1. Do fiddle strings come in a choice of light and medium guage like guitar strings? If so, what do you think of mediums (or is medium the standard choice rather than light)? I want to do some busking this summer and I think that a little extra volume would be useful - and the fiddle's action is so soft that I think I could deal with a heavier guage.

2. Mark mentioned that in a certain brand, the E strings are wound. I sometimes get a unique, very high squeaking sound playing my E string open, especially after I've just come to it from another string (I get the usual squeaking sounds on other notes, but there's a different kind of squeak that's unique to open E). Do you know what I'm talking about? My theory is that this happens on only the E because only the E is unwound - would a wound E take care of it? (And Mark, did you mean Helicore, or is Spirocore the correct name?)

3. What I sometimes do with my fiddle (and guitar) to practice tuning by ear is detune all the strings by several tones, so I'm "starting from scratch" when attempting to tune by ear. But is it bad for the strings to be frequently loosened and retightened by significant amounts (say a fifth below what they should be)?

Thanks, Marion