Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Neo violin strings: the Janine Jansen co-developed soloist set
Reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Neo is a synthetic-multifilament-core 4/4 violin set co-developed with Janine Jansen and Pirastro technical director Adrian Muller, launched as a separate product line within the Evah Pirazzi family. Per the Strings Magazine launch coverage, Jansen worked with Pirastro because she was unhappy with the regular Evah Pirazzi G string; Neo was built to fix that. Documented users today include Jansen and Rachel Barton Pine. Sits in the modern-soloist projection lane: powerful, centred, designed for concerto-scale halls.
Anatomy
- Model
- Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Neo 4/4 Violin Set
- Variants
- Standard tension; individual strings sold separately. Three-quarter and half-size variants for student-soloist instruments.
- Strings
- 4-string set: E, A, D, G
- Core wire
- Proprietary synthetic multifilament (Pirastro blend; specifics not published)
- E string construction
- Plain steel
- Wrap wire (A, D, G)
- Specialty Pirastro windings; G is the redesigned-from-original-Evah-Pirazzi string
- Tension
- Standard (Pirastro publishes one tension grade for Neo; lighter and heavier not currently in catalog)
- Coating
- None
- Intended scale
- 4/4 full-size violin (3/4 and 1/2 variants for student sizes)
- Launched
- 2020 (per Strings Magazine launch coverage)
- Co-developed with
- Janine Jansen + Pirastro technical director Adrian Muller
- Made in
- Offenbach am Main, Germany
Why Neo exists
- Jansen's complaint about the G
- Regular Evah Pirazzi has been a top-tier soloist set since the early 2000s. Jansen reported that the G string specifically didn't match the rest of the set's response, the lowest string felt under-projected against the brighter A and D. Neo's redesign focuses on rebuilding the G to balance the set.
- Centred-and-noble tone goal
- Pirastro's product description emphasizes a tone that's 'centred' (focused, not diffuse) and 'noble' (the marketing-speak for warm but commanding). The contrast point is regular Evah Pirazzi, which Pirastro positions as more aggressively forward in the upper midrange.
- Concerto-scale projection
- Neo is engineered for the soloist who needs to carry over an orchestra. The projection profile is built for halls of 1,000 to 3,000 seats; it can sound aggressive in 200-seat chamber rooms unless the player adjusts bow weight.
- Two verified pro users
- Janine Jansen (co-developer) and Rachel Barton Pine. The roster will likely grow as Neo's launch ages, but as of 2026 the publicly-documented Neo endorsement list is short and primary-source verifiable.
Tone
Per the launch coverage and Pirastro's positioning, Neo lives in the projection-soloist lane. The synthetic core gives a fast bow response with a tonal weight that blooms into the room rather than spiking at the bow contact. Compared to regular Evah Pirazzi, Neo trades some aggressive upper-midrange edge for a more balanced response across all four strings, the kind of tonal balance a touring concert soloist needs when the same set has to play Mozart and Shostakovich in the same week.
| Evah Pirazzi Neo | Evah Pirazzi (regular) | Thomastik Dominant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core material | Synthetic multifilament | Synthetic multifilament | Perlon synthetic |
| Projection | 9/10 (concerto) | 9/10 (concerto, brighter) | 6/10 (orchestral) |
| Balance G to E | More even | G feels lighter | Even, but warmer overall |
| Tone profile | Centred, noble | Forward, aggressive | Warm, balanced |
| Best for | Solo, concerto, recital | Solo, projection-first | Conservatory, orchestral, solo (warm) |
| Documented users | Jansen (co-dev), Pine | Vengerov | Hahn, Perlman (A/D/G) |
| Price tier | $$$ | $$$ | $$ |
| Launched | 2020 | Early 2000s | 1970 |
Best for
- Touring concert soloists with concerto-and-recital schedules in 1,000+ seat halls.
- Recording sessions where the violin needs to lead an orchestral mix without the engineer pushing the gain to compensate.
- Players who already tried regular Evah Pirazzi and felt the G string didn't match the rest of the set's tonal weight.
Worst for
- Conservatory students. Way over-engineered for daily practice; the price-to-benefit ratio doesn't favor a student. Stay on Dominant until you're touring.
- Section orchestra work. Too forward for blend; Dominant or regular Evah Pirazzi fits section playing better.
- Chamber music in 200-seat rooms. Neo's projection is engineered for halls that need it; in chamber settings it can over-power adjacent voices unless the player adjusts.
Who plays them
- Janine Jansen: co-developer with Pirastro's Adrian Muller. Direct primary-source endorsement at launch.
- Rachel Barton Pine: Pine's two-lane classical-plus-doom-metal work makes Neo's projection useful for her amplified-violin metal context as well as her concerto repertoire.
Install and break-in
- Loosen the existing strings evenly. Replace one at a time, starting with G (the lowest), working up to E. Don't remove all four at once. The bridge needs at least one or two strings holding it in position.
- Wind each new string evenly at the peg with 2 to 4 wraps. Synthetic-core sets like Neo settle within 24 to 48 hours of install; expect to retune 4 to 8 times in that period before the set holds.
- Break-in: 4 to 6 hours of bow time before Neo's tonal character fully emerges. The first hour is rough: the strings feel unsettled and the tone feels harsh. By hour 4 the set has bloomed.
- After break-in, the set is stable for 6 to 12 weeks of daily intense use before the upper-midrange clarity dulls.
Verdict
Evah Pirazzi Neo is the soloist-upgrade for players who liked regular Evah Pirazzi but wanted the G string to match the rest of the set. Co-developed with Janine Jansen, used by Rachel Barton Pine, positioned by Pirastro as the modern centred-and-noble alternative to the original Evah Pirazzi's more aggressive forward tone. If you're in concerto-touring territory and Dominant feels like it's not carrying the room, Neo is the standard upgrade path.
Evah Pirazzi Neo Violin 4/4 (Medium)
Why this one: The Jansen co-developed soloist set: synthetic multifilament core, rebuilt G string, centred-and-noble tone built for concerto-scale projection.
Related
- The verified user with the deepest co-development claim: Janine Jansen (page when shipped).
- Two-lane classical-plus-metal user: Rachel Barton Pine (profile page queued, link lands when it ships).
- The conservatory-default alternative: Thomastik-Infeld Dominant.
- Pirastro's older soloist set: regular Evah Pirazzi (review when shipped).