"I do not see how any artist can use an instrument which is quite new to
him in concert. I never play any but my own Guadagnini, which is a fine
fiddle, with a big, sonorous tone. As to wire strings, I hate them! In
the first place, a wire E sounds distinctly different to the artist
than does a gut E. And it is a difference which any violinist will
notice. Then, too, the wire E is so thin that the fingers have nothing
to take hold of, to touch firmly. And to me the metallic vibrations,
especially on the open strings, are most disagreeable. Of course, from a
purely practical standpoint there is much to be said for the wire E.