The vibrating string length is measured between the bridge to the nut of the instrument and is quite standardised for violin and cello. This measurement gives the length at which the open string vibrates.

Strings don’t like extreme weather conditions, just like your instrument. If they are kept at room temperature with a relative humidity between 40 and 60%, they will stay fresh for a longer period. For silver-wound strings, a slight darkening can occur due to oxidation, which is purely a visual change with no loss in sound quality. Once the strings are on an instrument, we recommend avoiding cleaning chemicals containing alcohol since it can damage the instrument’s varnish. A microfibre cloth should suffice to keep the strings in good shape. Make sure that the strings don’t get hot or bent when you clean them.

The degradation of strings is mostly gradual and often imperceptible. How often they should be changed depends on your playing style and the total playtime, age but also temperature, and humidity. If you feel like a string’s performance is diminishing, you should consider changing it soon (watch out for open harmonics, brilliance, bow response, or even mechanical damages). Playing too long on old strings can negatively impact your playing experience, making your life unnecessarily hard. To this end, it is helpful to make a note when you last changed your strings. If in doubt, it might be beneficial to change the strings - the difference is often quite evident immediately. For an ideal experience, we recommend changing the entire set at once (string by string). But it is also possible to change single strings, like e-strings on the violin, a-strings on the viola, or a- and d-strings on the cello.

Describing and comparing sound just with words is quite a challenge, but we do provide a table to compare our products’ main characteristics. It’s not perfect, but it gives you an idea of what to go for.

Describing and comparing sound just with words is quite a challenge, but we do provide a table to e, but we do provide a table to

Describing and comparing sound just with words is quite a challenge, but we do provide a table to e, but we do provide a table to

All Jargar Strings are made of high-performance materials, and through our meticulous endeavours, only strings of the highest quality leave our production facility. We use synthetic fibres, carbon steel wires, or steel ropes as core materials and numerous synthetics, metals, or alloys for the windings. Our production is state-of-the-art, facilitating the craft of handmaking strings with modern technology. This process we proudly call being old-fashioned in a modern way.

Strings should only be changed one-by-one to always keep the instrument under tension, which also lets the bridge and soundpost stay in place. Before putting on the new string, you should coat the grooves on the nut and the bridge with graphite, ideally with a very soft pencil.

The most-recommended violin strings for advanced and professional violinists are Violin Superior and Evoke Violin, but these will depend on your violin and your style. For the less advanced musician, we recommend Young Talent. The most-recommended cello strings for advanced and professional cellists are the Cello Superior. Classic A and D or Special A and D are also recommended, but these will depend on your cello and your style. For fractional-sized cellos, we recommend Young Talent.

For viola and bass strings, the vibrating string length must be considered since they often deviate from the most common constructions. The string tension increases quadratically with increasing string length and frequency, so this should be considered, especially for non-standard vibrating-string lengths. Only with unwound strings made of the same material, like plain carbon steel violin e-strings, do the diameter and strings tension go together. Because winding materials can have different specific densities, a wound string’s diameter does not give much information about its tension, just like the elastic feel of a string does not correlate with its real tension.

When you take your new strings out of the package, check that you are using the right string for the right tone. Mixing this up can happen quite easily and can cause the breakage of a brand-new string. Do not tune them too high to shorten their break-in time. The best idea is to have a tuner ready with you for that. In the first minutes of retuning, make sure that your bridge stays well in contact with the instrument’s belly. The use of graphite in the bridge and nut grooves also helps. All our strings offer quick tuning stability but have a look at what core material your strings use. For steel, rope-core, or spiral-core strings, we do recommend a tailpiece with fine tuners or the full set of fine-tuning pegs. Spiral-core strings also stretch a bit during their breaking-in period. Synthetic-core strings stretch a bit more when brand new but are also stable within some hours of playing time. They do not need a fine tuner on the tailpiece or a fine-tuning peg. But since violin e-strings or viola a-strings are made of steel, a fine tuner is obligatory. Make sure that these strings’ thin steel wire is not damaged where the string is hooked into the fine tuner.

I. Usually, string makers follow a certain concept for a full set with a special sound in mind. But for the most part, it’s fine to mix our different brands of strings. Our Violin e-strings, Viola a-strings, and Cello a- and d-strings especially are renowned for blending very well with other brands. If you’re going to be mixing different gauges or types of strings, then make sure you know what you’re doing. It is good to have an experienced partner in this process.
II. Since strings do affect the tone of your instrument, mixing different ones can lead to inspiring new sound colour combinations. Successfully mixing different gauges or types of strings takes a lot of experience and is ideally done by a qualified expert like a luthier, teacher, or colleague.
III. Mixing old and new strings will be more noticeable and can lead to a shortened tonal lifespan of the newly added strings.

That’s a bit of a secret. We do vary our basic designs, materials, and procedures in many ways to make strings sound different. String making is an old handcraft, and it takes much experience and curiosity to find all possible ways of creating sounds.

That depends on your instrument and your personal playing style. Maybe you can get some inspiration here.