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
Why Neo exists
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.
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.
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).