Had the Olive G on my Pollmann and loved the sound. Then, after three months, the metal wrapping loosened up in two places, one near "C" and one near "F". Had to take it off. It's too expensive to get only three months use. I've been using Velvet Animas since, but I just bought Gamut Pistoy G and D to try. Haven't installed them yet because I've got four important gigs soon, and want to try them without any pressure. I wish that Pirastro would solve the Olive wrap problem. I know that I'm not the only one to experience it.
I don't know if there's much Pirastro can do about the wrap problem. You're trying to combine two completely un-like materials together and expecting them to react to heat, humidity, tension, and torsion the same way.
When I was a kid Canada first introduced our $2 coin
(the Toonie). Due to problems with the alloys and the mechanism used to lock them in place, the first batch of toonies had a problem with the center popping out if you froze them or hit them too hard. My dad has used the same principle (both heat and cold) to get two closely fitting pieces together in his metal working hobby.
And that's two pieces of metal that react relatively similarly and in a stable manner. Now think about wrapping gut, which swells and shrinks with humidity, as well as thinning under tension (as well as every time you pull the string with your finger or bow, albeit on a much smaller scale), with metal, albeit very soft and malleable metal. Metal is much less affected by humidity ( i would say not at all, but i'm not a chemist so I can't make that judgement), and takes much more tension before it stretches anywhere close to the amount that gut stretches. the two materials react so differently it's a credit to the engineers at Pirastro (and other companies) that they play along together as well as they do.
I think what really needs to happen is either Pirastro offers up their gut strings for less so that buying a new set every year isn't completely unfeasible for the performing musician,
OR, as is a more practicable and monetarily reasonable option, they need to offer re-winding (as Gamut or Dlugolecki do) for a small fee. That way they can continue to offer a quality product, and we can continue to use that product in manner that is cost-effective for us and for them. if they did offer such a service, I think a lot more people (myself included) would be more interested in using their product. I love the way the Eudoxas sound especially, but I'm still a student and I can't afford 600 bucks every year even for a string of that quality.
eerbrev
. Also I was hoping someone could let me know about taking care of them. What I know right now is that I should wipe them down frequently, detune them 1/4th of a step after playing sessions and clean them with string cleaner ever week but anything I'm missing (other than praying). Thanks!
