"Rolling" A-string

[erik II]

Obligatos, less than a year old. Lately it has been difficult to get the bow to grip the A-string properly. It has also felt different than the other strings when playing pizz.

I just found that when I pinch the string and roll it between my fingers, it rolls easier than the other strings. It seems to rotate around a point close to the bridge. On the other strings, the twist is distributed evenly.

It seems like it has been weakened at that point near the bridge. Has anyone else experienced something like this on Obligatos or other strings? Is it close to breaking? I think it is...

[oldsaw]

Erik,

It's dead. Either replace it or change brands. There have been other threads posted here about the short life span of Obligatos. Mine lasted about 6 months. The first to go was the E string then the A string.

Mark

[erik II]

Yes, I have read something about that, but my impression was that they just "went dead", or the windings came loose here and there. Just wondered if anyone had experienced this particular phenomenon.

Now lessee, what is that brand you have recommended a couple of times....

(...does quick search...)

Ah... Innovation 140B. I'm gonna try them.

Edit: When I re-read the threads you mention, I see that the situation I described has been covered... so this is the "windings-separating"-thing... Sorry, but this is the first time I've had a string dying on me...

[Gideon]

That's the exact behavior that I wrote about a little bit ago. I replaced with Corelli 370 F. Very good so far. Not as warm as the obligatos but I like.

[erik II]

Yes, now I see what you mean. At first I thought the string was weakened at the core.

I have the Corelli 370XF on my hybrid bass, and they're good. I will still order the Innovations (part of string survey ), and cross-check to find which are best/which are best on which bass (they are quite different).

[olivier]

My strings are still fine. I am wondering if tuning at 442 Hz in America vs 440 Hz in Europe has something to do with the lesser longevity of Obligatos accros the pound. Maybe I don't pluck hard enough. Gonna start to beat the sh*t out of 'em strings so I kill 'em like youze.

[Don Higdon]

I've never heard it said that 442 is a standard in the USA. First thing I do at a club is check the piano. They're always at 440 (or less )

'A' above 440 depends how fussy the precious violinists are.

And I've had the same problem with the Obligato winding spinning around the core. It's a shame they have to sound so good when they're new.

[olivier]

Don, somehow I had the impression that our jazz instructor was not right about that. You just straitened up the facts, thanks.

[oldsaw]

Originally posted by olivier
My strings are still fine. I am wondering if tuning at 442 Hz in America vs 440 Hz in Europe has something to do with the lesser longevity of Obligatos accros the pound. Maybe I don't pluck hard enough. Gonna start to beat the sh*t out of 'em strings so I kill 'em like youze.

It's no wonder that I am always out of tune. Guess I'm going to have to grind a little off the ends of my tuning fork to get it to 440. But seriously, I always thought that the Europeans tuned above 440, regardless what Don says about their violinsist.

Mark

[dhosek]

Originally posted by Don Higdon
I've never heard it said that 442 is a standard in the USA. First thing I do at a club is check the piano. They're always at 440 (or less )

I've found that church pianos in Chicago are almost invariably tuned* to 442 or higher. Seems to apply to multiple denominations so it's not just a Catholic thing...

* Although in many cases, saying that the piano is "tuned" is perhaps an overstatement. I'll usually take an electronic reading on A at 3 or 4 octaves and go for the average unless there's a clear pattern to the mis-tuning (i.e., running increasingly sharp or flat across the run of the piano).

But my understanding was that European orchestras tend to tune sharper than American.

-dh

[Don Higdon]

Since the environment can send the pitch in either direction, I'll say it another way. I've never heard, and I've never heard OF, a piano tuner saying he tuned above 440. And, right or wrong, I've been under the impression that tuning high was a European thing, although I don't have the foggiest notion where I got that idea.
And I still say the violinists are a pain in the ass.

[oldsaw]

Don,

We all agree with when it comes to musicians with little heads.
As far as A tuning goes, try playing alone with a Berliner Philharmoniker CD. When I first tried it, I knew I was not that good but I thought what sh**ty intonation I had. It wasn't until my teacher told me about the A 440 vs 442,443,444 or 445
that they tuned to. Since then I only buy CDs produced in the UK or USA.

BTW, my intonation is great, it's the Germans that are bad. except for Klaus Trumpf.

Mark

[olivier]

We've switched to an interesting debate on pitch, but the point I wanted to make about short lived Obligato was that, although they stretch a lot before reaching pitch, maybe it jeopardize their integrity to tune them, even so slightly, above normal pitch ?