Changing strings

I made what I think was a big mistake when I bought some Thomastik Dominant steel strings. I began to replace the strings on my violin, but there was winding material that went all the way to the ball end. This prevents inserting the string in the bifurcated slot of the fine adjusters. I tried to remove the (cloth I think) material close to the ball. In doing so, I was able to get the string installed, but I had weakened the string at the joint and when I started the next string, the first one broke right at the ball.
Do they assume that most players don't use the fine adjusters on the lower strings?

Considering the cost of the strings, I was rather surprised that they had been manufactured such that they could not be used with the fine adjusters. Can anyone suggest some good strings that don't have this characteristic?

Lou

That's actually weird, I used Dominant several times in my life and consider them pretty strong strings. Did you try different strings? Did you have a different experience? I am wondering if the problem is maybe your tailpiece (is it there you had the problem, isn't it?).

Thank you.

Sincerely,

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Fabrizio Ferrari, CEO
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads®

Yes, it is at the tailpiece where the problem occurred. I would think that they would make the strings so that they would fit in the fine adjusters on the tailpiece. The tailpiece and adjusters on my violin look like all others that I've seen. I haven't tried any other strings yet, but I will soon. Any suggestions? Thank you for your time and response.

Lou

Thank you for your reply.

If you like perlon strings, I would suggest Corelli Crystal, they have a nice and "clear" sound.

Sincerely,
Fabrizio.

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Fabrizio Ferrari, CEO
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads®

I'll try to get some of those, tomorrow. I was able to put the A and E strings on, but the G and D were a lost cause. Thr E seems totally out of character with all the other strings. It's louder and tinnier sounding than the others. I'm not happy with the Dominants tha I got at all.

Lou

Seems like a lot of people use a different E when they use Dominants. I know on a couple of sites people like the Jargar E with the Dominants.

I only have a fine tuner on my E stirng, so I've never had to mess with trying to get the A, D, and G strings to work with a fine tuner.

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The choice of strings depends mostly by your violin response. If your violin has a "bright" response I would suggest to NOT use Dominant or similar strings since they can give you an even brighter sound. Corelli Crystal are more "soft" strings, and often give a very good response on both "bright" and "dark" violins. Also, consider that any string can have a different response...

For example, in my case, my violin (a Maggini's copy of the XIX century) is very bright on the first two strings, but dark on the 3rd and 4th string. Also, they can easily become "metallic" if I use steel strings such as Dominant... my (pretty expensive) solution has been:

1st and 2nd string: Corelli Crystal, medium size

3rd and 4th string: Pirastro Olive with a very specific caliber (3 1/2 for the D and 2 1/2 for the G). After so many tests, that have been the BEST combination for my violin. And the different was huge compared with the use of other strings... enjoy your testing!

All the best,

__________________
Fabrizio Ferrari, CEO
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads®