Wolf Eliminators Nos.1 and 2: Generic and Wolf-Be-Gone

About the "Generic":  This is the old workhorse of wolf eliminators.  It has been around for as long as I can remember, and thus deserves a mention.  It basically consists of a rubber inner sleeve with a cut side, to allow the player to slide it onto the string between the bridge and tailpiece; a chrome-plated or gold-plated metal case which fits over the rubber sleeve; a spacer nut, and an adjuster.  The photos show the gradual assembly of a viola wolf eliminator, but the system is the same for violin/viola, cello, or bass.

Fit & Finish:  This type of wolf eliminator is visually rather unassuming, and as someone who often has to fix violin buzzes and rattles, I am reluctant to equip an instrument with anything that has multiple moving parts.  Super-Sensitive have recently come out with a somewhat sleeker model -- the "Wolf-Be-Gone" -- which features a chic, urban, blackened-steel finish and sleeker styling, achieved through elimination of the spacer nut.  This is a relief to me personally as I could never quite figure out what it was good for in the first place.

Price:   As befits a workhorse, the "generic" wolf eliminator is the most inexpensive option on the market.  At House of Note, it retails at $7.50 for the chrome-plated violin/viola model, $10.00 for the gold-plated version; with the cello wolf eliminators running at $11.25 and $13.75 respectively.  The "Wolf-Be-Gone"  is moderately more costly, at $13.00 for violin/viola and $19.49 for cello.

Conclusion:  Unless you are desperately strapped for cash, I don't find anything much to recommend this type of wolf eliminator.  The challenge with on-the-string wolf eliminators is to find the optimal placement, both in terms of which string to put it on and where on the string to place it.  This is another reason I do not like the multiple moving parts --every tiny adjustment of position requires you to loosen the adjuster and spacer, then make sure the inner and outer sleeves are aligned, but in such a way that the "cut" side doesn't overlap, or face the adjuster directly ... there seem to be too many variables, especially considering the more up-to-date models available now.