Avantgarde (Warchal)
Displayed for educational use only, please do not reuse.
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Metal core
What the manufacturer says:
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Reviews
Shawn Boucke - Site Director (12/28/14)
Bright (Tone)
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Neutral (Complexity)
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Very Loud (Projection)
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Yes you can feel the helix while you play, but it takes minutes to get used to. The Avantgarde A does a fantastic job of creating the break to the higher register between the D and A strings without being too shrill or metallic-y. If you have never had a metal A-string and have no qualms with being non-truadional than this would be a great choice for you.
T. Boyer (3/9/17)
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Hat's off to Warchal again. The Avantgarde A is an awesome string.
I have fallen in love with the Warchal Amber E, which is becoming known as the best non-whistling E in the world.
The Avantgarde A uses the same technology -- they twist the steel into a helix which mostly straightens out when you install the string. The little curves mellows the sound and, in the case of the E, prevents whistling. (Anybody who plays Bach Sonatas and Partitas knows the value of a non-whistle E)
Anyway Russian trained violinists sometimes use steel because the Russian tradition wants a bright A that is closer to matching the volume and intensity of the steel E. But obviously most of the steel As out there are nasty sounding, too antiseptic and not warm.
Warchal promotes this as a steel A but it doesn't sound like steel at all, and they're right, it has a lovely sweet Bel Canto kind of sound.
My usual A is a Vision Solo, a synthetic core which is bright and ringing (and relatively high tension). The Avantarde A is quite similar to the Vision but a little louder. It's also lower tension -- a lot less effort to play on. You can feel the bends of the helix under your fingers but I haven't found it harder to play on. The lower tension is going to require some adjustments in bow technique. It's plenty responsive.
This is not a string for people who want to sit in the back of the 2nd violin section and not be noticed. It will be, like Vision Solo or Evahs, be too bright and loud for some people's taste.
But I prefer a brighter, louder string, I prefer using lighter bow pressure and more bow, and this string suits this technique well.
It will be some weeks of play, I'm not sure if I'll prefer this string to the Vision Solo, but so far I like it. I'm playing visions on the D and G and it seems compatible with them.
I have fallen in love with the Warchal Amber E, which is becoming known as the best non-whistling E in the world.
The Avantgarde A uses the same technology -- they twist the steel into a helix which mostly straightens out when you install the string. The little curves mellows the sound and, in the case of the E, prevents whistling. (Anybody who plays Bach Sonatas and Partitas knows the value of a non-whistle E)
Anyway Russian trained violinists sometimes use steel because the Russian tradition wants a bright A that is closer to matching the volume and intensity of the steel E. But obviously most of the steel As out there are nasty sounding, too antiseptic and not warm.
Warchal promotes this as a steel A but it doesn't sound like steel at all, and they're right, it has a lovely sweet Bel Canto kind of sound.
My usual A is a Vision Solo, a synthetic core which is bright and ringing (and relatively high tension). The Avantarde A is quite similar to the Vision but a little louder. It's also lower tension -- a lot less effort to play on. You can feel the bends of the helix under your fingers but I haven't found it harder to play on. The lower tension is going to require some adjustments in bow technique. It's plenty responsive.
This is not a string for people who want to sit in the back of the 2nd violin section and not be noticed. It will be, like Vision Solo or Evahs, be too bright and loud for some people's taste.
But I prefer a brighter, louder string, I prefer using lighter bow pressure and more bow, and this string suits this technique well.
It will be some weeks of play, I'm not sure if I'll prefer this string to the Vision Solo, but so far I like it. I'm playing visions on the D and G and it seems compatible with them.
P.Moore (2/1/15)
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I'm a fan of this A string. It has great response like the Russian A, but a bit warmer sound. Feels good under the finger, despite the spirals and the fact the tension isn't exactly low. It's probably true you can find more colors with certain synthetic As, but the responsiveness is hard to give up...
K. Christodoulides (1/10/15)
Bright (Tone)
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Very Clean (Complexity)
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Neutral (Projection)
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It is a fantastic string, bridging the gap between D and E strings, improved articulation and a crystal clear tone. I'll never use another A string.