Rene - Posted - 10/29/2023:  13:15:23

Dominants have been my standard strings; however, I've read some good reviews on Gold Silk Strings. Anyone use them and have any thoughts or suggestions.

atlanticstrings.com/product/go...-strings/

Erockin - Posted - 10/30/2023:  05:20:35

Listening close because my next upgrade will be to Dominants unless someone convinces me otherwise. :)

Rene - Posted - 10/31/2023:  15:18:04

I have always been happy with Dominants. However, I have also gotten some fake dominants. Make sure you order from an actual distributor.

DougD - Posted - 10/31/2023:  15:30:30

Eric, why would you want to play Bluegrass or Old time music on plastic strings?

Swing - Posted - 10/31/2023:  15:40:56

I have used Dominants for years, just replace the E string with something better, my recommendation us the Larsen Tzigane E, it is a very inexpensive string, something like $8... it lasts a long time and the tome is really great... I have tried many strings over the years, never the Gold Silk Strings so I cannot comment on them.... but if you are looking for a great string the Larsen Tzigane medium set is really wonderful.... use them on two of my fiddles...

Play Happy

Swing

Erockin - Posted - 11/01/2023:  04:11:12

quote:

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Originally posted by DougD

Eric, why would you want to play Bluegrass or Old time music on plastic strings?

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I'm not prepared to answer that question!?! Haha. Because I have no idea what I should be doing or playing. My first set were garbage, my new fiddle has a mix matched set on and now I'm ready to have this one set up correctly. I just know that I'm not as wild about the Helicore as I thought I would be. I imagine they are quieter? 

RobBob - Posted - 11/01/2023:  06:28:35

I am back to using strings that I used 40 years ago Jargar or Chromcor. They are not as quick to respond as Helicore but sound better to me.

RB-1 - Posted - 03/11/2024:  16:28:05

quote:

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Originally posted by DougD

why would you want to play Bluegrass or Old time music on plastic strings?

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Interesting question...

My teacher recommended Dominants (plus a Pirastro gold E) and indeed, my fiddle came alive after playing with steel for so many years. And as you can hear in the video, he ain't half bad with them either....

ChickenMan - Posted - 03/11/2024:  19:04:25

I always found synthetics feel a little sluggish (a little) when playing fast fiddle tunes, that's all. I like the tonal complexities though, maybe it's time to revisit.

pete_fiddle - Posted - 03/12/2024:  03:09:26

My Twopenceworth...



Dominants (as i remember), are expensive, breathy, sluggish, wear out quick, harder to tune, not durable, (especially the A string), just don't sound right for folky stuff IMO, and temperamental.



i think if you play steel string guitar, and/or mandolin, Acoustic bass etc, you have probably developed a "death grip" (like i did) and can put cigarettes out by pinching them with the hard pads on your fingers. Dominants wont last very long. They are a sort of inbetweeny string for folk, jazz,classical etc imo. And will get very expensive if you put enough practice in.



i would probably put them on a second fiddle if i was rich enough. just for the different tone and feel. But for the bulk of my playing steel strings are fine, and seem to last for ever.



i used Dominants and other synthetics, along with steel strings, other "innovative" strings and even "gut strings!" for a a decade or two searching for "That Tone" before i realized that steel strings just work fine for me. And i don't need a mortgage.



But as always each to their own

Edited by - pete_fiddle on 03/12/2024 03:20:43

wrench13 - Posted - 03/12/2024:  05:33:04

Have to admit I've been a SuperSensitive man for decades. My newest fiddle came with synthetic core somethings ( no doubt very $$ ones) and the tone was great but man are they not for fiddle tunes. So on go the usual set of SS's and the tone is almost as good but now have the response time needed for super quick fiddle licks. But I am still lookin for the perfect E string for this fiddle. I went an bought 1 of almost every brand and type E and am still going thru them ( started 2 years ago, when I got the fiddle). So far the gold plated ones seem to sound best but they lose tone fairly fast. I have 2 more gold ones and then I start on the titanium and other exotics.

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 03/12/2024:  05:33:23

Steel strings are cheaper than Dominants, but the latter are hardly an expensive set (most newer sets are about twice as much). They are aptly named because ever since they came out they have been the measuring stick by which violins and other string sets are evaluated .



They were designed to get the closest sound to gut that was possible in a synthetic-core string at the time. Their core is a nylon material called perlon and they’re wrapped with either silver or aluminum. It doesn’t make much sense to call them “plastic strings” when the metal winding is such a crucial component—there’s a big difference between a silver D and an aluminum one, for example. Dominants’ pitch stability, durability, and range of tonal colors is what made them the most successful set ever made, played by amateur and professional players alike all over the world. As string technology has advanced, sets have come out with shorter break-in periods, but the only set I’ve come across that seems to last near as well as Dominant is Rondo.



A strings are often the first to go, and this is because they’re wound with aluminum. All aluminum strings have this issue, so if you use an aluminum D, it can wear out just as quickly. This is not a Dominant-specific issue but one that faces most synthetic string sets, and other sets like Larsen and Evah Pirazzi are infamous for their A strings wearing out or breaking ridiculously fast. Most of the time a Domimant A unravels or breaks, it’s because the string groove at the nut has sharp edges or isn’t shaped properly.



Fiddlers have “traditionally”used steel strings, but not really for tonal reasons. In the days when old time music was being recorded, steel strings were easier to obtain and they were cheaper than gut. Natural gut is infamous for pitch instability and shorter life, and fiddlers who lived in more rural settings didn’t have access to shops because there were very few of them around. Had synthetic strings existed then I think they would have found considerable use. There will always be players who insist on using the cheapest strings they can find, but I think the “tradition” of using them only exists because steel strings were what were available to the fiddlers back then if they didn’t want gut. Some mountain fiddlers who didn’t have access to even the catalogs would just use twine or wire instead because it was what they could come up with (as resourceful as these people were, gut string making wasn’t a process they took on themselves).



Keep in mind, though, that for hundreds of years before, gut was the only choice. When many of the fiddle tunes were written, that’s the kind of string everyone used. So saying that the type of string that more closely emulates gut (synthetics' response is actually a little faster) is too slow to respond doesn’t quite add up. Put a baroque bow in the mix and you find that old fiddle tunes are even easier to articulate and phrase, much like baroque music. There’s a myth that sounding like another player can be accomplished by simply using the same equipment. So if a player uses some product, those who wish to emulate focus on that product rather than on the player’s style and phrasing. This issue is not specific to fiddling, or even to music.

Edited by - The Violin Beautiful on 03/12/2024 05:35:27

ChickenMan - Posted - 03/12/2024:  06:39:58

quote:

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Originally posted by wrench13

...But I am still lookin for the perfect E string for this fiddle. I went an bought 1 of almost every brand and type E and am still going thru them ( started 2 years ago, when I got the fiddle). So far the gold plated ones seem to sound best but they lose tone fairly fast. I have 2 more gold ones and then I start on the titanium and other exotics.

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I'm sold on the Prim Lisa E. Stainless steel, and for me it has been the sweetest sounding E for all of my fiddles. 

As far as fiddle tunes being written when gut strings were all that was available, I'd have to say pure conjecture. Most tunes don't have that sort of pedigree, at least most tunes played as they were when recording became available.

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 03/12/2024:  07:18:34

quote:

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Originally posted by ChickenMan

As far as fiddle tunes being written when gut strings were all that was available, I'd have to say pure conjecture. Most tunes don't have that sort of pedigree, at least most tunes played as they were when recording became available.

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There's plenty of historical account of fiddle tunes being played. There's no conjecture about it. There are plenty of tune books from the time before metal strings were introcuded and when gut was the only option. Basically, if the tune was composed any time before 1910, it was definitely played on gut strings.

ChickenMan - Posted - 03/12/2024:  07:57:01

I didn't say fiddle tunes didn't exist or weren't played, didn't mean that.

I don't even care to explain myself, this format is no good for a real conversation and I'm tired of trying to edit my response to clarify myself.



Broad statement: It sounds like the generic violin world uses Dominants, similar to how the generic bluegrass world uses Helicore.
So, use whatever strings you want, spend as much as you think necessary in your pursuit of whatever it is you think changing strings will do for you.