over the next couple of weeks. Supposed to bring out the gypsy in you - teacher doesn't seem too impressed! She would like me to put Eudoxas on. I have opened another thread on gut strings which I would be glad of some input.

Strings Forum threads about violin strings

Violinist.com guide to string brands

So how did your daughter herself like the Larsen Tziganes? In particular, how were they on the G and the E strings?

Tried not a Tzigane (I think...) but a Larsen A on son's new violin (I think it was 3 years old but unplayed when we bought it). Son felt that it was not the best choice for playing in classical ensembles, where you want a blended sound, but would be very good where you want the violin to have a bit of bite and stand out from backing or ambient noise. Larsen might also be a better choice for a violin that is on the quiet and sweet side to start with? He went back to a Dominant A, but still thinking...

His violin also came set up with Obligatos, but they sounded a bit dull (probably needed changing anyway - from previous violin, I have the feeling that they sound flat after a few weeks).

We decided to try two directions: rounder/warmer and cleaner/smoother.

Son's favorite combo is nearly the same (except for the E) as the set Thomastik offer as Wiener Melange: Infeld Red G, Infeld Blue A, Dominant A, and silver/carbon steel E.

For "best" he combines that with a Pirastro Oliv (gut core) gold e string. The Pirastro Oliv is indeed a very nice string and his favorite with the Infeld Blues. He's still trying out various other gold e-strings, but his previous workhorse favorite, Lenzner Goldbrokat, sounds too thin in sound and volume on this violin, and it might not be loud enough to go with gut??? Forumite AmandaL's recommended Hill golden e is being "saved" for a special occasion as they are hard to get here, so can't comment yet!

Pirastro Evah Pirazzi were suggested as one rank "zingier" in sound than the Infeld Blues. I somehow doubt that's what your daughter's teacher has in mind if she is talking gut!

As for gut, we couldn't afford to keep a full set of Pirastro Oliv on son's violin year-round. He hasn't tried Eudoxa.

One consideration is how long strings stay in good condition...makes a big difference to how much you spend over one year, as against how much you spend for one set of strings! The Violinist.com link mentions Corelli Alliance Vivace as being between Obligato and Evah Pirazzi, and they seem to be very popular recently here in Japan.

It appears not many have tried these strings from the lack of response to the post, so our input is....
I think we will switch back to Obligatos after these strings are ready to change, although they are not bad strings at all, and probably fall between Evah's and Obligato strings, but we miss the deep warm tone of the G and D the Obligato strings produced on my daughters violin. Plenty of volume produced though as with both of the Pirastro set. The one exception to this set though is undeniably the E String! Wow ... precise, clear, sweet tone with plenty of volume and half the price of the Obligato gold string. Best E we have ever tried - and we have tried quite a few! We will probably try and put this one with the Obligato Set and see if it blends in well. As usual, we have yet to find an A string which we are impressed with. Whatever set we have ever tried, they are all very un-impressive.

Many of the world's top soloists seem to manage fine with complete sets of either Evah Pirazzi or Dominant(the latter with appropriate choice of e-string). I think obsessing over string choice and mixing and matching of strings to achieve the "perfect" sound on a particular string are symptoms of an underlying problem with the instrument and/or setup (or of unrealistic expectations).

I promise there is no obsessing going on here. I don't think that there is such thing as a perfect sound either, just one that is pleasing to the ear of the player and audience, although it is likely there would be a difference of opinion to what that would be. There is nothing wrong with many of the strings on the market today, many have a pleasing tone and good projection, but different strings will suit some instruments better than others and I don't think it is a bad thing to try new strings on the market. If we hadn't, we wouldn't have found this great E string, and it really does make a noticeable difference!

I hear what DiscoPants is saying, and it's very true, but a kid with their first full-size or reasonable quality instrument is in a different situation from an experienced musician or luthier! For one thing, parents don't get free string samples, so we have to think harder about what to buy and try, and for another, we simply don't hear as many other players and instruments... Don't you think that the experienced musican can say "Dominants are hard to beat" just because they have heard a few options?

I think it's OK for a kid who's probably just woken up to the fact that the same pitch sounds different on different strings and who is just falling in love with a new instrument to try ONE different type of string without censure, isn't it? I doubt if many parents are forking out fortunes for new sets of expensive strings to try every fortnight .

We had the same problem with the A string, and somebody correctly guessed that maybe the bridge was tilted. Bingo - it was leaning forward just a tiny bit, but enough to make the A string (and to a lesser extent the D string) sound dull.

I wasn't trying to censure anyone, and if that's how I came across then I apologise. Just expressing an honest opinion, and trying to be helpful.

In general, I think Dominants and Evah's sell in bucketloads because they are great strings*, whereas others have to resort to marketing baloney like:

"The newest string from Larsen. Evoking the sound and exuberance of traditional music. These strings, without exaggerated tension, are built on a newly developed composite fibre bundle core. Tension creates volume rather than carrying power. The unique combination of overtones makes for a quality sound not unlike that of a great singer - a sound that carries while, at the same time, is pleasant to the ear of the player. Strings to capture the true gypsy sound."

*Except for the Dominant E, which ought to be illegal....!

Yeah, I do appreciate that you were expressing a very well-founded opinion!

Viohazard's teacher uses Dominants...but swears they need to be changed every fortnight...

I fitted a set of these on Thursday to my session fiddle.

I think I might possibly be in love. I have never heard such a sweet singing e string and the tone of the rest of the strings is the nearest to gut I have ever heard (at least on my fiddle) - much better for me than the obligatos.

I've tried a fair few strings on my fiddle (usually just out of curiosity when I'm ready to change I try different things) - I've had dominants (great string), obligato (nicer than dominants), Pirazzi (didn't like them much), helicore (superb), olives (that actually was love, but the price and the fact that they don't like beer spilled on them in sessions made it prohibitive for changing them every month or so), infeld red and blue and Aricore. Thus far the tziganes are much nicer than any of the others - there's just so many overtones that the fiddle feels like it's singing in my hands, the e string is possibly the best thing I've ever discovered (thanks Tracy!) and they have none of the disadvantages of gut. Lovely lovely strings. My other half actually came into the music room to ask me if I was using a different fiddle, because they sound was, to quote 'dark and singing'. Whether that's the strings, or the fact that I like them so much under my ear that I am able to draw a better tone, I don't know.

I'm a convert for now, but we'll have to see how they hold up in a session environment and how long they last. As near to olivs as I can get without worrying about going bankrupt from changing them too often.

They definitely get my vote.

Allan

(It would be wrong to buy flowers and chocolates for my violin strings, right?....)

Glad you liked the e string as much as we did. We originally preferred Obligato G and D, but as strings have settled, liking the G & D on the Tziganes probably as much as Obligatos. I've heard these strings also last longer than Obligato strings, so we'll see. Hope more people try these strings and give their views, well worth trying them I think. Maybe the description isn't quite the hype others have suggested? Maybe string producers feel they need to use this exaggerated, (or maybe not so exaggerated) description to get those people who stick with Dominants and Evahs etc. to give their new strings a go, I know quite a few complacant string players, who just wont give new products a go. It's a pity

Well, I tried them out at the session and two people asked me if I'd had the set up changed on my fiddle, one other fiddler asked if the strings were gut.

I'm still loving the sound, it carries well enough in a noisy pub to suit me (at least as well as the helicores did) and the singing tone is great.

I've noticed a slightly slower response on the G than I'm used to, though - things liked bowed trebles, double cuts and short rolls take a bit of work on this string, but I think that's just a case of getting used to it.

I played a couple of slow airs and laments solo in the session and, just for fun, I decided to play one of them entirely on the G and D strings, using the higher positions - the strings still speak clearly in the higher positions and the sound is lovely and warm - on the downside I did notice that the proportion of movement towards the bridge seemed to be more pronounced as I went higher than it would have been with other synthetics - I felt I had to move nearer to the bridge sooner in order to stay in the 'sweet spot' on the fiddle string. That is also possibly down to my ropey position work, though, as - despite the technical challenges of fiddling, which remains very difficult if you want to do it right - we don't use anything higher than fifth position regularly, so these airs pushed me a fair bit higher than I'm used to going.

We'll see how they pan out, but if they do last longer than obligatos, that's great too!

Are you going to keep them on, then Tracy?