Wanted a good bottom set of strings without the tension of most good Tungsten. I finally opted to buy Versum Solo G & C. This cello is a nice German instrument but not a high end name or model and about 70 years old. I had been using Kaplan which worked well but were a little soft in power and response. The Versum Solo are quite a change with more focus and power. The C has dramatically increased in response and grit. The G is a better option but not quite as pleasing as the C. Strings are only a few days in. I now have all Versum on this cello. I'm going to try the Versum Solo on my Italian cello when time comes to change. The less tension is noticeable which was my main objective, so I am pleased the chance I took worked out well. It doesn't always.

It’s a beautiful, warm C string that really sounds like a VIOLA! Not a trumpet blasting or a fluffy cotton ball. Easily my favorite C string I’ve every tried.

Versum Solo A and D stings combined with Spirochore Tungsten G and C are a great pairing. The Versum have a quick, easy response and the tone is warm, yet has a strong, clear edge. The harmonic overtones are richer and more present with greater clarity of intonation. Combined, the Versum and Spirochore enhance all the great qualities my cello already possesses: darkness, depth, power, and a complex color palate. I couldn't be happier!

I have found these to be exceptional strings. They come very close to or surpass some of the way more expensive “top two bottom two” sets. I’ve always been partial to having the same string across all four, and these SO deliver. Smooth as silk, plenty powerful and easy response, they make my 22 year old Bulgarian just sing. Wonderful depth and complexity. And easy on the budget, an added plus.

I recommend it, its amazing, very sensitive and works great. The weight is very light. The termination of the tuner is very delicate and fine. The string works perfect on it.

I played the Evah Pirazzi for over 30 years and switched then to the Gold strings. I liked the Gold little better than the Evahs for a while but found that these strings are lacking two things: wide range of dynamic and complexity in sound. They were a little too plane for my taste. So I gave the perpetuals a try: I loved the complexity in sound right away but was really impressed by the great range of dynamics. Playing in ppp the sound still is focused, clear and very pleasant, playing ff the sound is big and still does not lose it's complexity. For me these are the best strings yet. I did not try the E-string but use still the gold E from Evah Pirazzi. Since I am so pleased with the Gold-E I did not want to spend the money trying the perpetual E. May be some day. In my opinion you would need a fine violin to fully appreciate the perpetuals.

These strings are fantastic! I bought these strings for my daughter as her teacher had tried them and highly recommended them. She says they are the best strings ever! Concord Musical Supplies was great to deal with and delivery was prompt. Thank you so much!

This is the warmest, roundest sound you can get! Olivs are also the brightest of the Pirastro gut family. All its gauges offer very similar qualities but because these are also the thickest of all strings, people may prefer the lowest gauge to try them. If you haven't played on gut before but you really want to try them, be sure to play in an environment of stable relative humidity, as the gut will shrink and the wounding silver will loosen and "rattle" if you live in a dry place. (I live in West Texas so I have to have humidifiers running 24/7 in my house and office). Gut may not be for everyone, but once I started playing on these Olivs eleven years ago, I never went back to steel. My cello (old French) loves gut!

I wanted to try this string because any other C string I have tried on my cello has lacked satisfaction. This string opened up the bass substantially AND it sound amazing. Warm and no metallic harshness. I liked it so much that I ordered the G string a day later and now my cello sounds like it has a sound supercharger installed. The only thing is that it is a bit sluggish, but once you get used to it, it is very rewarding.

This E string is the best for my violin. I have been using it for many years. It is tried and true.

I have been looking for the perfect strings for years and I think I just might have found them. The combination of power, response, and complex overtones which these strings provide are stupendous.

Great tone for my French cello.

Have received a beautiful BAM "Cabine" violin case, which will vastly reduce my stress while flying! I've had a couple of recent situations where I've had to argue my way onto planes with a regular case -- never had any trouble until recently, but the airlines are getting tighter. . .
Anyway, many thanks to the Concord team for their excellent advice and help with this!

I purchased Versum Solo strings from Concord for my Jay-Haide cello. The service was outstanding as usual and the new strings are rich, powerful and easy on the left hand. Great experience overall.

These strings sound well on my cello...they are bright with a good core sound, warm and responsive. More important, I find them very easy on the left hand. The lower strings need one week plus to settle down and played in.

The Olive rigid is the best viola G string that there is. It's quite pricey with its gold content, but the sound and response is SO worth it! I have made occasional short-lived forays over the years to try other brands of strings and ALWAYS come back to the Olive G. My viola needs a Eudoxa-Olive C string to sound blended, as the Olive C has sounded false and unfocused from the start each of the three times that I have tried it. I had used the rigid Olive D with Eudoxa-Olive C and Olive rigid G strings for years, but always with very slight speaking problems on the D string in fast strokes. The Olive silver D was not an option for me, as it sounded too bright. But a few months ago, after a detailed analysis of potential candidates for a synthetic D string that might blend, I discovered the Larsen Virtuoso D (non-Soloist), which blends with the two above and a Larsen A as though they were all made for each other. No more speaking problems, my viola sounds rich, brilliant and resonant with an enormous color palate and dynamic range, and the ease of playing is tremendous as never before with the ability to hear myself clearly when the orchestra is very loud and I have in earplugs! I think part of the D string issue may be that the Olive rigid D medium gauge (17) is an unusually high tension string, whereas the Larsen Virtuoso D is a somewhat lower tension string than usual. My viola loves it!

I have received my set of Evah Pirazzi viola strings. I always use the synthetic core, medium strings. I'm so pleased with the tone and color I can produce with my viola. And, I wonder why I waited to put new strings on, immediate satisfaction.

I love the sound quality and power

My stringed instrument maintenance/tune-up guy uses this Pirazzi Gold on the bottom, paired with a stark (non-Pirazzi) A string, to frame a really excellent setup on my viola. These Pirazzis (especially from Concord) are consistently of high quality and almost invariably true.

Dominant strings are the best for my violin, producing a warm and clear sound. I always recommend to my students as well.

I have owned a Wiesmeyer leather mute for several years and like it a lot. This newer version with synthetic material has a slightly brighter and more resonate tone than the leather one. I like them both equally and choose the one that fits the needs of the moment the best.

I have ordered from Concord Musical Supplies regularly since the late 1980s and they have always provided excellent service, reasonable prices and a wide variety of string supplies. This time I ordered Vision Solo strings, my go-to brand. As a professional orchestra violinist, these strings are even and rich in tone; they are powerful enough to play a concerto, but flexible enough to blend in during quiet orchestral passages; they are reliable and don't take long to break in.

The prior reviewer is exactly right. Better sound, easier tuning, no risk of damage to the instrument. Also, it looks good! I, too, installed the Mberg tuner on my violin and viola, and I'm recommending it to my students. It's also interesting the the German superstar luthier Martin Schleske, who is extremely picky with his accessories, uses Mberg tuners on his instruments.

I am very happy with my new Eudoxa-Olive viola C-string. I am both a violist and a violin/viola maker. The viola I play on I made in 2016. Its body length is 16 5/8” with a string length of 368mm. I modeled it on a 17 1/2” Gaspar da Salo instrument. The current setup requires a very low tension G-string, for which I use Eudoxa Stiff. The C-string tension needs to be higher than the Eudoxa Stiff C, however. The Evah Pirazzi Gold C works fine, but mixing gut and synthetic core strings gave me intonation problems. The Eudoxa-Olive C has a similar tension to the Evah Gold C, and I am very happy that it works on my instrument. It responds differently than the Evah Gold C, and I had to get used to the difference. At first I thought the response was slower, but now that it is played in, I think that is not the case. Also, the string diameter is thicker than the Evah Gold C, so it feels different under my fingers. The sound is darker, but not as dark as the Oliv C, which made my viola sound like a cello. The response is very good, and I can play closer to the bridge and with more volume now than I ever could on this instrument, as well as very softly yet still distictly clear over the fingerboard.
A note about string tension: You can find the tension numbers on Pirastro’s web page. Some instruments are more sensitive to having just the right string tension and combinations of string tensions among the four strings. I have found that a string that has too much tension for the instrument will not speak properly; my bow feels like it has butter on the hair instead of rosin. On the other hand, if the string has too little tension, it feels like a rubber band when I play on it and won’t let me “dig in” at all. Also, an A-string with too much tension may play fine, but cause the C-string to be dull and unresponsive.

I purchased two of these cases; my wife and I have been performing and teaching on the road a lot and were getting tired of lugging our heavier cases around.

For less than half the price of the competition, GEWA has delivered a superior quality case that has nearly everything a violinist would want. The adjustable neck block is wonderful, especially for those of us with non-standard-sized fiddles, and the backpack straps are very comfortable. The finish of these cases is what makes them stand out--the texture is resistant to stains and scratches, and the polycarbonate is much tougher than the fragile shells offered by other similar shaped cases. The handle is beautifully designed/shaped, the weather-resistant valence is a big plus, and the subway strap is serviceable. The only reservations I have are that the space is so compact that fitting any larger shoulder rests is not possible (we were able to fit a VLM with folding feet in without a problem), and the soft material covering the metal hardware for the shoulder straps will likely wear away quite quickly.

Time will tell how these cases handle with age, but at this price point, the GEWA Pure is *the* shaped case to purchase.

The last few sets of strings I had used were Warchal Brilliant with the Prototype A which I liked very much and they were relatively inexpensive. I was finding that the G and C were losing clarity in the upper register. I had put them on about a year ago. I had read favorable reviews and had seen online demos of the Versum/Spirocore Tungsten combo and so I decided to try them to see if they made a difference. I noticed immediately that the Spirocore G&C had more core but still ring and didn't get fuzzy in the higher register. The G&C are more responsive and feel a bit thinner than the Warchals so for me they feel more comfortable. I used medium tension strings for both brands. The Versum A string feels like it is a little thicker than the Prototype A but produces excellent sound, giving a ring but with more core than the Prototype A, with similar characteristics to the Spirocore and still comfortable to play. If you can afford these I recommend them.

This set is a great combo. These really helped tame the wolf I had on the F# on D/G/C. I'm not a scientist, but I think the more focused tone of this set has less frequencies from overtones competing within the body of the cello and allows the fundamental tone to escape unimpeded. On top of that, the sound is powerful, but still has warmth. I'm impressed.

I installed the G and C two
weeks ago. They took that long to break in, but are now rich, loud and glorious. They are as powerful but slightly more colorful than Spirocores.

The Dominant (light weight) Strings were available and delivered quickly. This light gauge string provides the flexibility and feel of a gut string with the pitch stability of a synthetic string. The mass of these strings are ample to provide sufficient projection on a standard violin without high string tensions.

Service was great. Recieved the strings sooner than expected. Site was easy to navigate. Thank you.

I first heard Larsen’s Magnacore Strings on a colleagues cello and was very impressed. I had been quite happy with Evan Pirazzi Strings on my cello but decided to give the Magnacore Strings a try just to see what difference it would make. After some research to determine if I should try the medium or Arioso tension, I went with the Arioso. My cello already projects well and has a bright, direct sound on the upper strings. I am so happy with the richer sound and the ability to get different tonal colors. I wanted to play for hours.