I have found a selection of old strings in my violin case. I had a repeat problem with the strings all breaking at the very, very top end, so I kept them for when I am stringing a small size violin. I have had the problem fixed, but now I have lost track of what they all are. I am not entirely sure it matters in the context, but I'd like to match them at least approximately to similar strings. The A and E are both blue at the tail end and black wound at the scroll end - they are probably not specific enough to be sure about. The other A is woundin purple and white stripes, so I hope it will be more distinctive. I've only ever bought Dominants myself [that's another thread], so not sure what they are.

Your purple/white is most likely a Pirastro Eudoxa (if it's an A it should be black at the peg end).
I can't think of a string set where both A and E are blue at the tailpiece end and black at the peg.
BTW strings for small size violins are not only shorter, they're heavier gauge than full size strings (to make the tension correct).

Not a violinist (not even a string player any more!) but here are a couple of sites to help you find out:

http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_stringidsearch.shtml

http://www.simplyviolin.com/page10/files/c...identifier.html

Ooh well done! I found a few comparison tables but nothing as comprehensive as these.




I am fairly sure they should still fit a 3/4, they are literally about an inch shorter than they were before, there just isn't enough to wrap the pegs properly. They are broken with a good portion of the fabric wrapping still visible. I'll be rather annoyed if they can't be used for anything, I broke them all within a month.

Should be fine on a 3/4. In fact, if only an inch is broken off at the end (how did you do that?) I'd be surprised if there wasn't enough length to still fit a full size.

I had a weird problem with one of my pegs that basically acted like scissors on the string as soon as you started to wind it up to tension. You'd get the string wound on and just as you got ready to tune it the thing would go bang and unwind. Sadly I did this to about 4 strings in a row before realising I needed to take the violin into the shop. I'm not very clever, it seems.

There is just about enough string left to wrap on to the pegs, but not enough to hold the tension and to stop it from pulling out as it only winds around about twice.

If the core is sufficiently flexible and ductile, you could try tying the broken bit back on. So long as you can avoid winding on top of the knot (that might make tuning more difficult) it shouldn't make any detectable difference.