choice of strings

[pierre]

Hello
I'm searching new strings for my chinese plain wood double bass amplified with a new acoutic image coda and a realist . I enjoy playing in a trio jazz and in a quintet jazz. I don't play much with the bow. I have now spirocore weich by in my taste they sound too metallic and in lower register no responsive and growling on the fingerbord http://www.talkbass.com/forum/newthr...ewthread&f=17#
No.
I'd like good strings with long life and "wood" "fatty" sound with good sustain (haden in th cd nocturne with rubalcaba or buster williams something else are my favourite sound) and easy too play I like when the strings are not too thin

my previous strings are spirocore orchestra and pirastro jazzer on another bass but no wonder

i've heard about d'addario helicore hybrid but somone tell they are difficult for the left hand ? and which light medium ? how can II choose
superflex orchestra i'm affraid of the E string can make noise on the fingerboard ?
obligato too fragile ?
velvet seems to be fragile too and expensive ?


the choice is hard and the error expensive

Thanks a lot for your help.
A frechy bassist

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Don't go by what you hear on a recording. Recording majic does not come in a package. Years ago when I saw Buster he had a Hawks Bass and had Spiro reds on it. I was taking lessons with Reggie Workman at the 'Muse' in Brooklyn and Buster was sent as a Sub one day. That's when I met him and his Bass in person. This was around 1970.

Spiro reds are considered to be good Jazz strings but do not work on all Basses. Pirastro has some good Pizz strings called 'Jazzers' and also Obligatos which have a warm and growly type tone. Some say they are not durable but I think you just have to treat them with some extra care. I love them for Jazz and they Bow much better than Spiros.

[pierre]

hello
Thank for your answer.
Yes we heard a lot about obligatos http://www.talkbass.com/forum/newrep...e=1&p=2135524#
hyper.
How long are you playing with those cord and what's your experience of their life-time.
It's a long time that I see them but their bad reputation ...

[KSB - Ken Smith]

I have used the Obligatos on several Basses for over 3 years. They are my favorite Pizz string and can be bowed as well. They are not my favorite Orchestra String for Bowing.

[pierre]

but the lenght of a set of obligato one year ? or is it the same set of obligato for the 3 years ?!!

[KSB - Ken Smith]

I have used them for several yeras on Different Basses. Only one Bass has them for 2 years or more. My other Basses have Orchestra Strings that I use in the Symphony. Those are Flexicore.

String life depende on how you play and treat your strings and your Bridge cut.

[T-Bal]

The Obligatos have been discussed extensively here. It seems that most people get 6-8 months of use before the strings go dead. Also, once they are on the bass, don't loosen the tension (to remove string or adjust bridge) because when you bring them back up to pitch they will have lost their umph.

[JimmyM]

I know Pirastro says that, but when I first got my bass, I took my Obligatos off and put them back on about 4 times trying to decide if I wanted to go with guts or steels (went with 3 plain and 1 wound gut ultimately), and I noticed no difference in the sound whatsoever, and they have no damaged windings. I think it's more of a case of Pirastro warning people what could happen, but doesn't always happen.

For the time being, I only play pizz, so bowing them could make problems show up that I don't know about, but I couldn't tell anything was wrong playing them pizz. I can, however, see why they would warn people about it. They're fairly delicate compared to other strings.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

The difference is mainly with the Bow when you remove and replace the string.

[pierre]

for me changing the strings all 6 month is too expensive.

So even they are good strings I don'tbuy them

In my long searching on TB
d'addario hybrid or superflexible innovation ?? I really don't know

[Francois Blais]

Bonjour Pierre.
I think there's no magic answer.
You'll need to try some strings and decide if they work well with your bass, and if you like them!
Superflexibles are made by Thomastik-Infeld, by the way.
Innovations are made by Picato. (and they use a synthetic core)

[pierre]

thanks a lot for your help guys !!
I will take this expensive way of experience !!!
Playing Double bass is so fun but so terrible ( difficult to amplified to choose strings to carry to .......and to play)

Pleasure and suffering We must be masochist !?!?!?!?!!!!

Other hand it's the same with ower life We need patience experience WE MUST BE PHYLOSOPHER !!!!!!

[Marcus Johnson]

Funny how all those difficulties fade away when you kick off the first tune .

I used to sometimes bring the EUB, or even a (gasp) slab if I thought it would be difficult to get to the stage or whatever. Then I finally realized that the extra trips to the car, the grunting, the sweating, the ballet moves through hotel kitchens and cruise ship gangways, were all balanced out by the sheer joy of getting paid to play double bass for a few hours every night. Now, I have a big pile of slabs and EUBs getting dusty in the corner of my living room. I mean, it doesn't even enter my mind anymore. I guess I'm preaching to the choir now...

Might be time for a bass yard sale.

[Tbeers]

I've heard good things about Dominants. I'm currently using Obligatos but I think I want to switch to something new at the beginning of July. Dominants might be a good choice for a sound reminiscent of Haden.

[pierre]

I've heard and play "rotosound superbs" on another DB. This sound quite the way I want to sound. I play mostly jazz and worldmusic and they are describe as only bluegrass strings, why ?
They are quite thick and low tension. Their sound is round gut like and with quite sustain.

Any other suggestions of "gut-like" And what is the lifetime of those strings like eurosonic innovation 140H ?

[pierre]

I forget something they are very difficult to bow. Which strings with this sound and that can be bowed ?
Thanks

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by pierre

I've heard and play "rotosound superbs" on another DB. This sound quite the way I want to sound. I play mostly jazz and worldmusic and they are describe as only bluegrass strings, why ?
They are quite thick and low tension. Their sound is round gut like and with quite sustain.

Any other suggestions of "gut-like" And what is the lifetime of those strings like eurosonic innovation 140H ?

Eurosonics and Innovation 140H are not the same thing.
The Eurosonics use a steel core, and have a synthetic outer wrap, so they should last longer than Innovations, which use a synthetic core with steel outer wrap.
Many players here say that Obligatos (synthetic core, outer steel wrap) last less than a year.

Orchestral strings are more gut-like in design than pizz strings.
Some more than others.
The Jargars are the most gut-like I know, but if you want low tension, you'd want to choose their Dolce set, which is light gauge. (they have a regular and a Forte set too)
Since they're all steel, they should last for years.

Pirastro Flexocors are a very popular orchestral string too, and available in three gauges, plus solo-tuning. (extra-light gauge when used at orchestra pitch)

However these strings (and also the Jargars) don't have much sustain.

Hope this helps!

[pierre]

thanks a lot François.

Why are you the only fan of Jargars strings !!!!!?????, on the forum I don't find much.
I'm very interseting of your description but undecided on the gauge dolce ? not too thuddy medium ? not too like spirocore mittels and too stiff for me ?

[pierre]

One more question
What is the difference of sustain between rotosound and jargar ? the same ?

[Tbeers]

"Gut like" and "with sustain" don't make perfect sense going together. Generally steel strings give a sound with much more sustain on the pizz than gut.

If you want thump and sustain, synthetic strings can sometimes achieve an approximation of that sound.