Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 50 minutes ago
This is NOT a paid promotional video -- it's an opinion/review. I bought Pirastro's Oliv "gut" violin strings to see what they were like. I usually buy Pirastro's Evah Pirazzi synthetic violin strings, and I knew switching to gut strings was going to be a new adventure, but I also wasn't sure what it'd be like. In this video, I discuss some of the pros and cons I encountered with the Oliv violin string set, and what I think about them. They were difficult to play when I first put them on my violin, and thus wouldn't want to have them as an emergency set.
Some of the things I list as a "con" are side-effects of using gut strings. TBH, I had heard rumors about gut strings and intonation challenges, but I didn't really know what it would be like, or how they behaved with the bow vs. the common "string stretching" we are familiar with when we put on a new set of strings. Now, I think I understand it a little bit more! =)
They are decent strings, and I liked their warm and complex sound. Their response time seemed to be less than the Evah Pirazzi strings, but it was okay. They didn't last very long (that might be because of my acidic hands), and they had bowed pitch fluctuations that ended up being more annoying than I thought it'd be. Therefore, I probably won't be buying them again. I've switched back to using Evah Pirazzi strings for now, but I'm excited to try a new different set of violin strings! I want to keep trying new strings to figure out what will sound the best with my particular violin.
I plan to keep making videos like this until I've tried the majority of the popular professional-level violin strings. This is all relative to my own experiences and unique violin, but hopefully it will provide a little bit of insight since violin strings are quite expensive.
I have been told by multiple violinists and musicians that I have "very acidic hands." Googling about it mentions acidic hands occur from eating too much junk food and drinking too much soda / pop / fizzy drinks. However, I honestly rarely eat that kind of stuff... I do wash my hands before I play, but that doesn't seem to help much...
I hope this video helps give some insight to these strings if you are thinking of trying them out! My violin is considered to be an intermediate to professional level violin. It has a tendency to sound bright with its high notes, a bit muddy with its low notes, but has an overall "bright" vibe. I'd imagine these strings might sound better on a violin that is "bright sounding" across all registers because the strings didn't really do much for my violin's notes on the G-string. The sound of the strings is also affected by what bow you use.
I think my "CodaBow Luma" makes my violin sound more "bright." Perhaps it even makes it a bit "shrill," especially on the E-string -- which isn't a good thing -- but the extra brightness from the bow helps clear up the lower G-string notes. The gut strings warmed up my E-string and A-string quite a bit, which was nice. However, I like lower notes more than higher notes because there isn't much "E-string shifting" with folk music. Therefore, I wasn't too happy with the extra-muddy sound that was being created with the gut G-string. I think I'd prefer to have a shrill E-string than a muddier G-string. I probably wouldn't use these on a "dark sounding" violin.
Perhaps another difference to consider is what kind of music you play. Celtic folk, Baroque, Classical, jazz, Eastern-European folk, Indian, etc., use violin registers and tone differently. Some string types have more power, others add a unique color to a violin's tone, others keep a good intonation consistency... These particular gut strings added a more complex tone color, but I suspect it will only really sing if you have a bright enough violin.
Also, gut strings are sometimes referred to as "catgut" strings. "Catgut" does NOT mean that it's from the gut of cats!! "Catgut" is actually short for "cattle gut." So....yes...gut strings are made of cow intestines (or, at least I'd guess the Oliv strings are from a cow...I can't actually find which animal they use to make these strings on their website). :S I can understand bagpipes originally being made from animal pelts, but I wonder how people came up with the idea that they could play fiddle music using cow intestine? Harps also often use catgut strings. :o Again, I apologize to the vegans out there -- and I've probably upset my vegetarian friends with this video. =/
Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of the week! =)
~ Katy
------------
My new Irish Music Book is available in my music store:
GoldenAspenMusic.com
Download/stream my "Tune Collection" album:
fanlink.to/TuneCollection
Download/stream my "Ghost Ship" single: fanlink.to/GhostShip
My artist portfolio website:
KatyAdelson.com
Hashtags:
#Violin #Fiddle #ViolinStrings #KatyAdelson #Music #GutStrings #catgut #PirastroOliv #Oliv #Pirastro #Review
This is NOT a paid promotional video -- it's an opinion/review. I bought Pirastro's Oliv "gut" violin strings to see what they were like. I usually buy Pirastro's Evah Pirazzi synthetic violin strings, and I knew switching to gut strings was going to be a new adventure, but I also wasn't sure what it'd be like. In this video, I discuss some of the pros and cons I encountered with the Oliv violin string set, and what I think about them. They were difficult to play when I first put them on my violin, and thus wouldn't want to have them as an emergency set.
Some of the things I list as a "con" are side-effects of using gut strings. TBH, I had heard rumors about gut strings and intonation challenges, but I didn't really know what it would be like, or how they behaved with the bow vs. the common "string stretching" we are familiar with when we put on a new set of strings. Now, I think I understand it a little bit more! =)
They are decent strings, and I liked their warm and complex sound. Their response time seemed to be less than the Evah Pirazzi strings, but it was okay. They didn't last very long (that might be because of my acidic hands), and they had bowed pitch fluctuations that ended up being more annoying than I thought it'd be. Therefore, I probably won't be buying them again. I've switched back to using Evah Pirazzi strings for now, but I'm excited to try a new different set of violin strings! I want to keep trying new strings to figure out what will sound the best with my particular violin.
I plan to keep making videos like this until I've tried the majority of the popular professional-level violin strings. This is all relative to my own experiences and unique violin, but hopefully it will provide a little bit of insight since violin strings are quite expensive.
I have been told by multiple violinists and musicians that I have "very acidic hands." Googling about it mentions acidic hands occur from eating too much junk food and drinking too much soda / pop / fizzy drinks. However, I honestly rarely eat that kind of stuff... I do wash my hands before I play, but that doesn't seem to help much...
I hope this video helps give some insight to these strings if you are thinking of trying them out! My violin is considered to be an intermediate to professional level violin. It has a tendency to sound bright with its high notes, a bit muddy with its low notes, but has an overall "bright" vibe. I'd imagine these strings might sound better on a violin that is "bright sounding" across all registers because the strings didn't really do much for my violin's notes on the G-string. The sound of the strings is also affected by what bow you use.
I think my "CodaBow Luma" makes my violin sound more "bright." Perhaps it even makes it a bit "shrill," especially on the E-string -- which isn't a good thing -- but the extra brightness from the bow helps clear up the lower G-string notes. The gut strings warmed up my E-string and A-string quite a bit, which was nice. However, I like lower notes more than higher notes because there isn't much "E-string shifting" with folk music. Therefore, I wasn't too happy with the extra-muddy sound that was being created with the gut G-string. I think I'd prefer to have a shrill E-string than a muddier G-string. I probably wouldn't use these on a "dark sounding" violin.
Perhaps another difference to consider is what kind of music you play. Celtic folk, Baroque, Classical, jazz, Eastern-European folk, Indian, etc., use violin registers and tone differently. Some string types have more power, others add a unique color to a violin's tone, others keep a good intonation consistency... These particular gut strings added a more complex tone color, but I suspect it will only really sing if you have a bright enough violin.
Also, gut strings are sometimes referred to as "catgut" strings. "Catgut" does NOT mean that it's from the gut of cats!! "Catgut" is actually short for "cattle gut." So....yes...gut strings are made of cow intestines (or, at least I'd guess the Oliv strings are from a cow...I can't actually find which animal they use to make these strings on their website). :S I can understand bagpipes originally being made from animal pelts, but I wonder how people came up with the idea that they could play fiddle music using cow intestine? Harps also often use catgut strings. :o Again, I apologize to the vegans out there -- and I've probably upset my vegetarian friends with this video. =/
Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of the week! =)
~ Katy
------------
My new Irish Music Book is available in my music store:
GoldenAspenMusic.com
Download/stream my "Tune Collection" album:
fanlink.to/TuneCollection
Download/stream my "Ghost Ship" single: fanlink.to/GhostShip
My artist portfolio website:
KatyAdelson.com
Hashtags:
#Violin #Fiddle #ViolinStrings #KatyAdelson #Music #GutStrings #catgut #PirastroOliv #Oliv #Pirastro #Review
