Alex REviews Cello String Sets pt.3

[jacquelinescellist]

Ok guys its me Alex and im going to reviews whole sets that I have tried.
Ill try to keep this in order from steel,gut,synthetic in pt 4 i will do some of my favorite combos.

Jargar Medium- Most cant say anything bad about the a and d. The g&c adepend on your persuassion. The g&c are often said to be relucant to speak,and hard to engage. Personally I only find it true on cheap plywood cellos with thick bridges. Rosin is also a huge factor. I know swear by melos rosin , and the way it makes strings speak has changed my views on strings I once didnt like.Back on subject i used them on a belgain bridge and the tone was ample big round dark sound,not overly complex , but a little complexity.

Jargar forte- I used this set on my montagnana , and yes. So does yo yo ma thats not why I do. A couple of years back I met him in buffalo.Many thought he used spiros on the bottom but he doesnt surprise!!!! I find them to do great on a montagnana cello. The tone in crisp dark and smooth , but very open focused and revealing. I personally find jargars beauty is revealed better on a belgain bridge,but remember this is just my personal expereience.

Jargar dolce-uhhhh warm but dead thats all i have to say.

A word to the wise- Its the best idea to use medium gauges.Light and strong tensions are used individually or by sets to solve tonal issues.
Ex. A strident a might take a light gauge , or a c or g string relucant to speak. Jacqueline dupre used forte jargars on one of her strads which helped tone the wolf note. Or strong/stark tensions in the lower end to beef up the volume and projection on a weak cello.

Larsen soloist medium- This set really cant be beat im not sure why more cellist so use the g and c espically. The tone is that of jargar but easier response , more projection and complexity. To me larsen strings are the most complex steel string along with flexocore being the best gut alternative in steel world. As a set the tone is homogenous clean,crisp,warm with a constant colorful singing tone.

Larsen standard medium- Also great set maby a little less colorful than the solo version, they are also a bit warmer as the solo has more vibrancy and brighter tone for projection.

Larsen solo with wirecore g&c. my montagnana now has these after the wirecore introduction I replaced my failing jargar fortes with this set. The wirecore are just like helicore,evah and spiros all need at least a week or 4days to break depending on how much you play. To me they produce the most beautiful sound of steel strings the depth is thick,the overtone sings without being overly bright. out of a five star rate i give this set a 35!!!!

Larsen solo strong with wirecore stong- This set is on my strad model because its weaker tone needs beef and volume to help it be heard in an orchestra or chamber setting. out of 5 stars i rate them with a strong(no pun intended)35!!!!!!

To me the main difference between larsen and jargar are a few things.

jargar espically a and d have this more pop like thing with projection I guess you could say they have more bite or punch. where as larsen remain colorful.Jargar are far better. Larsen always produce a beautiful tone even with a poor player. so how could technique get better if you can hear your flaws.Its like having a teacher that always tells you that you play great. What good is that? its not helping your cause. Jargar are more raw and just as colorful despite what many say. due to their smooth neutral sound. you can hear your flaws and make your own tone v.s the larsen constanst colorful tone. Cellist now a days just want more ease , but I find this hinders their playing because they arnt forced to devolpe a more thourgh technique and bow control. So they rely on string makers that make easier playing strings. But dont get me wrong i love larsen strings. But I devolped my tone and almost flawless bow control with jargar strings. Thank you jargar. Also some mark that jargar are a little more hollow in sound . This would be that whole colorful tone thing larsen have.

Pirastro Flexocore- The best way to describe this is warm hot fudge with just enough brilliance. What I want to say about these is this like many strings. They might sound dull in your home generally because of carpet etc,but their beauty is revelaed when you are in a chamber or orchestral setting. I remember playing kol nidrei with my local youth orchestra and they were perfect. warm rich round and sonorous. these are meant to be used as a set,but like said before each cello is different and i have seen a number of people use them for tonal reasons ex.My good friend used the d because hers was overly strindent. As well as my teacher who uses the g because hers is overly strident.

Permanent stark. Warm , loving forgiving loud, the g and c just werent complex enough for me.

Permanent soloist- the a and d are enough to rical with larsen solo the d espically has a deep texture and colorful character, which helped me with phrasing. I just like larsen more. As a set they really helped my saint saens sing with beauty and power.Fyi undr your ear they sound ruff.But I let my friend play and stood 30 ft a way and the tone is piercing with warmth and just bellows. The g and c are as fast to respond as spirocore tungstens.

Pirazzi soloist- The set is great but like i said in 1 review the c buzzed. also I am heavy handed like the obligato they are better for a cellist like ofra harnoy who doesnt use a great deal of bow pressure. Also the string construction is toooo thin for my liking I feel like im playing sheets of paper. i like thick strings under my fingers. which is why they are full of blisters and such. Simply put they dont reveal my inner tone.

pirazzi stark- these needed two weeks to settle-At first they are overly harsh,rude,and abrassive. when they settle their tone is colorful with a thick hue. I find in general that thick strings for my cellos provide a fuller tone.

Belcanto gold- just as good as larsen following with a warm round rich character, the a was to twangy and the c and g were typical thomastik ropecore strings they growl with volume and beauty. out of 5 stars they get a four. The c was the most powerful efen stronger than a tungsten spirocore which Is why I paid 100$ for it anyway I digress.

Belcanto medium- These strings relly made my cello sing. on a comparison level i cant say they sound like anyother. its stange because there so bright and.

almost overly piercing but there warm at the same time. Like when I played them i was seriously dazzed lost in a trance, overall out of 5 starts deff a 5. The response was superb,and when I try strings this is the first thing I look for.

Belcanto soloist- A portotype that infeld sent me after a recital i did in vienna. they are a cross between spiro tungsten the regular belcanto in gold. power of three combinding wamr,strength,focus,power and brilliance. they still arnt of the market im confussed.Imight send them an email as of why.

Prim medium-My old teacher from bulgaria would use anything else. They are surpisngly warm considering that they are made from piano wire.If your an amature or do a lot of chord playing like in bands these would be great.

The prim orchestra g is great from a spiro c if your trying to save some money. i find prim are decent that are just hazzy in tone and unpredictable at times.

spirocore chrome. yes I made the accident of trying these. If you truly want a bright piercing tone in an a&d string try them matched with the g and c they can be great. Again classically they are not appealing. Due to the fact that they lack complexity overtone and intimacy.


Gut strings

pirastro Olive Their g string is still my favorite its the holy grail of sound beauty. As a set they have huge warmthick hue loud but with a gut like tone so strong v.s the thinner diameter of t he eudoxz which can feel like spagetti at time. the only issue was the c is was relucant to speak at times mailnly in recitals, ya so that had to go. When you vibrato your soul just rejoices in the crying like tone that gut sings with so beautiful. These are the most beautiful string in existence to me. just cant DEAL WITH THE TUNING ISSUES.

Pirastro Eudoxa. The strings pablo casals used. The are the holy grail for the most intimate tone overly warm which is a good thing to me. They are very soft and quite and bow technique should be very stable to control them. Fyi watch isserlis or old caslas video. the lowere strings have to be struct fast enough with enough pressure for them to speak correctly. Somenthing begginning cellist have no idea how to do or control which is why gut are used by pros mainly.

Corelli maby I used the wrong gauge but ooouch they suck. no coplexity or anything just very dry and overly loud in tone.

Pirastro chorda. The most pure tone you can get if your cellos does well with gut. So warm rich. but pure gut god id never reccomend them to advancing or beggining cellist they really need flawless bow control. To the point where even many pro baroque cellist wont use them all the time. anner byslma and jaap ter linden are the few that I know that do. Isserlis uses a pure eudoxa a when playing period music.

Pirastro passione - i like them they are only available in g&c i have the prototype a and d but they are steel. so sorry for you all who were hopping for a new gut set from pirastro. unless they change their ideas

Dominant- absouloutley hateee them with exception to silver g and c. They sound like thin spagetti and are very loose and wont withstand by bow pressure. If you havce a supppper duper overly bright tense cello thes might be the soloution. i find they do better on higher bridges.

Aricore- hate them- Too dead dull no luster ,complexity horrible bow respone. I simply hate them. Like I say about domiants If your cello is overly bright and tense they might liberate the sound.

obligato-The best synthetic your money can buy- Warm rich lyrical loud without the metallic sound. FYI they are metallic for a couple of weeks.I love playing in the righer positions on the a and strings. The notes are so round lyrical and simply sound like hot fudge. the c can be hazzy for some cellos the thin diameter might have somenthing to do with it.

Ok Ill be doing another review maby late wee hours tonight or friday.

I apologize if its hard for you to read all because spanish and papiamento is my first language not english.

Keep plucking those strings
Alex

[jillw]

Alex,
Thank you so much for your review of strings. I am a beginning cellist and I'm trying to figure out which strings to use. Your experience helped me a lot!
aloha from Hawaii,
Jill