I have just fitted a set of Eliakim's silk cored strings and am in two minds with them. They are certainly more like historical strings I think, there's a gut like scratch to them if the bow is a bit short of rosin. I have to work harder to draw the sound out of them but there are more colours/harmonics evident than there were with the previous generation of Aquilla strings that I had before them. They are a little less strident than the Aquilla set but dynamics are easier to produce. The Aquilla set I found were easier to adapt to after the Thomastic set that I had previous to them but were quite metallic. The Boussoir set is taking more work but hopefully will, with practice, allign with my playing style and repertoire. Thanks for your research and insight Daniela, I intend to try your bridge style at some point soon to see what difference I can find.
Thank you for this very interesting comment! Yes I think Eliakim strings are sort of more “human voice” sound than Aquila’s old ones, those were very metallic and I couldn’t stand them. New Aquilas are less metallic, a bit more dark and controlled in the sound, but they can still get “wild”. And this is why, for example, Malov loves them (he uses 3 basses Aquila and 2 Thomastick bu now, but he still didn’t try the new Aquila), because he wants to be able to make noise, like very rhythmic scratch. His bowing technique is so good that he can manage them well, so he can also play very legato. And powerful sound is a priority for him.
What I like in Eliakim’s strings is the fact that they use silk core all over, this gives both the warm tone and the consistent increasing in gauge that makes them easier to manage as a set, without having to adapt differently to each different string.
But again, I am going crazy with words. How difficult it is to describe a sound, when this is mixed with describing technique!
I have just fitted a set of Eliakim's silk cored strings and am in two minds with them. They are certainly more like historical strings I think, there's a gut like scratch to them if the bow is a bit short of rosin. I have to work harder to draw the sound out of them but there are more colours/harmonics evident than there were with the previous generation of Aquilla strings that I had before them. They are a little less strident than the Aquilla set but dynamics are easier to produce. The Aquilla set I found were easier to adapt to after the Thomastic set that I had previous to them but were quite metallic. The Boussoir set is taking more work but hopefully will, with practice, allign with my playing style and repertoire. Thanks for your research and insight Daniela, I intend to try your bridge style at some point soon to see what difference I can find.
Thank you for this very interesting comment! Yes I think Eliakim strings are sort of more “human voice” sound than Aquila’s old ones, those were very metallic and I couldn’t stand them. New Aquilas are less metallic, a bit more dark and controlled in the sound, but they can still get “wild”. And this is why, for example, Malov loves them (he uses 3 basses Aquila and 2 Thomastick bu now, but he still didn’t try the new Aquila), because he wants to be able to make noise, like very rhythmic scratch. His bowing technique is so good that he can manage them well, so he can also play very legato. And powerful sound is a priority for him.
What I like in Eliakim’s strings is the fact that they use silk core all over, this gives both the warm tone and the consistent increasing in gauge that makes them easier to manage as a set, without having to adapt differently to each different string.
But again, I am going crazy with words. How difficult it is to describe a sound, when this is mixed with describing technique!