Free cello strings!

Sometimes writing to a company can really be worth it! Since finding the international cello society forums online - I've been reading with interest the various discussions of the pros and cons of different brands of string. Now cello strings are NOT cheap - so trying different brands on one's cello can be a very expensive experiment.

Back a couple months I saw a post that another cellist had written to the Pirastro string company in Germany with a query about which of their string sets would work best on his cello and they had sent him a whole NEW set for FREE to try and fill out a questionnaire about how he liked them. I thought it was worth it to give it a go myself. Especially since my cello (a 1753 7/8 Widhalm) is sort of temperamental about strings. I found their site and filled out an online question form - including my home address - telling about my cello and asking which of their string lines they would recommend. Then I forgot about it.

This morning when I got my mail - I was floored to find out a package from Germany marked "commercial sample." Inside - a full set of evah pirazzi cello strings!

Along with the strings came their product info sheets and a survey form to complete and return. However - their info said I can also fill out their online questionnaires - which I plan on doing. I checked on the Shar website and evah pirazzi full sets START at $144.99 USD not counting taxes and shipping!

So sometime over the next little while - I'll be taking off my relatively new Jargar A and D and Helicore G and C and trying the evah pirazzi set. I'm very happy because now I will have 2 full backup sets and probably am set for strings for the next several years if not longer!