All Starks

bejoyous · #1 09-08-2010, 08:58 PM

I was having so much success with having a Spiro E I thought I'd try all Starks. They have only been on for 2 days but it looks like it is going to work out well.

Having a short string length (100.5mm) helps with the tension. Because they swing less, I can lower the action a bit as well.

They are still in the banjo stage but when I venture to play loudly ( I have only been able to play after 9 pm so far) you can really feel a solid thunk in the sound. They are definitely more challenging to play with a bow than the Spiro Mittels, especially the A-string.

Since I play tuned DADG with a short extension I have been able to use a regular Stark E as my extension string. The low-B with this set up is about 118 cm (46 inches). I thought, "Hey, the Spiro Stark B is meant for a 110 cm string length, so why don't I try a Stark B and see how that goes."

I tried the Stark B but it didn't work out. It is a huge string, almost 5mm thick and it weighs quite a bit. I don't have a scale but picking it up, it certainly has some heft to it. I had to file my bridge and extension hole to accommodate it.

After I got it on my bass, plus the other Stark strings, the tension was just too much and I think the top was being pushed in. It sure sounded huge though, but it was just too hard on my little, formally disabled hands.

I've put the Stark E back on and the bass feels much better. I'll let you know how the all Stark set is after a month or so.

If any fivers or fifth tuners want a heavy duty Stark B/C string on your bass, check out the classified section.

Marcus Johnson · #2 09-08-2010, 09:27 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B4w4lafinU

JtheJazzMan · #3 09-09-2010, 12:27 AM

Yes, all starks. Now you just have to replace your wheaties for breakfast with sticks and pinecones, and replace your razor with a brick.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #4 09-09-2010, 05:18 AM

I used to play a full set of starks. I really enjoyed that set. They recorded and amplified beautifully. The only reason I ended up switching is that they were on my old bass when I sold it, and I shopped around and found Dominants when I got my new one.I still use the Stark E, though. Like so many like to say here in KY, you can take my Stark E when you pry it from my gnarled, battered fingers.

Paul Warburton · #5 09-09-2010, 07:12 AM

Crap. I dint know there was a Stark B string available. That's the only reason I haven't tried them.
I gotta check my bank balance.......

bejoyous · #6 09-12-2010, 06:31 PM

I haven't had much time to play my bass yet with the start of school and other obligations.

Mostly, I've been experimenting with how low I can adjust the bridge so the strings are easier on my hands. There seems to be a fine line between clakking against the fingerboard and being easy to play and being like vibrating pieces of rebar.

The strings have seemed to stabilized their tuning and the banjo twang has decreased a lot. I've been playing through some overtures to get used to the different response from the Mittels and to strengthen my hands from barely playing all summer.

bejoyous · #7 09-15-2010, 10:34 PM

So, I let them stretch out for a few days and then played the cr@p out of my them by cracking open some Zimmerman books and reading through a bunch of symphonies and overtures.

Wow, the strings are very articulate with the bow though I had to use more bow pressure than with Spiro Mittels. And the sound and volume was absolutely colossal. They still had that "new string sound" but I could tell that once they were fully broken in, they would make my bass sound awesome.

However, the next day, my arms were hurting and I could tell it was from the strings. The strings were quite stiff to play with and they do almost feel like solid rods of metal.

I didn't want to injure my arms again so I put my 9 month old Mittels back on. Before they were reinstalled, I soaked them in methyl hydrate to deep clean all dirt out of them. It's like having a new set of strings.

I'd only recommend them if you have a strong physique.

JtheJazzMan · #8 09-16-2010, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bejoyous

I'd only recommend them if you have a strong physique.

Even then, is the wear and tear to your hands worth it decades down the track?

MrSidecar · #9 09-24-2010, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bejoyous

I'd only recommend them if you have a strong physique.

I'd say, I'd only recommend bass playing if you have a strong physique. Or jam session playing on other people's basses.

I've had numerous horrible experiences with basses strung with anything from evah pirrazi to spiro mittels, to even spiro weich, to velvets. All of those can feel pretty stiff to me. There's got to be setup issues contributing to stiff/soft. I play spiro weich and on mine, they are on the edge of being too soft.

And I'm constantly thinking of trying them once, the Starks. Being without any personal experience with them, I'd like to tell myself that their horrible stiffness is part folklore, something in the realm of those REALLY BIG FISH some people once had on their rods, wrestling them for 14 hours and finally they had to give up

. Well, I don't know.

Guess I'll try them soon.

Sidecar

bejoyous · #10 09-26-2010, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSidecar

And I'm constantly thinking of trying them once, the Starks. Being without any personal experience with them, I'd like to tell myself that their horrible stiffness is part folklore, something in the realm of those REALLY BIG FISH some people once had on their rods, wrestling them for 14 hours and finally they had to give up

. Well, I don't know.

Guess I'll try them soon.

Sidecar

I can attest to the folklore of the Starks being very stiff. I figure with my short string length (39.55") it loosens them up a bit, so a big 43.5" string length would be extremely stiff. If they were too high by a mm, they felt like rebar. They sounded pretty huge though.

If (ahem) you would (cough cough) like to try them (straighten tie), they listed in the classified...

Big B. · #11 09-26-2010, 11:14 AM

I used a full set of starks on my 5 string for about five years. The strings are thicker and less flexible than other strings but have an amazingly powerful sound. Surprisingly enough they have a really singing sound in the upper register . They sound fabulous for orchestral playing but I had to switch them out when my jazz gigs started to pick back up. A four hour standards gig on these strings can put the smack down on you. I now use spirocore mittels for the G,D and A strings and a stark E and B. One warning on starks: Be careful about using them on a fragile bass as they do put a lot of extra tension on the bass.

Paul Warburton · #12 10-01-2010, 06:44 AM

Hey, I just recieved the Stark B string I bought (well, I'm buying.....check's in the mail, man

.....thanks). from bejoyous. Holy ****! I love it. I just played on it here, not on the gigs yet so I'll see how that goes and if it floats, I'm in for the other four that I've ordered.
On the Thomastik Orchestra B I couldn't get definitive pizz harmonics.....no ring. Now? You betcher ass.....amazing. The open B is almost as strong as the other four regualr Reds and the fingered pizz (this is all pizz, BTW) notes are much more live in the higher registers. I used to not finger many notes up above the low Eb because they weren't live enough. Now I'm much more able to hear cross fingerings down there.
The bridge and nut notches will both have to be widened to accomodate this mother.
Like somebody said, "Bridge Cable" time. I'll keep you posted......damn, I'm starting to sound like Toad.
"I'm Popeye The Sailor Man"........spinach is on the horizon.

Big B. · #13 10-03-2010, 08:16 PM

Wait till you put the bow to it and Zeus smiles down from above.

Paul Warburton · #14 10-03-2010, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big B.

Wait till you put the bow to it and Zeus smiles down from above.

Yeah, and so will my doctor.