A decent slap string?

[Thomas62]

Hi,
I’m new to this forum. Thanks in advance for listening…

I recently bought a Czech-made plywood bass circa late-1940s – it’s a substantial instrument and I’m very happy with it. Starting lessons next month! (after 20 years of EB…)

Here’s my issue. The steel strings were extremely heavy gauge, and I’m interested in playing some rockabilly slap. I tried putting some Weedwacker Pros on it – the D and the G strings were okay, but the E and A were like stringing two giant Twizzlers on the bass – ridiculous. (And, it would’ve taken much work to the nut and bridge to get them to sit properly….)

Does anybody know of a medium-ish gauge string – steel or otherwise - that’s good for slap (but holds tone for pizzicato?)
Just starting to read thru some of the other threads...

(The way I have my bass set up now, I pulled off the low steel E, made my steel A the new E, made my steel D the new A, and have ‘Wackers’ for D and G.

Unorthodox, yes- but not too bad (the ligher gauge lower strings gives me more play.)

But there are some intonation issues in doing this – and I’m worried about the long run implications of having the bass strung with two different tension-types.)

Thoughts?

[kmanley_29649]

A lot of people like Innovation Silver Slaps, myself included, but I'm not sure if they would be considered medium guage. Others use solo sets tuned down to orchestra pitch and have good results with that. You may want to check out Double Bass Chat, as it is full of slappers.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Welcome to TalkBass Thomas62.

I have an eastern block plywood as well, and while the Pirastro somethings I bought for it back in the day are a bit harsh on fingers, playing with steels is a great way to improve the sound and technique.

A definite + side is that with any steels the acoustic volume is usually way louder than with guts or weedwhackers.

You can also use any magnetic pickup with steels if you wish to do so, something that can't be done with non-magnetic strings.

Regards
Sam

[PaulKing]

+1 on Innovation strings.

For slap style, that still works for jazz ...
SilverSlaps have a wonderful sound for all-round use, with the advantage of a warm organic sounding click for rockabilly slap style, and very nice low tension. The E and A do not suffer the lack of volume and sustain that whackers do.

If you want a bit more tension, for volume and brightness, take Innovation SuperSilvers instead.

If you want even more definition, and don't mind the click sounding a little harsher, try Innovation Braided Solo-guage, pitched down to orchestra. Beautiful sounding strings with nice low tension for slapping.

Another commonly used string that's easy to slap, Presto (or Eurosonic in the US). Medium or Light guauge. A bit twangy on the slap for my taste, but lovely gut-like tone and easy to play slap.

Also Velvet Garbo light guage. Expensive but very popular.

Other people use Jargar dolce for a dark sounding steel string that slaps nicely.

Choices choices ... only way to know which will work for you is to try them all!

Using an A for E (D for A etc) to reduce tension is not unorthodox at all. It's called 'bumping' and it's standard practice amongst slappers.

Uneven tension can affect the sound of the bass, and certainly affect your fluidity of playing. Aim for even tension...