Debunking the Spiro Unbowability Myth

[Treyzer]

Thanks for responding Bill. That all makes lots of sense. If you have 2 basses why not! Very cool!

[Chris Symer]

Originally Posted by lucas vigor

I started out with the spiros (The ultimate JAZZ string!) and gradually started bowing. Bit by bit, I got better and better. I rarely changed my spiros, so lets say they were about 4 years old by the time I started really using the bow. All along, I knew my technique was that of a beginners (with the bow) and I took that into account when I could'nt get a decent grab, when I heard excessive wolftones, etc...but, I stuck with it. A couple of years later my tone still wasn't that great with the bow. Then I started playing with a local orchestra and realized that not only was my tone quite scratchy, it also was 50% lower in volume then everyone else's. Right here, on this forum, I learned about Bel Cantos. I made the switch and will not look back. 90% of my tone problems went away almost immediately! Now, every note grabs easy. PPP is no problem! Wolftones a thing of the past. I would never use spiros for anything other then pizz again.

Sure, you can bow them. I can also bow on weedwackers (believe it or not)....but for the ultimate in sound and feel, it's the bel cantos that are the gold standard.

Hey Lucas, reading your post it sounds like you have tried exactly 2 types of strings on your bass. You can count youself lucky to have found something that works so well for you on your instrument without going through the string tials that so many of us have. However, given such a small sampling of choices don't you thing that it might be just a little bit much to say that Bel Cantos are the gold standard in sound and feel? (no offense to Bel Cantos, they are a great string). I'm also surprised to hear you say the Spiros were lacking in volume, as that is one quality that they rarely seem to lack. YMMV i guess.....

[William Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Chris Symer

...I'm also surprised to hear you say the Spiros were lacking in volume, as that is one quality that they rarely seem to lack...

I was also surprised to hear about that lack of volume. That's not what most bassists report about Spiros. But it may be true on Lucas' bass for whatever reason, although I can't see how changing to BC's would result in increased volume.

[JtheJazzMan]

The first question would be: what gauge spiro? Is it of comparable mass and tension to the bel canto?

[William Hoffman]

BCs come in one gauge, actually quite close to Weichs.

[Mark Perna]

Originally Posted by Don Higdon

To my ears, Spiros played arco through an amplifier would make waterboarding unnecessary.
Edit: I forgot to say in my humble opinion.

LOL

[Big B.]

On my five string I use mittels for the G,D, and A string and starks for the E and B strings. Granted I play as much jazz as orchestral but I play a lot of orchestral shows and I love the sound of the spiros. For several years I was playing orchestral music almost exclusively and found that a full set of starks on the five string was where it was at. The sound was really full with great presence and the tension of the strings made the bass very responsive to the bow. The volume the starks could produce was unreal. Especially the lower strings.

Unfortunately the starks were murder on the hands for jazz and I had to compromise with the mixed set once I got back in the jazz scene. I wont argue that there may be better strings strictly for bowing but you cant beat spiros for all around useability.

[Amin]

Originally Posted by Dr Rod

The D however is horribly stubborn.

Yes.. So, what we can do to make it a little more gentle and less nasty...? Any remedy? Any recipe?
The D is really the black-sheep of the set.. How to deal with this?

[kurt muroki]

Flat hair and no weight. No pressing into the string.

[Matt Ides]

My first bass had spiros and was a crappy Engelhardt. At the time I didn't know what strings they were, but with lots of practice never had any issues. If I can do it, it can be done.

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Same here.

My understanding is that the bow and hair have a lot to do with Spiro squeal. Most of my bows have white hair and don't play nice with Spiros of any gauge, but my shabby $20 black-haired mystery bow just kills on Spiros. Nice deep arco response with the trademark Spiro power. Just delicious on a nice carved bass.

There was a thread last month during which the properties of various types of hair were discussed. One of the parties to the discussion said that microscopic examination of bow hair found black hair is significantly more coarse. He theorized, and I'm inclined to agree, that Spiro squeal may be caused by too-smooth hair slipping on the string's outer winding.

[William Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Amin

Yes.. So, what we can do to make it a little more gentle and less nasty...? Any remedy? Any recipe?
The D is really the black-sheep of the set.. How to deal with this?

For pizz, many have said the Mittel D is the best string ever. It is loud. It has a big clear good sound.

Now for arco you have a different kind of experience with it, but what you also have is a new string, I assume. The remedy and recipe is therefore very simple: Play it and play it and leave it on your bass for years. It will mellow.

[Marcus Johnson]

And do what Kurt Muroki says in post #109.

[eerbrev]

I have spirocore E and A on my bass right now, with permanents on top. My university orchestra is doing a concert of Prokofiev 1, Debussy's L'apres-midi D'un Faun, and Elgar's Enigma Variations. I have never been happier playing in an orchestra than I have with these low strings. I previously have had Bel Cantos, Evah Pirazzis, Original Flexocores, Original Flat Chromes, full set of Permanents, Obligatos, and D'Addario Zyex. Not only can I play the ppps and pppps needed for the Debussy and some movements of the Elgar, but I can also really pull out (like post #109 said, no pressing) the FF and FFFs needed for the Prokofiev and Elgar (climax of "Nimrod", for example). Not only are they bowable, they bow incredibly well.

I'm definitely a satisfied customer.

eerbrev