Superb! I inadvertently snapped a string on my NEW 990BEM (another goodie from Thomann) - my bad, messing around with the initial tuning, so I got a set. Excellent sound (I replaced all the strings and keep the original 3 as spares). I recommend investing in a set and keeping it in the voilin case - I do (got another set). Just started to learn violin so no experience in terms of durability etc. Nevertheless - recommended.