G and C string reviews | Aitchison & Mnatzaganian Cello Specialists

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STRING REVIEWS: G AND C

Sound qualities: We find it useful to analyse the sound of strings using three factors: brightness, colour (resonance) and
core. Brightness is caused by the highest frequency overtones; colour is created by the resonant qualities of the string
while the core is the fundamental sound quality of the bowed string.
Playing style: There are two main groups of A and D strings. One group (most typically Jargar and Larsen Soloist) are designed for players who use heavy
bow pressure and want a powerful core sound. The other group (Permanent, Evah Pirazzi, Evah Gold and Dominant) are more related in style to traditional
gut strings. They are more pliant and lend themselves to faster bow strokes and are also brighter and more resonant than the first group, but they have a less
palpable core sound.
Core construction is an important feature of a string as it determines playing tension, flexibility, longevity, speed of response and tonal characteristics.
Windings also affect the sound quality. The elasticity of a string determines its feel under the left hand (how easy or difficult it is to press the string down
onto the fingerboard) and the bowing style. The tension of a string affects the balance of the cellos set up. Paradoxically, higher tension strings can either
choke or free a cellos response and generally exacerbate wolf notes. For string tensions, see String Tension Chart
G and C Strings
Pirastro Eudoxa: A beautiful, smooth gut sound; for many players, nothing else can compare. They lack the clarity and power of the best metal strings and there is inevitably some pitch instability and
variation in the natural gut core.
Thomastik Spirocore: The tungsten wound (Wolfram) version is one of the most popular lower strings of all time and is widely used by soloists. Valued for their powerful, gravelly tone, speed of response
and longevity, they take at least a week to play in and always retain a gritty edge to the sound which lends clarity to the dark bottom end of the cello. Spirocores are not universally loved, but they always do
their job in their own distinctive way. We would go so far as to describe the Spirocore sound as iconic: they are powerful and responsive, with a cavernous, resonant sound quality and a gravelly edge
which projects very well. The downside of Spirocores is that they take a long time to play in and the G strings can be rather variable in quality and can sound painfully metallic when new, making the
process of playing in an act of faith on the part of the user. Despite these drawbacks, Spirocores have been the most powerful and popular bottom strings for many years.
Various attempts have been made to improve on the Spirocore achievement, perhaps the most successful being Evah Pirazzi Soloist G and C strings by Pirastro which some cellists use in preference to
Spirocores, as well as Larsens Wirecore and, more successfully, Magnacore G and C.
Thomastik Dominant: These strings are helpful on cellos with a high bridge or wolf note problems. They are preferred by teachers who want their students to develop fast bow strokes, as Dominants
behave in a similar way to gut strings. Allow 1-2 weeks to play in; initially they have a very harsh sound.
DAddario Helicore: The ultra-flexible core gives excellent speed of response. The sound is smoother than Spirocore and the strings are excellent value and therefore very popular.
Pirastro Permanent: A popular tungsten wound string with good tonal qualities. Less gravelly than a Spirocore but with a slightly lower speed of response.
Pirastro Evah Pirazzi: Very powerful and tonally rich strings which were designed for longevity. Allow 2 weeks to play in. The C string is reluctant to speak when first fitted, but improves with playing.
Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Soloist: EP Soloist strings are powerful with a lot of resonance which can be quite overwhelming until the strings are played in. Some players change EP Soloists one at a time in
order to stay grounded, but consider it a small price to pay. The bottom strings are more focussed first cousins to the tungsten Spirocore bottom strings, while the top strings strike a pleasing balance of
focus, textured sound and projection, with a feeling of freedom under the bow. What is most unusual about EP Soloists is that these strings really do constitute a coherent set; devotees like to use all four EP
Soloists on their instruments.
Pirastro Passione: these G & C strings have a natural gut core with a patented synthetic woven sleeve which protects the gut core from humidity changes, thus improving the pitch stability and longevity of
the string without losing the tonal qualities of gut. Passione cello C is wound with tungsten which helps to increase the clarity of sound. These strings have a higher tension than Eudoxas and so feel more
rigid under the left hand and the response under the bow also differs from Eudoxa.
Pirastro Obligato strings have a multi-strand synthetic core with metal windings (except for the metal core A) and they fall into the same category as Dominant, Aricore and Synoxa. Obligato strings are
not especially new (launched in 2000) but what makes them distinctive is that Obligato G & C strings incorporate tungsten in the windings and reach pitch at a similar tension to other modern metal strings
(see table opposite). These strings have a warm, rich and complex sound and we have experienced a recent surge of interest in the G & C strings from professional players who are still seeking the qualities
of covered gut bottom strings without the hassle.
DAddario Kaplan Solutions G & C These strings have a good, rich sound quality and are quick to respond; the G is noticeably smoother and less metallic sounding than a Spirocore G. Easy to play, quick
response to short bow strokes, C string is not aggressive but the G is a bit over-focussed higher up the string, says one cellist.
Warchal Our brief test of the Warchal Brilliant G and C strings we found them a little disappointing in terms of power and clarity, compared to the top strings in the set. This may well be a playing-in issue;
Warchal recommends allowing 3 4 days for Brilliant strings to play in. Ben Magwood uses a full set of Warchal Brilliants on his cello and loves them. They have a bright, rich ringing sound with lots of
overtones and a very fast response. They do take a bit of getting used to as they are more stretchy than other strings Ive used, almost gut-like, so you have to be aware of where your bow is in relation to
the bridge and you often end up tuning using the pegs, as the strings are so stretchy that the fine adjusters dont make much impact when tuning.
Magnacore G and C For many years, tungsten wound Spirocore strings have been the most widely used bottom strings for professional players. In 2013 Larsen launched an exciting new offering: Larsen
Magnacore G and C (available in medium and strong tensions). These strings have an innovative core construction of two concentric Slinky-style springs of stranded steel, with tungsten (wolfram)
windings. We tested these strings on Robins Guadagnini copy cello (string length 682mm) which had previously been fitted with fresh Spirocore G and C strings and standard Larsen A and D strings. We
have also had some very helpful feedback from professional players.
We found the medium Magnacore G less flexible under the left hand than a Spirocore; it also tuned up more quickly on the peg. It was easier for us to play and was smoother and less harsh sounding than
our new Spirocore G. It was also a good match for a standard Larsen D string in tone, texture and response. It was quite quick under the bow and the tone was very balanced, with more richness than a new
Spirocore G. It worked very well on Robins cello alongside a new Spirocore C. Nicholas Jones kindly tested Magnacore medium strings for us (he had previously been using Evah Pirazzi Soloist bottom
strings on his Strad model cello). His Magnacore G medium took three days to play in, but he found it quick speaking, with good depth and a strong, masculine tone.
The Magnacore C medium matches very well with the Magnacore G: it has a rich, warm satisfying sound with a slightly smoother texture than a Spirocore C. Our first impression was that the Magnacore C
was slightly less powerful and a little slower to speak than the Magnacore G, but it must be noted that we were testing a newly fitted string and we would expect it to speak more readily once it is played in.
The open Magnacore C string had a slight winding buzz on our cello, but again this is probably a playing-in issue.
Nicholas Joness Magnacore C medium took eight days to play in. Initially, he also felt that the Magnacore C was less powerful than the G but he found that it improved with playing and that, like the G, it
spoke quickly and had a deep, masculine tone. He decided that the Magnacore strings also improved the top end of his cello and that the whole cello spoke more quickly after they were fitted. Nick observed
that the Magnacores were more rigid under his left hand than Evah Pirazzi Soloists, particularly when playing in half position.
Gabrielle Kaufmann came for a string trial in November and decided to use Magnacore Medium G and C on her contemporary instrument. She found that both strings were slow to play in and the rough
edge to the sound lasted some time, although she thought they sounded good from day one. She describes their sound as round, deep, dark, big, with an edge, and a lot of personality. She feels that they
have improved the overall sound of her cello, giving it a darker and unusually old sound for metal strings which has given more depth and richness to the tone of her cello.
Eduardo Palao tried Magnacore G and C mediums on his Wolfgang Schnabl cello. He had previously been using standard Evah Pirazzi medium G and C and Passione medium A and D strings. He told us
that the Magnacore strings were much more responsive and had a little more edge to their sound than the Evah Pirazzis and articulation was clearer and faster, with plenty of volume. They also seemed to

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be stable right from the start. However, Eduardo found their sound rather narrower and less rich in overtones than Evah Pirazzis and they also made his Passione strings sound tighter and thinner. When he
replaced the Magnacores with new Evah Pirazzis, he felt that his cello sounded rounder and freer again, with less tension under the fingers, and gave him a wider variety of colours.
I have had the medium Magnacore C and G on my Hill cello for several days now and I am very impressed. My previous Spirocores were good but the Magnacores are a real improvement. In playing the
opening bars of the first movement of the 3rd Beethoven Sonata with the G Spirocore I had a wolfy sound on the F sharp that has been eliminated with the Magnacore. With the Magnacores I can go several
octaves up the G and C strings and still have a lovely tone so I have more flexibility in fingerings. The C has taken several days to get clear but has required far less break in time than my Spirocores. The
5ths are perfect and the strings are an excellent complement to the Larsen soloist A and D.
John Hawk, Mt Shasta, California.
Magnacore strings are available in both medium and heavy tension. According to Larsen, the heavy tension strings have more focus, edge and volume than Magnacore medium strings. Further feedback on
Magnacores can be found below this article.
Evah Pirazzi Gold G. Like most G strings, this string needs time to play in; when fitted new, cellist 1 felt it was rather breathy and metallic, especially on the open string, but he still liked the sound enough
to persevere with the string. Cellist 3 found the EP Gold G softer and less clear than Magnacore G and he also felt it encouraged the wolf note, but preferred its tone colours to Magnacore G. He also felt the
EP Gold G made his Spirocore C sound softer, and that it lightened and sweetened the rest of the cello. He found the EP Gold G more flexible under the hand and less metallic than Magnacore G.
Evah Pirazzi Gold C. Cellist 1 loved this string as soon he first played it and much preferred it to the Spirocore C which had been fitted to his cello before. His comment was; You couldnt make this
sound on a Spirocore! He enjoyed the strings sweet, warm, immediate response and smooth, rich sound with no hiss and compared it to playing a silver covered gut string. After 2 weeks of playing, he
described it as good and strong, nice depth, a fatter sound than Spirocore. On a strong, edgy cello, EP Gold C offered cellist 3 a high quality, dark sound and opened the cellos general response. He found it
much better than a standard Evah Pirazzi or Kaplan C, which sounded a bit dry in comparison.
Tungsten G string Syndrome
The more experience we have with cello strings, the clearer it becomes that cello G strings can be a real nuisance, particularly those with tungsten windings. A fresh tungsten G string is often fitted in an act
of faith that its aggressive tone will eventually mellow and match the C string. The most extreme example of this syndrome is the tungsten Spirocore G but to some extent this is also true of Helicore,
Permanent, Obligato and Evah Pirazzi G strings. We understand from our conversations with string developers that traditionally they like to keep the thickness of the G string down, which in turn leads to a
very high proportion of tungsten in the winding which is responsible for the aggressive, nasal sound of these strings before they are played in. Some players have rejected tungsten bottom strings altogether
as a result; others value the clarity of the tungsten Spirocore C string so much that they are willing to combine a non-tungsten G with a tungsten C. We have seen Larsen Soloist, Spirocore Silver, Permanent
Soloist, Belcanto and even Aricore fitted alongside tungsten Spirocore C strings. Recent feedback about the new Kaplan Solutions G suggests that DAddario have been working successfully to overcome
this problem and Larsen Magnacore G is proving a very successful tungsten G string.
For string tensions, see String Tension Chart

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