Ok, its time to get strings this week. Much has been said about these two brands. I am still unclear which one I should try first. Albeit these are just guidelines and different strings for different basses yadda yadda, I would like your opinions again if you will. My pizz:arco = 50:50. Which one should I try first?

I've heard to many horror stories about the short life of Obligato's, which would lead me to try the Innovations first. JMHO, of course.

Monte

Agrarian,

You just had to know that I was going to respond to this.

If you really enjoy putting strings on your bass, I suggest you buy a set of each. Put the Obligatos on first. You will really enjoy the sound they give you until you have to play a fast arco piece on the E or A string. After your frustration gets to the boiling point put on the Innovations. You will kick yourself for not putting them on in the first place. The quality of sound, tone and volume was far better on my bass in both arco and pizz. The E and A string don't have the excessive roll of the Obligatos so the sticcato response is much better.

Mark

It is rumored that oldsaw has a contractual agreement with Innovation. As part of his contract he must have at least 4 Innovation stickers plastered to his Kolstein during performances, and he must wear the official Innovation matching head and wrist bands.

With that said, I do agree with his comments regarding the Obligatos.

Well, based on the overwhelming response and clear consensus of this poll, I just ordered myself a set of Innovation 140B strings.

My plan has backfired so I ordered a set of Innovations......thanks for the input guys

I got a set of 140B (from C. Quinn, since in Paris neither my luthier nor Alienor knew of 'em) yesterday. Very excited due to G.A.S. related outburst of neuronal transmitters. E string: all's OK. G and D: sh..., what's that lame thumpy sound? My old beatup and restored Mirecourt does not sing any more! The open strings do not hold the same pitch from the onset of pizz until the end of resonance: this is quite common but not to as an exaggerated degree as I hear (and see on the tuner) in this case. No sustain. No full sound. No resonance. Useless set of strings for me.

I know Donosaurus is gonna make fun of this, but being a research scientist in my other life, I had to do this experiment. It cost me 125$ to find out, and I will lend that set around me so that other fellow bass players get that knowledge. I am puzzled by the fact some even thought of comparing these two sets. Obligatos are obviously the result of a very well learned experience in harmonic string engineering, venturing into novel synthetic material. They have nice sustain, a rich and sweet arco sound, and all that within the frame of a strong fundamental tone. Innovation's 140B is only tinkertoying around with metal wound nylon rope twine. I am sorry to say this, but it falls short to produce a decent harmonic string.

I thank the various protagonists of that thread for pushing me to perform an interesting experiment. I put back on my -almost two year- old set of Obligatos (and a Dominant E).

Salut Olivier!
Another frustrating string test, hum? :-)
Maybe you should have gotten the 140H instead (the core is full, not braided).
This is usually the set that is recommended for a clearer, more sustained jazz sound.
The 140B are definitely aimed at the orchestral bassist.

Salut François, je te remercie pour compatir.
Maybe I have been misleaded and should have tried 140H, but the package was not very explicit about that and they'll have to make some move first if they want to be convincing because my ears aren't full of hay. I am very skeptical that those guys can make a decent string and I am not ready to spend a single Euro to lend them an ear again.
And I know what to ask Santa to replace my old Obligato set: another set of Obligatos!
Bonnes Fêtes, Paix.

olivier
Sounds familiar. I have never had a string shut down the sound of a plucked bass like the Innovations. I mentioned in another thread that I get more sustain out of gut. I also found the Innovations harder to play in tune. They do sound nice bowed and that is the only reason I still have them on.

Now I wish to try Obligatos and Helicore Orchestra...

With Helicore, you'll hear the strings, with Obligatos you'll hear the bass.

but this belongs to another thread.
Ciao, got to go.

Originally posted by olivier
Salut François, je te remercie pour compatir.
Maybe I have been misleaded and should have tried 140H, but the package was not very explicit about that and they'll have to make some move first if they want to be convincing because my ears aren't full of hay. I am very skeptical that those guys can make a decent string and I am not ready to spend a single Euro to lend them an ear again.
And I know what to ask Santa to replace my old Obligato set: another set of Obligatos!
Bonnes Fêtes, Paix.
I suggest that you write to Innovation (mailto:info@innovationstrings.com) and tell them about your problem.
Maybe they'll accept that you send them back the 140B set and ship you a set of 140H.
I hope so!

Originally posted by olivier
With Helicore, you'll hear the strings, with Obligatos you'll hear the bass.

but this belongs to another thread.
Ciao, got to go.

Do the obligatos bow as well as the Innovations? How about the Helicores?
Thanks

Originally posted by francois

I suggest that you write to Innovation (mailto:info@innovationstrings.com) and tell them about your problem.
Maybe they'll accept that you send them back the 140B set and ship you a set of 140H.
I hope so!

Call Lionel Davis at 011-29-20-45-1388 and tell him that you bought them on my recommendation. He may agree to exchange them.
I agree with Francois, you should have ordered the 140H. I am a new player (3 years) and found them to be a lot more forgiving when playing arco. You can go to previous threads about this issue to see what I have said about the 140B's.
Mark Parsons

I have contacted Innovation and Peter Lunney, general manager very kindly offered to send me a set of 140H for free.

I recognize here that my questioning of their abilities to design strings was not founded at all, and present them with my apologies. I will add that given the wide variety of basses, diversity of playing styles, and even broader spectrum of individual tastes for music, it is a fortunate and welcomed fact that string design and manufacturing is performed by several companies in the world.

Ciao, got to go to practice, I'll see the follow up on monday.

Sincerely,
olivier

I have ordered a set of 140H and a set of Obligatos from Chris Quinn. Based on the experiences of others, I am planning on trying the 140H on the top two strings and the Obligatos on the bottom. I have heard that the Obligato G is very harsh. Also, the 140H is supposedly a larger gauge - more gut-like in its thickness and that would be more to my liking. I am still waiting patiently for the strings to arrive.

Adrian

Originally posted by adrian_cho
I have heard that the Obligato G is very harsh. Adrian
You haven't heard that here, and Obligato has been discussed here since March, 2000. And that hasn't been my experience, using Obligatos on four different basses.

Originally posted by adrian_cho
I have heard that the Obligato G is very harsh.
Adrian

Just the opposite. I found that both are a much mellower (darker) G and D than other strings that I have used. I now have a set of Original Flexicors on my bass and I miss the robust sound of the Innovations and even the Obligato strings.

Hackneyed adage:
You're surprising me. I use Original Flexocors on my orchestra bass precisely for robustness, or robustity, or robustitude, whatever.

So, the 140H set was in my mailbox on Friday morning. Since I had an audition that evening, I had to wait the following day for string test, and reading the package taught me that the H of 140H was for "honey" as the color of the core. Recall that B of 140B is for braided (for Jamaican bass...). Gauge is about the same as Obligato.

On Saturday, I put the strings on the bass. They are rather stiff, like Pirastro's Cromcore or Thomastik's Dominant. They lack that little felt washer, so I used the one's from Obligatos. Brought them to pitch: they sound good, are indeed brighter, not as muffled as the 140B, and IMHO are a better harmonic string than 140B. They are very bow-able (you have to go a little closer to the bridge than Obligatos). Their arco sound is slightly more... -how could I say- vibrating, more like Corelli nickel, and not as sweet as Obligato. Pizz-wise, they do have some sustain, but not much, and I find them stiff to my right hand fingers. For a half-hour I practice thumb position exercises from Simandl II.

I made up my mind on the following day: my first impression, as soon as I picked up the bass, was that the strings were too stiff, and the sound was like choked. That's it: Obligatos are back on the Mirecourt, and Hervelois's La Milanese sings again (well, the theme at least).

Thank you to Innovation for sending the other set: I have tried two sets for the price of one. My bass and me prefer Obligato. And are immunized from string-G.A.S. for a while.

Cheers to all.

I haven't tried both, but i have really fallen in love with the obligatos on my plywood bass. Deep tone, soft feel, lots of sustain, articulate, and reasonably easy to bow. I've had a set on there for nearly a year now and no signs of damage or breakdown. I will buy them again

Well here's my report:

On Friday I received a set of 140H and a set of Obligatos from Quinn.

I tried the 140H first as people have told me they are darker and I need something darker for my fifty year old German.

These strings are very thick. Looking at the Obligatos, I don't agree that the gauge is the same. They are thicker and substantially thicker than the Flexocors I had on previously.

Pizz sound is big and arco is easy on the G and D but not so easy on the A and E. The sound is missing a warmth and fullness I was hoping for and the arco is a little raspy.

The tension on these strings feels really high. I don't notice it so much on the G and the D but when combined with the thickness of the A and the E, I notice it enough that these strings are too hard to play for my liking. Because of the thickness I also had to jack up my bridge and I had hoped that thick strings would not be so stiff as Olivier points out.

I would like to try the Obligatos (perhaps even just on the A and E) but I would really like to try the Velvet Animas so I think I will be returning the Obligatos to save some money on the basis that they are brighter than the 140Hs.

Adrian

For a hybrid? Obligatos. They arco well and have nice sustain. I originally used them for orchestral use, but discovered their value as a hybrid string. I just took a set of Innovations off my bass. Just my 2-cents.

Right but I believe what you took off was the Innovation 140B and not the 140H right Brian?

I have not heard much good about the 140B but the 140H are pretty good.

I want to try the Anima before I try the Obligatos. If I don't find the Anima to my liking then I will either have to stick with the 140H or go with the Obligatos or some mix.

Adrian

Adrian, you're right, I removed 140B's. I believe you'll like the Animas as a pizz string, and yet they should be suitable for arco. I'm going to put the Animas back on another bass that I will use primarily for pizz. I'll give the arco another try on them as well. I originally bought the Animas to try them as an arco string. I didn't like them on my Testore (I've put Eudoxa's on the Testore). But I was surprised that the Animas were really good for pizzacato (and still a usable arco string).

I just got a new set of Obligatos (Dominant E) for my 40 year old Rauner plywood, and I have been reminded why I was enamored with my Olbigatos that were on there already. I think the E on the Obligatos is too floppy for my tastes, but otherwise, the nice round sound I get is just great. Easy on the hands, loud as all get out (on my bass at least), and now with the mixed E, all strings are very fast piz (I don't play arco) articulation.

Obligatos, rah rah rah.

I love this set of strings.

Jason