Ah poop... this is always a bit of an unwelcome sight when you open up your case. Not so much of a problem when it is the thinner strings that break, they do that often enough, and they are relatively cheap anyway... but when it is the lowest string, well... that is a bit of a financial sting as well!

... and it is likely that it has been the constant travelling between my dry and cooler hometown, and the humid and warm city where I have been working over the last month and the coming month. The changes in heat and humidity aren't ideal for the instruments... but the constant changes mean that the strings tend to fray and wear a good deal faster than they would otherwise.

I only had a single spare for that instrument and that particular string... and it has been a string that I had been saving for a year or two now. The Eudoxa Gold series was discontinued a couple of years ago, and it was my preferred choice for the lowest string on my Baroque Viola. However, these strings won't keep forever... the gut core will decay and get brittle over time... but I guess the silver winding will be okay as long as it stays tightly wound...

The last time I snapped the C string, I replaced it with an Olive variant... and it was okay... initially, I found the response to be a bit slow but I have gotten to like it. But I guess that strings shouldn't stay in storage forever, and I decided it was probably time to use the Gold for this time.

Interestingly enough, despite having played on these strings on the low end for nearly two decades, I haven't really found it to be as enjoyable this time around. I like the response and the general sound of the string... but I also find that the tension is lower than I had remembered, and it means that when I lay into the string... it sort of chokes a bit faster than I expect! Well, that will just take a little to get used to... and different contact point between the string and the bow will fix most of that! I just have to relearn that after using a different string for the last year and a bit...

... but it also means that I have to start searching for a good alternative. A stiff Olive C seemed to work okay... but I'm also toying around with some Aquila ones. The Aqulia will be closer to the "proper" strings for the instrument... a gut core with wound silver... I think that the Olives are not a proper gut core, but a synthetic equivalent.

... ah well, I have a big string order coming up! Sigh.... that is going to be a touch expensive!

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