How should a proper synthetic setup look like?

The most common cause of synthetic core strings breaking used to be an incorrect set-up. The strings would snap at the ball and this happened mostly with A strings.

If you’d like to benefit from the quality of synthetic core strings while ensuring their reliability, we suggest you consider one of these set-up choices:

1. Attaching synthetic strings directly into a wooden tailpiece and tuning the strings using the pegs as most professionals do. This option requires making sure that the pegs turn smoothly and haven’t changed shape (for example becoming ovoid). The pegs must also be at the correct angle in the pegbox ready for easy manual tuning.

2. Installing geared pegs. This is a very comfortable option. No-one will notice the change, but you’ll have stress-free tuning. As for the drawbacks, geared pegs can only be installed by a luthier.

3. Using an integrated fine tuner tailpiece that holds the string ends in a gentler way.

If, however you prefer to keep your current adjusters which are suited to metal-core strings, you can:

Switch to a metal A string. Warchal metal A strings such as Russian A, Timbre A or wavy Avantgarde A do provide a warm sound which blends well with the rest of the synthetic core string set. You’ll need to adapt to a slightly different feeling under your fingers because generally metal strings are thinner. However, you’ll also avoid any corrosion and durability issues by switching to Warchal metal A strings.