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Crystal (Corelli)

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Displayed for educational use only, please do not reuse.
Synthetic (nylon) core                              


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What the manufacturer says:
  • Although wound on a nylon core, Corelli Crystal strings position in the top-of-the-range product thanks to the STABILON multifilament specially elaborated to provide the optimum characteristics of elasticity and elongation necessary for the manufacturing of strings for bowed instruments. Our know-how has allowed us to develop a very high quality wound on nylon string that offers a classic sound and does not have the usual nylon sound, a sound which is a bit hard and aggressive. We managed to give these strings a natural warm and nevertheless rich tone.

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Warm (Tone)
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Neutral (Complexity)
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Reviews
H. Papakonstantinou (4/10/16)
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Warm (Tone)
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Neutral (Complexity)
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Neutral (Projection)
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A warm string. And this pretty much sums it up for me. Not too harsh, not too mellow, not very "trebly" or "bassy" sounding. Soundwise they seem to be somewhere in the middle of the spectrum without being aggressive.

I cannot help but compare them to the Thomastik Dominant due to their traits. However there are some crucial differences (at least concerning my experience). The Crystals are a little harder to press (though not high tension) than the Dominant and can be pressed harder with the bow, and they have more body than than overtone. I am not here to say wether these are pros or cons, I guess it's a matter of taste and circumstances.

the E string is acceptable and matches the rest of the set.

Did I mention that their price is reasonable? They are definitely worth a try.
T. Pearson (1/15/16)
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Very Warm (Tone)
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Rich (Complexity)
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Quiet (Projection)
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Overall
The warm sound of crystals can tame the harshest of violins. It's a great inexpensive string to put on a new violin until it settles down a bit.
C. First (3/27/14)
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Warm (Tone)
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Neutral (Complexity)
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Quiet (Projection)
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I had one violin that was a screamer. It had buckets of power, and a very bright, strident tone.

I tried soundpost adjustments (helped), did some bridge trimming (also helped). But what finally tamed that beast was a set of Corelli Crystal light gauge strings.

All of that power and stridency was seemingly channeled into resonance and depth by the Crystals. The Crystals have easy response, low tension (especially the light gauge, of course)and a even tone. They didn't seem to "mute" the sound, but they seemed to filter out the harshness while leaving the depth of sound intact.

I have only tried them on that one instrument, but I do plan to try them out on future violins as well since my experience was so transformative on that one.
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  • Spotlight Reviews
  • Read reviews
    • Synthetic
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    • E strings
  • Top Rated
  • Guides
    • String Color I.D.
    • Introduction
    • Tension Chart
    • Quick Reference
    • History
  • Downloads