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CelloBass
Registered User
Posts: 77
(8/29/01 3:00:30 pm)
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Strings damaged
by changing between cellos?
Hi,
I have two cellos and some string sets, and I tried to
find out which string sounds best on which cello. It turned out that
the often I changed the strings between the two cellos, the worse
they spoke. I have a theory and I would like to ask you if you have
noticed a similar effect. Cello B has a slightly shorter string
afterlength than Cello A. When you put a string on a cello and tune
it, the string gets a kink where it is bent over the bridge. When
you take the string from cello A (long afterlength) and put it on
cello B (shorter afterlenght), the kink from the bridge A will be
located in front of the bridge B, on the vibrating part of the
string. I have the impression that this kink spoils the string. I
found that when I put a string on a cello that has a kink from my
other cello, its response is worsened dramatically. Every bow stroke
starts with a noise, and sometimes the string keeps vibrating with
strange harmonics during the stroke. Sometimes even up- and downbows
sound different, and sometimes there is no fundamental at all. I am
a bit frustrated and feel very unsecure because even the old setup
sounds worse than before. Have you noticed similar effects? Is it a
bad idea to try one string on different cellos? Should I start with
new strings?
Horst
|
 Steve
Drake
Registered
User
Posts: 448
(8/29/01 4:19:17
pm)
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Community Supporter
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Re: Strings
damaged by changing between cellos?
I think you've figured out what your problem is, and how to fix it.
Yes, swapping strings between different instruments will produce
problems like you're having.
My MP3's
My Cello
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TerryM
Registered
User
Posts: 530
(8/29/01 5:56:15
pm)
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Re: Strings
damaged by changing between cellos?
Perhaps it would be worthwhile to adjust the string afterlength of
both cellos so that they are the same. It may not be possible if
they have very different tailpieces, but this distance should be the
same if the two cellos have the same stop, i.e. string length from
nut to bridge. You may then require a new tailpiece and then a
new........etc. There is no end to this fine tuning thing! (except
perhaps your budget) Hey the world economy needs stimulating
anyway.
Terry
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CelloBass
Registered User
Posts: 78
(8/30/01 12:55:05 pm)
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Re: Strings
damaged by changing between cellos?
Steve,
I should have waited for a day before writing my
mail. Today, one day after the 'disaster', the strings with the old
kinks from my other cello play almost as well as before, so the
kinks seem to straighten out after being kept under tension for some
time.
Horst
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CelloBass
Registered User
Posts: 79
(8/30/01 1:11:18 pm)
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Re: Strings
damaged by changing between cellos?
Terry,
you are right, I am planning to put the same
tailpiece on both cellos, and now a have another reason for doing
so. Actually I like those adjustment experiments, always trying to
improve the sound. But of course I hate them when things get worse
the more I try... during the past few month I have already
stimulated the world's economy, especially the economy of China and
Romania. I play a Gliga, made of Carpathian resonance spruce, from
the dark and creepy forests where Dracula and other vampires have
their castles. That is why the C-string of those instruments growls
deep and threatening, expressing the dark soul of those woods... 
Horst
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