Better plain gut A?

[Wallyphonic]

I've been using efrano and clef plain A. I like the tone but it's just a little too dead and floppy.

Would a gamut plain A be significantly better? How about Pistoy? Has anybody been able to compare the Gamuts to the Clef/Efrano etc.?

I had been using an Olive A but it was always too hard sounding and clanky. (i've got dlugalecki D and G and olive E which I'm pretty happy with).

I wish I could find an A string that had the sound and feel of a gut D string. All the wrapped gut strings I've tried sound too much like metal strings.

Any ideas?

[Knuckle44]

would be interesting for me, too .. but seems, nobody here as any idea ...

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Knuckle44

would be interesting for me, too .. but seems, nobody here as any idea ...

Why would you say that? There's a whole bunch of posting here about Gamut plain A strings, including Pistoys. Do some reading. I believe someone even posted some sound clips of the Gamut plain A.

[Gearhead43]

I'm using a Gamut Pistoy plain A right now and yes, it is head and shoulders above the Lenzners, etc.

Much more focus and mid clarity - for a plain A - if you know what a plain A sounds like - viewer discretion advised.

[JeffKissell]

Originally Posted by Wallyphonic

I've been using efrano and clef plain A. I like the tone but it's just a little too dead and floppy.

Would a gamut plain A be significantly better? How about Pistoy? Has anybody been able to compare the Gamuts to the Clef/Efrano etc.?

I had been using an Olive A but it was always too hard sounding and clanky. (i've got dlugalecki D and G and olive E which I'm pretty happy with).

I wish I could find an A string that had the sound and feel of a gut D string. All the wrapped gut strings I've tried sound too much like metal strings.

Any ideas?

I've had both an Efrano and a Gamut plain A on my bass. I wouldn't say the Gamut is "significantly better" but it was more focused and even. It's still a plain gut string of massive proportions. Gearhead43 has this string currently. Dlugolecki makes a plain A but it's pricey. Personally I didn't find the benefits to outweigh the drawbacks. I really wanted it to work out but it was too clumsy and slow to speak compared to the other strings on my bass.
-J

[Nuno A.]

Wally , the original poster of this thread has now a Gamut pistoy plain A that he bought from me, so he can give you some feedback
for me , the pistoy was the best plain A that i ever had, and i already play a bunch of all others, Efrano, Labella, Lenzner, etc etc.
but still was muddy for me, slapped great but it was a kind of muddy to play bebop lines and stuff like that
my$0.02$ ofcourse

Nuno

[Gearhead43]

Yeah, let us know what you think there Wally. I really like this A string, and wish I could get a comparable plain E.

I should preface my remarks by saying I play mostly slap bass and old timey type of music where a plain gut A string works - not a (modern) Jazz pizz type player so, caveat emptoramous.

[Wallyphonic]

Well, the plain Pistoy A is definitely the best plain A I have tried. I don't know if I would say it was "significantly" better. It's not a night and day sort of improvement but for me it's enough better that I can actually use it, where I have always given up on plain A's in the past. On some gigs it's perfect, on others I wish it would speak out a little more clearly - be a little tighter sounding and feeling.

So, Im not 100% happy... but will I ever be? I doubt it!

I don't think I could get along with a plain E, even if it was a Pistoy.

I'm using a Garbo E right now (Thanks Nuno!) It's a really nice string and I like the tension/feel of it, but it is a little too loud next to the Pistoy A, especially amplified. I'll be walking along and when I hit the Garbo - BOOM! I might have to go back to the Olive E because it's a little more dead sounding to match the Pistoy A. Fortunately I don't use the E string all that much. Most of the music I play doesn't call for a lot of it.