Belcanto/Dominant Showdown!

[Johnny L]

Anybody have experience using these strings? How do they compare to you?

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Johnny L

Anybody have experience using these strings? How do they compare to you?

Well, compared to me, they are all much thinner.

[bonaventura]

Originally Posted by Johnny L

Anybody have experience using these strings? How do they compare to you?

Originally Posted by drurb

Well, compared to me, they are all much thinner.

Well, then... what is your gauge? (I won't even ask about tension).

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by bonaventura

Well, then... what is your gauge? (I won't even ask about tension).

I don't know about the good doc but my gauge is 'Thick' Thanks for asking.

[Uncletoad]

I did a comparison on the Belcantos/Dominants thing years ago in the earlier part of the Belcanto thread. Search for that and I'm sure you can learn something from it. My current memory of them is old and so may be suspect.

In a nutshell they are both great strings that sound different from each other. Depending on your bass the BC can be a bit more defined under the bow where the Dom can be a bit rounder and more powerful. The BC last forever the Dom not so much. IMO the BC are much more bow friendly than Doms. Doms are a very good sounding bowed string though.

Pizz the Dom's are closer to spirocores in brightness but have a darker rounder simpler sound than Spirocores. Pizz the BC have great punch and less sustain than Doms or Spirocores and are darker out of the package.

Dom's have breakage issues, BC do not. Dom's are fatter gages than BC. Dom's are stiffer than BC. BC tension is closer to Wiech Spiros where Doms are just a bit higher. Their stiffness comes from the synthetic core so they seem higher tension than they are.

BC E string doesn't thrill to many with it's pizz sound where the Dom E is a pretty stout string.

I had problems with the Dom's being a bit plastic sounding through my pickups/amplification thing. The BC were great on the D/G and not so much so on the E/A.

I used Spiro E/A mittles and BC D/G for awhile and liked that.

Chris Fitz uses Doms on the A/D/G and a Stark spiro E and sounds great with that combo.

What else do you want to know?

[Mark Perna]

Haven't tried BCs but I used to use a Dominant G. I absolutely loved the sound but I got 2 bad strings in a row and gave up on them before going back to all Mittels.

mark

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

What else do you want to know?

Uncle T you are awesome

What can I say, I'm just another sucker who wants that Dom sound back with a more durable string.

Could the BC's be the one?

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by Johnny L

Uncle T you are awesome

What can I say, I'm just another sucker who wants that Dom sound back with a more durable string.

Could the BC's be the one?

No.

Maybe Evah Pirrazzi might give you part of what you want there.

Dom's are a lot closer to EP than Belcantos.

If you use Dom's carefully you can get lots of miles on them. Several things:

1. Install them once only and don't take them off till your done with them.
2. Make sure the nut and bridge slots are perfectly groomed with no burrs or problems or adjustments needed so once the Doms are on they are not going to need slack and retension again.
3. Make sure the body of the string doesn't wrap around the peg more than a tiny bit, the stress makes them break right there. Adjust the TP or whatever you have to do to just have the silks over the pegs.
4. Make sure the string doesn't hit the sidewall of the pegbox for any reason

Do all that and you'll get a long time out of them.

Or just learn how to find yourself in Spirocores or Flexocors and don't worry about all that stuff.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Dominants are a wonderful pizz string with everything I want, but are kind of scratchy under the bow. They have what is for me a good amount of tension and stiffness, which makes them really pop for pizz.

BC's are softer, darker, and much nicer under the bow. They sound decent for pizz alone, but get buried quickly when other instruments are also playing. I suspect that what makes them so smooth under the bow is the same thing that makes them unable to cut like the Doms pizz. My experience pretty much agrees with Phil's on the rest of it.

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

I suspect that what makes them so smooth under the bow is the same thing that makes them unable to cut like the Doms pizz.

Likely you are right on that. I haven't done the BC thing in a while, and though my memory isn't all that great I want to remember them bowing like a dream...made my spiccato sound better than ever.

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

If you use Dom's carefully you can get lots of miles on them. Several things:

1. Install them once only and don't take them off till your done with them.
2. Make sure the nut and bridge slots are perfectly groomed with no burrs or problems or adjustments needed so once the Doms are on they are not going to need slack and retension again.
3. Make sure the body of the string doesn't wrap around the peg more than a tiny bit, the stress makes them break right there. Adjust the TP or whatever you have to do to just have the silks over the pegs.
4. Make sure the string doesn't hit the sidewall of the pegbox for any reason

Do all that and you'll get a long time out of them.

Come on now UncleT you're killing me!

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by Johnny L

Come on now UncleT you're killing me!

Ok. Well, I think they suck. That's why I don't use them. That and they sound terrible on both my basses. I have grown to dislike synthetic core strings. I am sold on all steel strings like Spiro or Flexocor or or what have you. Ken Smith told me not to long ago that I should stick with Spirocore or Flexocor and if I couldn't get the sound I wanted out of them I should practice until I do.

Not bad advice for me.

[bonaventura]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

I don't know about the good doc but my gauge is 'Thick' Thanks for asking.

man, that's great advertising for you! good luck!

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

No.

Maybe Evah Pirrazzi might give you part of what you want there.

Dom's are a lot closer to EP than Belcantos.

If you use Dom's carefully you can get lots of miles on them. Several things:

1. Install them once only and don't take them off till your done with them.
2. Make sure the nut and bridge slots are perfectly groomed with no burrs or problems or adjustments needed so once the Doms are on they are not going to need slack and retension again.
3. Make sure the body of the string doesn't wrap around the peg more than a tiny bit, the stress makes them break right there. Adjust the TP or whatever you have to do to just have the silks over the pegs.
4. Make sure the string doesn't hit the sidewall of the pegbox for any reason

Do all that and you'll get a long time out of them.

Or just learn how to find yourself in Spirocores or Flexocors and don't worry about all that stuff.

When I finally gave up on the Doms, I switched to the Evahs. So far so good! Under the bow, the Evahs put the Doms to shame, although playing arco is relatively rare for me these days.

I took all manner of precautions and extreme care with the Doms and still had failures. I know others who have had the same experience. I just couldn't trust them enough anymore.

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

Dominants are a wonderful pizz string with everything I want, but are kind of scratchy under the bow. They have what is for me a good amount of tension and stiffness, which makes them really pop for pizz.

Yep, I love the sound and feel of Doms. With the Evahs, there is certainly no problem cutting through! Geez, on my bass they are cannons although the Doms were pretty punchy on my bass too. As others have noted, the Evahs have a nice "pop" on the front end of the note (pizz., of course) and you get far better arco than the Doms in the mix. Still, if I could have reliable Doms, I think I'd take 'em.

As always with strings, the interactions among them, basses, and personal preferences can be enormous so YMMV definitely holds.

[Mark Perna]

Originally Posted by drurb

Yep, I love the sound and feel of Doms. With the Evahs, there is certainly no problem cutting through! Geez, on my bass they are cannons although the Doms were pretty punchy on my bass too. As others have noted, the Evahs have a nice "pop" on the front end of the note (pizz., of course) and you get far better arco than the Doms in the mix. Still, if I could have reliable Doms, I think I'd take 'em.

As always with strings, the interactions among them, basses, and personal preferences can be enormous so YMMV definitely holds.

I'd take Doms in a heartbeat as well. (When they worked) they were great on any bass I tried them on. I didn't have as much luck with the Evahs. The Evahs sounded really good on the '28 Juzek but fairly uninspiring on the '74 Juzek. The Doms, on the other hand, sounded amazing on both basses.

Unfortunately, the Doms just weren't that reliable. I eventually worked my way down to having Mittels with a Dom G. And then I got 2 bad Gs in a row. The first one sounded like it never broke in. It had that thin, bright sound when I put it on and continued to have that thin, bright sound until I took it off 6 months and thousands of playing hours later which is in direct contrast to the one I had on before that which sounded amazing. After I changed out the thin, bright G, the one I replaced it with buzzed like crazy around D,Eb, E. I thought I needed my fingerboard dressed. Wisely, I replaced the Dom with a Mittel G before going to the luthier and the buzzing went away. It was the stupid string.

I was going to contact Thomastik and get the string replaced but I never got around to it. I've since gone back to all Mittels (which is where I started thousands of dollars ago before finding Talkbass) and am very happy. I think I'm going to thoroughly explore Mittels for the next couple of decades.

mark

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

I have grown to dislike synthetic core strings.

For a long time, I was excited about the Dom's. I even took off and put on my set 4 times to try other strings but then go back to them. All the string breaking issues others have had didn't happen to me, and so I considered it a personal issue.

Until it finally happened to me.

Even if I had a spare on hand, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it if I was onstage. I'd just have to walk off and wish myself luck at the next concert.

I'd rather not have to do that. It's too bad, cause I really like the Dom's...

[kwd]

Originally Posted by Johnny L

For a long time, I was excited about the Dom's. I even took off and put on my set 4 times to try other strings but then go back to them. All the string breaking issues others have had didn't happen to me, and so I considered it a personal issue.

Until it finally happened to me.

Even if I had a spare on hand, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it if I was onstage. I'd just have to walk off and wish myself luck at the next concert.

I'd rather not have to do that. It's too bad, cause I really like the Dom's...

I just re-installed a set of Doms. I really love them. I had made up my mind to just deal with the breakage issues and the arco-challenged A. As I get closer to playing in front of people this weekend I'm starting to have second thoughts.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by kwd

I just re-installed a set of Doms. I really love them. I had made up my mind to just deal with the breakage issues...

I hear ya! I loved those strings so much that I made the same decision-- until those bad G-strings came along. Although it never happened in a performance, it still was frustrating. What finally led me to abandon them was when it was pointed out to me that the sudden release of pounds of tension produced by a breaking string is just no good for any (specifically, my! ) carved bass.

[kwd]

Originally Posted by drurb

I hear ya! I loved those strings so much that I made the same decision-- until those bad G-strings came along. Although it never happened in a performance, it still was frustrating. .

My D string broke during rehearsal tonight only hours after my post. I guess I'm a member of the elite club now. I quickly replaced it with a Jargar D. The funny thing is I actually preferred the arco sound of the Doms over the Jargar. And pizz is no contest, it's Doms hands down. Oddly, I'm even more resolved to sticking with Dominants now.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by kwd

My D string broke during rehearsal tonight only hours after my post. I guess I'm a member of the elite club now. I quickly replaced it with a Jargar D. The funny thing is I actually preferred the arco sound of the Doms over the Jargar. And pizz is no contest, it's Doms hands down. Oddly, I'm even more resolved to sticking with Dominants now.

Wow-- sorry to hear about the breakage. You can have the string replaced free of charge. PM me if you need contact info.

Try Evah Pirazzis. Try Evah Pirazzis. Try Evah Pirazzis.