I would love to get dominants but I don't have £30 to spend on strings right now. I know you get what you pay for and I will get them when I have the money too or I will buy them in parts. But I'm wondering if anyone knows of some on the cheaper end of the scale that don't sound aweful. I'm thinking £10-20 for a set. If my repairs don't cost too much I might just get the dominants anyway. But I need some other options just incase.

Corelli crystals aren't bad - although they aren't much cheaper than dominants, to be honest. You might also try Helicores.

Anything below that is generally pretty nasty.

You could look on www.thestringzone.co.uk and see which are affordable. I dunno what these are like but these are the cheapest strings i've seen http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/pirastro-pi...ngs-set-save-10
But it may just be a better option to wait until you can afford the dominants as it may be well worth the £9 more

The pirastro piranito are NAAAAASTY strings! They're pure metal core and metal windings and are very harsh and brash sounding. Some music schools put them on cheap student instruments because they're practically indestructable, but the sound is very brash indeed.

Even among traditional fiddlers, who generally favor metal (at least in American styles like Old Time and Bluegrass), these strings are frowned upon - most people much prefer helicores as they have a lovely warm sound and still keep the precision of metal.

In addition to the site ffliwt proposed, there is also www.stringmail.co.uk who do just about every string you can imagine and often have good prices. They post free of charge too.

I've just tried to look on their site but it keeps crashing my browser...

W

Wow! I've never had any problems with it!

I hope they know their site crashes some browsers - they're such a great, helpful company who deliver everything on time and don't charge for postage that I would hate to think that they were losing out on custom because of a daft technical fault!

I've used them quite a lot and have found them good - perhaps their site is just having a bad day...

W

When you take the violin to the luthier ask him/her for an opinion on which strings would suit the violin, as this does vary between instruments.

Once you have a recommendation, it may be cheaper to buy the strings online - so it might be worth doing a list of prices from thestringzone and stringmail before you go. If you're lucky, you might find that the luthier is prepared to match (or nearly match) the online price.

I've used both thestringzone and stringmail, and they both seemed good. If you're ordering online make sure that you know whether you need a ball end E or a loop E.

Strings that cost £10 a set are unlikely to be that much of an improvement. It's probably better to save up till you can afford dominants/corelli crystals/similar.

x

Maya has a good point! The strings that are on at the moment are probably verging on £10 as it is

"Vision" strings are quite nice. They're made by Thomastik, the same company that makes Dominant. The list price is a bit more than Dominants, but they often turn up for bargain prices on Ebay.
For example, HERE

Hmm well hopefully I can cut back on enough to get the dominants this week. My violin has 2 strings so it's a nessesity that I get a set of strings put on it. I just got it and it's very old so old style strings would probably suite it best. I'll have to see what the luither says. I don't know if I can afford to restring the bow and get dominants I'm not sure what price they have for them there but I wouldn't think it would be less then £30-40.

If the bow needs restringing and it needs new strings I am guessing I will be paying £50 ish to get it all done. I can aford that but if the strings are anymore I'm not sure. I don't get paid till the end of the month and I want to play now not later! lol I just hope they don't tell me it needs a new chinrest and the bit that holds the strings on.

is this the same violin you were talking about in the other thread? if so, 50 years is not very old ;-) i wouldn't think it would have problems with higher tension strings (which tends to be the problem with old violins designed for gut strings)--but the luthier will be able to tell you for sure.

i have to say, i'd be surprised if you could get a bow rehair and the fiddle set up properly and new strings, all for £50. even if it looks like a bridge adjustment is all it needs, a luthier might find many other things that need to be fixed to turn it into a playable instrument; in fact, with this sort of instrument, it's not uncommon to find that restoring it to playable condition would cost more than buying a new instrument. (on the other hand, you might be lucky and find it's a good instrument that doesn't need much work at all...)

River: I guess when your talking in comparison to other violins your right 50 years isn't very old. To be honest I have no idea how old it is, it could be older. Thats my main concern to be honest. Do I get this one fixed up or would it be cheaper to buy a new one?
It's something I will think about tomorrow when I go to get an estimate. If it comes up to, too much money I may well buy a new one. It depends what the luither says. I'd like to get this one done up though as it has sentimental value as well. I'll see what they say tomorrow. I wish they were open today

It dependson how nice the instrument is, but River is quite right - 50 years makes your violin a modern instrument rather than an old one.

If it's a good instrument, having the work done will be worth it. If it's a beginner instrument, it may need so much work that it will be cheaper to purchase a new one.

Let the luthier guide you on this one.

Check as many instrument shops as you can, I found a place The violin company whos P Tonica strings are £10 cheaper than The string zone but the dominants are £3 more, and as the Tonica's are meant to be slightly better that the dominants, it's a no brainer. LOL. Oh and NO P&P on full sets.


Just shop around.

Rachel.

Thanks very much. I'll definatly shop around for some.

D'addario Pro-Arte are good affordable strings, approx £22 per set, which last longer than dominants, and sound nicer on many instruments.

I have dominant on my viola, I like them but can only compare to some really dodgy strings on my old rented viola!

Can you get a full set of dominant violin strings for £30??

Yes. £27.95 from Stringmail, with plain steel E (better than the wound E string which is more expensive: extra £2 or so a set).
If I was in the market for a cheap set of strings I'd have a punt on the £16 Visions from Hong Kong, as I mentioned earlier.

Yes I've seen them on ebay. But make sure they are the 4/4 size for your violin. I'm planning on getting some eventually. Probably when the strings I have need replacing.