Earlier today I was practicing Brittens Sinfonia Da Requiem for an upcoming concert. I got to a part requiring a mute, which I put on however used too much force and the bridge came flying off.

About 20 mins later I had put the bridge back on and re-tuned the strings. I am not too good with the pegs so it took a while!

However I noticed the A and E strings were beginning to wear away. They are dominants and have been on since I bought the violin on November 29th.

I am planning to replace them but would like to try a different type of string. Dominants give a very bright, bold sound.

Are there any strings out there that would give me a much more mellow sound from my violins? I have a budget of up to £50 for the full set of strings.

I welcome all opinions.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but didn't Rosfrog give you a set of Evah Pirazzis a little while back? If so, how did you get on with those?

I tried them for about a week. Although I appreciate him giving me them I disliked them for the same reasons as rosfrog. Also rosfrog never provided an E string and I need to replace my E as it is getting old and wearing away.

I think I have gone off synthetic core strings. I think they are a bit too bright in sound.

I'm not keen on dominants, either. Even one of my students commented on how harsh and scratchy they sounded on my violin. I tried obligatos for a while (and am still playing on those) but plan to return to helicores very soon - I haven't found anything else as good or mellow as yet, although they are not everyone's first choice.

So maybe I should go for helicore or obligatos?

Planning to go to Chappels tommorow to see if i can the strings changed.

Ive got Obligatos too with a Kaplan Golden Spiral E string. My violin is very bright and loud and did have Dominants on. When it was re set up, the Luthier kindly let me try a few different strings as Evahs wqere suggested but I prefered the Obligatos. It is still bright but a bit warmer. They are expensive though.

Louby how much did you spend on the strings u currently have on your violin? Would my £50 budget be enough?

I'm looking for new strings too but i'm not sure what to try.
On my old violin i tried dominants, helicore, zyex and then eventually settled on evah pirazzis which sounded really good.
I put the evah pirazzis on my new violin and don't really like them. I dunno if it's cause they'd already had quite a bit of use before they went on but they didn't sound great. I'm not sure what to try now!
My violin is loud, not too loud, but i'd like it to sound a bit softer/warmer

I like my violin being loud but at the same time I am able to play PPP in orchestral pieces.

I am hoping when I go to chappels tommorow I am able to find somebody who can advise me. The lady who helped me in the selection of my yamaha v20g was very helpful and knew her stuff, I just hope she is there tommorow.

I had a full set up too so cant remember the exact price of the strings as I paid for it all together. Just had a quick look though on stringzone and it would come to about £50.

On my acoustic I use Infeld - Blue strings....they are about £32 for a full set. Gives off a bright sound and stay in tune like you wouldnt believe.
I also tried the infeld red but didnt like them, they only seemed to sound warm when the bow is caked in rosin.

On my electric I use D'addario Helicores.

I honestly think that if you can't get a sound you like with either Dominants, Evahs or Obligatos, then your problem is almost certainly not the strings you're using.
Also, I'm puzzled by the general antipathy towards Evahs on this forum. I think they're outstandingly good strings.

I think I will ask to try obligatos.

I think they sound fantastic on my violin - not quite so keen on them on my viola...

W

I have plumped for obligatos. A big improvements upon dominants. Certainly worth the huge expense.