Best Arco Strings for Shen 150 Hybrid Question

[Jason Sypher]

Spiros, the new choice for arco. I love it.

[Andrew McGregor]

Originally Posted by Bin Son of Bin

So far I'm sold on the Passiones, but the Spiro Mittels are sounding good too. But as a new Arco player the easier it is to play the string the better and the Spiro's make me a bit nervous.

Nervous? Yes, they should. Not impossible, good training, but difficult.

[pacumike]

Originally Posted by cold elephant

Can't believe no one has recommended them, but I'd vote Thomastik Belcantos - some people over here call them 'IKEA strings' because you can put them on any bass and you'll get a really easy arco response with a good reliable sound for ensemble playing. The problem with Flexocore '92s is the E string is very weak and not balanced with the rest of the set, very muddy sound. Also I find Pirastro strings in general lacking in testicular fortitude under the bow, the gut strings they do are extremely thuddy on the lower strings (especially Oliv) and the steel strings (original flatchrome/original flexocor/flexocor '92) tend to be a bit twangy on the G and unclear on the bottom two, particularly the E. And generally from top to bottom on the basses i've owned they've produced less bass, or fundamental, or whatever you want to call it, when you compare with the Thomastik strings. Spirocore mittel makes a great low B string but I've never used the orchestra tuning GDAE from that set, and I've only ever heard/read here that they can be a tad tricky to handle under the bow for the first few months unless you really know how to work them. The only Pirastro set I'd really recommend would be the Passione Starks but again they sound let a set of dead Belcantos, much less vivid sound although the arco response is very easy.

All of this said though, some of the other posters here have rightly pointed out that if you want a sound that carries really well then it's hard to beat Spirocores (I used the solo tuning set on my small bass for recital stuff and the sound was incredibly penetrating). The compromise was that they took a long, long time to settle in to what I would call a friendly type of sound, and to call them tricky to bow would be a rather large understatement in comparison to strings like Belcantos. Or indeed any other variety of string. Helps to use very soft rosin, Pops, Kolstein, etc. And also they're not the nicest feeling on your left hand unless your action is down quite low or your bass is naturally quite loose.

I have the same experience with my Flexocores--GDA are great, but the E is muddy. On a string retailer site they recommend replacing the E with a Permanent. Has anyone done this? Or is there a better alternative?

[Jake deVilliers]

Spiro Weich are easier to bow than the heavier varieties but I'd still recommend Pirastro Flexocore as a fantastic arco-centric string.

[DoubleMIDI]

Don't forget, that there are 3/4 and 4/4 Spirocore strings. They differ in tension on the same scale (because they are made to have the same tension on the typical 3/4 and 4/4 scales).

Putting a 3885.0 3/4 set on a 110cm or more (typical) 4/4 scale is not a good idea unless you want a rather high tension. (If it fits at all.)

Spiro Mittel 4/4 (S42) on a 105cm scale might not be bad, because of a bit lower tension, but the 3885.0W 3/4 Spiro Weich set is rather similar.

So if you want Spiros, get the right ones and also ask back if you don't know which kind of Spiro (3/4 vs. 4/4, Stark vs. Mittel vs. Weich vs. downtuned Solo) on which string scale was recommended.

[Eric Swanson]

'Nother vote for Belcantos. I played on a Shen SB150 with BC's on it for several months. Very nice and very easy to play.