Best Strings for Plywood Basses

MilesC · #1 05-10-2008, 03:11 PM

My back-up bass is a Hermann Beyer plywood and its had Spirocores on it for about 10-12 years so I figure that I need new strings. As you might imagine, I'm kinda sick of the Spirocores. I want something new. I was thinking either Helicores or Obligatos. I've tried Pirastro Chromcors but I think they don't project well with this specific bass. I don't want to spend very much on strings because i may end up selling the bass in a few months, so I'm strongly considering Helicore Orchetras or Obligatos...

Greg Clinkingbeard · #2 05-10-2008, 04:07 PM

Superflexibles.

jayarroz · #3 05-10-2008, 04:11 PM

Well after years of trying different strings on my PLY I narrowed it down to Obligato's and Corelli's. The obligato's wear out quick and the G sounds like plastic yet they have a good bounce to them and they are easier to bow than Spiro's. The Corelli's are very articulate and bow the best but don't have much thump for a PLY. So with the price being right and getting a PLY to thump the best I would get a new set of Spiro Mittels!!

Bobby King · #4 05-10-2008, 04:27 PM

I have a new Shen plywood bass and I currently have Spirocore Weichs on it which I really like. When I bought it, it was strung with Obligatos, but I feel that the Weichs project better. You might find the Helicore Orchestra's pizz to be fairly dark on a plywood bass but the arco is very nice. If you do both pizz and arco, the Obligatos are a good crossover string

DFW5String · #5 05-10-2008, 09:17 PM

I had a great Japanese plywood for years with Orchestra Helicores and they were fine. But when the Belcantos came out I switched to them on recommendations from both Robertson's and Lemur's folks. The improvement in overall tone and ease of bowing was nothing short of remarkable, and they feel so nice on the left hand. I recommend them.

I'm now testing 5 different strings on my new bass, see my other post about that....always searching....

clochard · #6 05-14-2008, 09:47 AM

Well, assuming you're mostly but not only playing pizz on your ply, and that you're looking for something less spiroish ;

I would not recommend the Helicore Orchestrals, which I just tested. It's gotten the best-up-to-now arco sound out of the bass (german-czech ply), distinctively better than my other attempts (see after) ;
but the pizz sound was less loud, less warm, less round than that of Obligatos and Helicore Hybrids. I did like it better than that of Spiros and Superflexes, but these two compensated with the strenght and definition of sound.

Some folks have experienced a plastic-G and a weak-E on Obli sets. I haven't. I still like them Obligatos.
Helicore Hybrids may be the thing you're after if you're thinking of a new sounding, cheap-in-a-good-way string.

anonymous02282011 · #7 05-14-2008, 11:56 AM

Ever try the gut wrapped in silver (Pirastro Olives) for D and G? very nice. The Evah Pirazzis would complement nicely on the bottom.

**Francois Blais** · #8 05-15-2008, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adbass

Ever try the gut wrapped in silver (Pirastro Olives) for D and G? very nice. The Evah Pirazzis would complement nicely on the bottom.

Olives are wrapped with chromesteel.
The Eudoxas are wrapped with silver.

Marc Piane · #9 05-15-2008, 06:23 AM

I put a set of Dominants on my ply recently and am really diggin them. Nice under the bow and a nice gutsy pizz sound. The pizz has lotsa attack without a metallic sustain. They are pretty loud too.

drurb · #10 05-15-2008, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

I put a set of Dominants on my ply recently and am really diggin them. Nice under the bow and a nice gutsy pizz sound. The pizz has lotsa attack without a metallic sustain. They are pretty loud too.

+1 on the Doms. I seem to like them on anything. They are my current strings on my fully carved.

Marc Piane · #11 05-15-2008, 07:47 AM

My only worry is the alleged durability issue. That's why they are on my backup for now. I play pretty hard and gig quite a bit. Part of the reason I use the strings I do now (Stark E, Mittel A,D,G) is they are indestructible, last forever, sound good amplified, and stay in tune.

Oh, and there is the $180 a set price tag. I've never heard of folks using a set of Doms for more than a year. I can get 5 years out of Spiros.

Mark Perna · #12 05-15-2008, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

My only worry is the alleged durability issue. That's why they are on my backup for now. I play pretty hard and gig quite a bit. Part of the reason I use the strings I do now (Stark E, Mittel A,D,G) is they are indestructible, last forever, sound good amplified, and stay in tune.

Oh, and there is the $180 a set price tag. I've never heard of folks using a set of Doms for more than a year. I can get 5 years out of Spiros.

I wish I could get 5 years out of Spiros. About 2 weeks ago, I had a nine month old Spiro E, A, D suddenly drop dead on me. It happened so quickly, I thought there was something wrong with my bass (in the interest of full disclosure, the humidity suddenly changed around that same time from mid 30s to mid 40s). The sound got thin, there was a noticeable loss of power acoustically and the amp sound got really piezo-y. After fruitless adjusting the bridge, I replaced the strings with new ones and, wiry and unpleasant sounding as new Spiros are, they sounded better than what I took off. After 2 weeks they are smokin' and everything sounds great again both acoustically and through the amp. I replaced the Dom G at the same time.

If that hadn't worked it would been off to the luthier for a check up.

mark

Marc Piane · #13 05-15-2008, 08:39 AM

Strange. I've had nothing but good luck.

Truth be told I like them best after about 4-6 months.

peterpalmieri · #14 05-15-2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois

Olives are wrapped with chromesteel.
The Eudoxas are wrapped with silver.

I use this set up with a hybrid bass, not cheap though.

IMO my bass is somewhat bright, and these strings help to bring out the darker tone of a more mature instrument.

They bow well and actually sound even better when you stand out in front of the bass and hear them from the other perspective. Keeping them in tune is a challenge.

Mark Perna · #15 05-15-2008, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

Strange. I've had nothing but good luck.

Truth be told I like them best after about 4-6 months.

I've been using Spiros for so long that I have their life trajectory plotted out:

New-scratchy; lot's of overtones and too much sustain; sort of unpleasant
2 weeks-1 month-getting better; overtones settling down and the sustain drops off to a more manageable level.
1 month-6 months-fantastic
6-7 months-dropping off gradually
beyond 7 months-continues to drop off gradually until sudden death which occurs anywhere from 7 months to about 9 months.

It happens every time. Sudden death usually coincides with the change in the humidity Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall.

mark

drurb · #16 05-15-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

My only worry is the alleged durability issue. That's why they are on my backup for now. I play pretty hard and gig quite a bit. Part of the reason I use the strings I do now (Stark E, Mittel A,D,G) is they are indestructible, last forever, sound good amplified, and stay in tune.

Oh, and there is the $180 a set price tag. I've never heard of folks using a set of Doms for more than a year. I can get 5 years out of Spiros.

Durability is certainly a concern. My Doms are coming up on a year old. They still sound a feel great. We'll see...

Monkey · #17 05-15-2008, 08:24 PM

Dominants have been a revelation for me. Deep and loud pizz without the metallic edge, good arco response. They sound good amplified with an Underwood. I have only had them on for six months now, so I'm cautious about the durability, but I couldn't be happier soundwise.

drurb · #18 05-15-2008, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkey

Dominants have been a revelation for me. Deep and loud pizz without the metallic edge, good arco response. They sound good amplified with an Underwood. I have only had them on for six months now, so I'm cautious about the durability, but I couldn't be happier soundwise.

Yup, all those great things about the Doms outweigh, at least for me, the durability issue.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #19 05-15-2008, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

I've never heard of folks using a set of Doms for more than a year.

2 years and counting. In the spirit of full disclosure, I broke the E, but I was in the habit of drop D tuning a bit during that time. Put on a spiro stark, and no problems since.

miles'tone · #20 05-16-2008, 04:30 AM

Had Innovation super silvers on my German ply for about a month now and I'm really pleased with them. They stayed in tune after the first full day of playing them. I went from using Spriros too, wanting a more organic sounding string and these are it for me. I expected them to be "floppy" being labelled as rockabilly strings but they have a good tension and great projection too - but they are really easy to play and no cramps in either hand any more. I play jazz, rockabilly and funk on different gigs and the super silvers work with it all. I'm not a bower so I can't comment on this factor. They are well balanced string-to-string. No more head-scratching for me, found my strings.