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Bonnie,
I use pirastro for the simple fact that I bought a ton of octaves at once and I have yet to go through all of them! I did not take the savarez KF all the way up b/c I was told by Vanderbilt that the Savarez strings break up in the 1st/2nd octave. I will say that my second octave E and D have broken twice so I just swapped it out for nylon and problem solved, perhaps for my particular harp my “break” if you will happens to be around 2nd octave D and I’ve accepted that. I also think that the pirastro is slightly thicker than standard nylon, although I think Tom Bell from bell harp tech has said the thickness is very very minimal it still feels thicker to me. Just my two cents!James
I am a big proponent of the Savarez KF strings. I’ve used them exclusively for the past 5 years now. I like them for a variety of reasons, mainly being once they stabilize with their pitch they hold it very well even for outdoor concerts and such. I use the KF all the way up to the first octave and finish it out with pirastro nylons. I second the comment that they stretch for an obnoxious amount of time so be sure to change them when you have nothing important coming up for at least two weeks. They also require zero slack on them when you put them on as they stretch a great deal once you start winding the pin. I enjoy the sound very much it has a very full sound and they do not decay as fast as gut strings. I receive compliments on my sound every single time I take my harp out, and it’s a Salvi. I know some folks don’t use the KF strings in the upper octaves but for me it personally opens up my top octaves beautifully with a nice zing to it and makes the whole harp brighter. Harmonics take a little bit more finesse but this is the case with most Salvi’s I’ve encountered regardless of the string choices. They are more expensive than gut but if I remember correctly I had enough left over for a second string change all the way down to the A below middle C which was impressive that never happens with gut. Hope this helps!
JP
