Appointments Available: Cello String Library

Did you know that your cello can sound totally different depending on the type of strings fitted to it? Over the many years that we’ve been helping cellists, we’ve often been asked whether or not string manufacturers offer sample strings, so cellists can try before they buy. We understand how much of an investment new strings can be for cellists, so we have spent months building our very own cello string library. This exciting service will allow us to fit strings to your cello before you commit to purchasing them! Want to learn more about the string library? Just keeping reading...

Usually when you invest in a new cello, the luthier has made an empirical choice to furnish the instrument with a good set of strings that will generally present it well to help in your selection process. Each model on the shelf will be offered with a specific brand and model of strings that will be a great starter to get you going. However, as you play and work with your new cello, you may find you would prefer to produce a harder or softer tone, warmer, richer, brighter, more direct, or a spectrum of other tonal qualities.

So, what is the String Library?

Simply for Strings has created a trial ‘String Library’ for cellists to visit on appointment and try different string sets and/or combinations, so that we can help with their search for the sound and response they need. Here you can try before you buy, with our guidance and assistance. In this appointment, we’ll have a discussion with you before we start fitting up to three different sets on your cello. We let you trial the strings in-store to determine which strings may suit you and your needs best. And if you need, we can play your cello for you, so you can hear it as both listener and player. It’s an obligation free appointment, all you need to do is bring your cello, and prepare to fall in love with some new strings!

Here at Simply for Strings, we import and sell cello strings made by seven different companies. Between those seven manufacturers, we stock over twenty brands made by them, and within each brand there will be anywhere from one variety up to even five or more options. Quite often we could show you just one brand of strings from only one of the makers, and offer you 2 or 3 A string options, the same in D string, then 3 or more options for your G and C strings. Each of these options will give you a very specific sound and type of response.

Trying to find the best option for you could become terribly expensive, as most professional cello string sets cost above $300: some of the more popular sets are over $500 and even above $600. For this very reason, we try all of the strings on the market, so that in many cases all we need to do is to ask you some questions about your sound preference, try your cello ourselves, and give you very well-educated selection of two or three string options that are most likely to meet your needs.

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What makes such a difference between strings?

Each manufacturer produces several different models for the cellist, offering a wide range of tonal possibilities. Most will make strings designed for beginner students, more advanced players, professionals and some more specific options designed to suit early music. Materials often used in the core of the string are metals, synthetic materials and gut, and the exterior is made using various metals including aluminium.

Strings can be made with these materials in various ways. For example, your steel core could be single-filament hi tensile, or a more flexible single steel core; it could mean multi-metal core strings, or a braided steel rope made of three strands. Your synthetic core is likely to be multiple strands of perlon or another form of nyon, or even kevlar. The core creates the foundation for your string’s characteristic tone. Gut could be highly polished by hand for improved response, or unpolished for a very traditional early Baroque sound. A core could be straight, twisted or braided.

The winding is also vitally important, determining the response to your bowing and plucking, also affecting how the string vibrates. Windings can be a single metal, an alloy of multiple metals, or sometimes even two separate flat metal wires intertwined, so the outside of the string may alternate between aluminum and silver, for example. Common windings are chrome, aluminium, silver, titanium, tungsten and even gold. They can help make the overall tone warmer, brighter, harsher, softer, louder etc. Often there are two layers of winding, and each layer is most likely to be different from the other.

The choice of cores, inner windings, outer windings, and the specific approach to making each string is very specific and you can think of each company zealously guarding its secret “herbs and spices” to make sure nobody can copy their methods exactly!

What’s available in the String Library?

The strings currently available to test in our Cello String Library are as follows. This list sometimes changes, and we’re always looking for new options that are worth including, and asking the manufacturers for these strings. Please call us to check availability if you would like to trial a particular set.

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Current list, as of June 2020.

D’Addario Strings:

Prelude ⅛ size
Helicore Light
Helicore Medium
Helicore Heavy
Kaplan Light
Kaplan Medium
Kaplan Heavy

Jargar Strings:

Jargar Superior
Jargar Superior A & D / Classic Medium G & C

Larsen Strings:

Crown
Larsen Original Medium
Larsen Original Strong
Larsen Soloist Medium
Magnacore Medium
Magnacore Strong
Magnacore Arioso

Opal Strings:

Opal A & D

Pirastro Strings:

Evah Pirazzi Gold Medium
Passione Medium
Perpetual Medium
Perpetual Soloist
Perpetual Soloist A & D / Perpetual Cadenza G & C
Perpetual “Edition”

Thomastik Strings:

Dominant Medium
Spirocore Chrome A & D / Tungsten G & C
Versum Original
Versum Solo
Rondo (coming soon!)

Warchal Strings:

Warchal Brilliant

Learn more about the strings in our String Library

D'Addario Strings:

Prelude

Core: solid steel
Winding: nickel
Warmest sound available in an affordable solid steel core string design
Stable in all climates, responsive to the bow, durable
Varieties: 4/4, ¾, ½, ¼, ⅛

Helicore (Light, Medium, Heavy)

Core: A, D, G & C multi-stranded steel; E = steel
Winding: A & D titanium; G & C tungsten/silver; Fractional C tungsten/nickel; E = aluminium
Clear and focussed articulation
Fast, flexible and responsive
Very popular string model for electric cellos
Durable and stable in humidity
4/4 Varieties: Light, Medium, Heavy
Fractional varieties: Medium ¾, ½, ¼, ⅛

Kaplan (Light, Medium, Heavy)

Core: A & D solid steel; G & C stranded steel
Winding: A titanium; D nickel; G & C tungsten
Rich and complex tone; stand up well to powerful bowing
Diverse tonal palette; ideal for professional players
4/4 Varieties: Light, Medium, Heavy

Jargar Strings:

Jargar Original

Core: flexible steel
Winding: chrome
Warm and strong, very playable, responsive
Small diameter makes general playing and position changes easier
4/4 Varieties: Dolce, Medium, Forte. Medium E string also available

Jargar Superior

Core: A & D flexible steel; G & C steel rope core
Winding: A & D chrome. G & C tungsten
Very powerful and rich, warm and responsive, great solo strings
Similar sound characteristics to Jargar Classic, but MORE of it.
4/4 Varieties: A & D Dolce, Medium, Forte; G & C Medium only

Larsen Strings:

Crown (Medium, Strong)

Core: solid steel
Winding: A & D a corrosion-resistant alloy; G nickel; C tungsten
Comfortably affordable entry level strings with good sound quality
Smoothly brilliant sound without metallic overtones
4/4 Varieties: Medium, Strong

Larsen Original

Core: solid steel
Winding: A & D special precision-rolled stainless steel flat wire; G & C tungsten.
An “embracing warmth” with plenty of power
Pronounced projection, easy response, rapid tuning stability
G & C have a deep, warm and focussed sound with great power and personality
Special Medium E string is wound with precision rolled aluminium
4/4 Varieties: Soft, Medium, Strong

Larsen Soloist (Soft, Medium, Strong)

Core: Larsen solid steel
Winding: A & D precision rolled flat steel wire; G tungsten
Complementing the Original range and purpose designed for enhanced projection, focus and volume particularly at the higher harmonics as demanded by the professional solo player.
Offered in all three tensions for A, D and G optimised slightly above the Original equivalents
The strings are based on solid steel cores, different in properties and dimensions from their regular counterparts.
4/4 Varieties: A, D & G strings only in Soft, Medium and Strong

Larsen Magnacore (Medium, Strong)

Core: A & D solid steel; G & C concentric multi-stranded steel
Winding: A & D high quality precision rolled flat wire; G & C high grade tungsten and precision rolled flat wire
Extremely well balanced set for the professional cellist offering a charismatic sound with an endless palette of colours to work with.
“depth, brilliance and flexibility in all ranges of the cello greatly enhance each instrument’s inherent qualities.”
“a lovely edge to the sound, nice & bright so it carries but still with the famous Larsen roundness. These strings offer many sound colours, from bright to dark, combined with a new clarity and brilliance – a truly singing sound.”
Very warm and focussed, large range of dynamics and great string response
Very powerful
Medium = sonorous and broad, easily playable, suited to cellos with neutral or light timbre.
Strong = even more powerful, focussed & direct, especially great for a darker and deeper sounding cello.

Larsen Magnacore Arioso

Core: A & D solid steel; G & C concentric multi-stranded steel
Winding: A & D high quality precision rolled flat wire; G & C tungsten and precision rolled flat wire
Lower tension, pure singing sound, well suited to older Italian instruments as well as modern ones.
A & D are medium tension, enchanting brilliance and projection with wide range of tone colours
G & C Lower tension liberates the whole balance of strings, while providing an easy response and effortless playing in the lower register
4/4 Varieties: A & D Medium, G & C Low tension

Opal Strings:

Opal Titan

Core: Steel
Alloy (including some materials never used before in strings)
Professional quality
4/4 Varieties: A & D strings only

Pirastro Strings:

Evah Pirazzi Gold
Core: A & D High tensile steel; G & C specially designed steel rope core
Winding: A & D precision chrome-steel flat wire; G & C tungsten
Elegant, clear, full sound with character
Full spectrum of sound, great overtones & projection without metallic harshness
extremely responsive and react quickly over the entire dynamic range; even with very gentle bow pressure.
4/4 Varieties: Medium

Passione

Core: A & D single filament steel; C & G hand-wound and polished gut
Winding: A, D & G chrome-steel; C tungsten
A & D enormous sound, precise and clear
G & C brilliant, wide range of sounds
Very quick response even in highest registers
Passione G- and C-strings are manufactured in three gauges in steps of 1/2 PM.
4/4 Varieties: A & D Soft, Medium, Strong; G 27.5-28.5; C 31.5-32.5

Perpetual

Core: A & D steel; G & C specially designed steel rope core for each model
Winding: A & D chrome-steel; G & C tungsten
Special new technology and machinery designed to develop these strings for ultimate performance
Great dynamic range
Minimal playing-in time
Special features:
A Soloist Strong: With its impressive technology and design this A string offers many qualities that cellists enjoy: warm tone, strong round sound yet still focused with no metallic overtones. This A also has a thicker gauge and slightly higher bow resistance which provides enormous power and projection. It is the warmest and richest sounding A in the Pirastro program.
C Edition Strong: This C string offers a very powerful and strong core sound along with a deep and wonderful warm tone. Its unique special construction results in an enhanced torsional stiffness and tuning stability with a very fast and direct bow response, making it the most sonorous C in the Pirastro program.
G & C Cadenza: Utilizing the same core construction as the Perpetual Soloist, the Cadenza G & C strings were created to provide players with lower tensions to match their instruments and allow older cellos to open up and play freely.
4/4 Varieties: Medium (Mittel); Soloist [with optional Strong A]; Cadenza (G & C); “Edition” [with optional Strong C]

Thomastik Strings:

Spirocore

Core: flexible multi-wire spiral steel rope
Winding options:
A & D = chrome or aluminium
G & C = chrome, silver or tungsten
Distinctive, clear sound
Several options available for specific tone or response needs
4/4 Varieties: Light, Medium, Heavy
Fractional: Medium ¾, ½, ¼

Versum

Core: A & D multisteel; G & C spiral core
Winding: A & D multi-alloy wound; G & C tungsten/chrome wound
Elegance, clarity, sweetness, balance, quick articulation, powerful
4/4 Medium only

Versum Solo

Core: A & D carbon steel; G & C spiral core
Winding: A & D multi-alloy wound; G & C tungsten/chrome wound
Full-bodied, durable, responsive, powerful, beautiful tone
4/4 Medium only

Rondo

Core: A & D carbon steel; G & C spiral core
Winding: A & D multi-alloy wound; G & C tungsten/chrome wound
Powerful, focussed, yet sweet, delicate, noble, reminiscent of gut.
More flexible
4/4 Medium only

Dominant

Core: synthetic
Winding: A & D chrome; G & C options chrome or silver
Performs like gut
Stable in all climates
4/4 Varieties: light, medium, heavy
Fractional (medium) ¾, ½, ¼, ⅛

Warchal Strings:

Warchal Brilliant

Core: synthetic
Winding: A = Hydronalium & stainless steel; D = Hydronalium & pure silver; G & C = tungsten & pure silver
Brilliant, full projecting sound with rich overtones, enhancing the character of your cello
Lower tension, so great with fragile cellos
Need three to four days to settle in before reaching their full tone quality

We hope to see you visiting us in-store soon to experience our Cello String Library. If you have any questions for us, please get in touch with us today! We'd love to hear from you.