Violin:
I recently fitted a new D string.
Now, after a couple of days it ceases to "start" properly when bowed. I either have to apply extra pressure or bow fast, almost like martelé to be sure it sounds. A soft attack is out of the question.

None of the other strings is affected. I draw the bow slowly across them (with no pressure, just the weight of the bow) and they sound, but this one gives off a sound like the bow hasn't been rosined - just a whispery scrape! Sometimes it strikes but that's the exception.

The new string hasn't been touched in the bowing area except by the bow.

Nothing else has happened to the instrument except I had the bow re-haired (and it works very well on the other strings).

So, does a new string need running in?
Should I just ride through it for a while?
Am I cleaning the strings wrongly after use? (I use a yellow duster that's changed about once a week).
Could I have missed something when I fitted the string? (The old string worked well - unfortunately it broke.

Thanks for advice.
Peggy.

I assume it's the same brand of string as the others? And you have got plenty of rosin on the bow?

Could there be a kink in the string between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard?

Liz

Elidatrading,

Thank you. It seems to be lack of rosin, so possibly the combination of new bow hair and new string. I'd taken Amanda-L's tip about not using so much rosin but in this case more seems necessary. I'll see how it goes. I'm using dominants at the moment but may try another kind (synthetic core). Pirastro seem popular. Can't hurt to experiment!

O I missed the bit about it being rehaired. Yes, lots and lots and lots of rosin.

Liz

I had too.

Some luthiers will put powdered rosin into the new hair, but there are just as many who leave it up to the owner to do the hard work of applying sufficient rosin for the first use!

Yes, you have it there! Thanks. The repairer didn't rosin the bow but told me I'd need to give it a rosin-------without saying how much! Giving it extra has cured the problem and at last the string is "settling in".

I was just surprised, worried maybe, because the other strings which I do clean after every play worked very well.

I was quite bemused by trying out new viola bows - I've never had to rosin a bow from clean before, it takes a lot doesn't it??!

Some years ago, I heard a conversation in which a young (then) professional violinist I know was discussing a new fashion among his colleagues,* to use a newly rehaired bow with no rosin. He had decided that he could not afford to do this, as the scales on the horsehair that made it work would only last for about a fortnight, and he could not afford rehairing that frequently

* but perhaps they were telling him this on 1 April .