Double Bass Classical strings, please help, new to this stuff =/

[natselection]

Hey guys, I'm predominantly a jazz bassist but now i'm gettin into some higher level classical playing, such as the infamous dragonetti concerto and hopefully the zigeunerweisen next year. however i have no clue about classical bass strings. my teacher recommended piastro olivs to play on but they are pretty expensive.

right now i play on thomastik weichs and harmonics don't come out that clear and the sound isn't as big and full as i'd like.

any suggestions?

[PaulCannon]

My favorite orchestral strings are Bel Cantos, which I intend to plug in every thread I can find. They're very easy to play (as in, bow), and have a wonderful, full sound.

[Istar]

For pure classical go either pirastro flexocors , the new thomastik belcantos or the Jargar`s (my vote goes to the belcanto`s but it would depend on the bass)

As a hybrid string i`d go with correli`s or pirastro obligato`s maybe dominants (never tried those myself) ??

I really liked the correli`s 370TX.

But then again it all depends on what kind of bass you have and what kinda sound you want both pizz and arco wise.

[natselection]

right now, i would like the strings to be strictly for classical music. and the price can't be too much (want to keep it under $200)

[BMason]

I hate to sound like a broken record as well, but if you're a classical player, bel cantos are the answer. Why don't we save ourselves the trouble and make the bel canto thread a sticky?

[natselection]

hehe seems like these bel cantos are worth to try out...any specific model? or are these the thomastic belcanto

[Justin K-ski]

Yeah, Thomastik Bel Cantos. They're fantastic!

[BMason]

Originally Posted by natselection

hehe seems like these bel cantos are worth to try out...any specific model? or are these the thomastic belcanto

If you're asking about gauge, they only come in one which could be considered medium.

[prelims222]

It depends on your bass to some extent - if you can get someone to spend some time with you trying different strings, you may be able to figure out very quickly which strings work well on your bass.

To generalize though, the commonly used Strings would include Pirastro Flexocors, Thomastik Bel Cantos, and Pirastro Permanents. There are some people who swear by Dominants and have tried the other ones.

PaulCannon-check your PM.

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by Istar

I really liked the correli`s 370TX.

Yeah these are my current favorites also for arco/pizz. I was using the 370F's for a while, then Helicore Hybrids, but put these on recently and was happy from the get-go.

I think it's the clarity of pitch I like most about the Corellis either with pizz or bow...they let me put quality time on intonation work more than with any other string I've tried. They have really spoiled me.

I've only tried the top 2 bel canto strings so far, and I thought they were great strings. Really dark, but exceptional sustain when plucked. I've been running with the notion for a while that strings that are allowed to sustain and be sensitive to vibrations can really work well with the bow...before these strings came out...especially for off-the-string strokes. Whatever Thomastic has done to keep much of the sustain while taking away the brightness and massive overtones that spiros are known for is wonderful for those of us trying to get that clean, smooth, open, deep "dream" spiccato for those killer Viennese-style passages.

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by BMason

I hate to sound like a broken record as well, but if you're a classical player, bel cantos are the answer. Why don't we save ourselves the trouble and make the bel canto thread a sticky?

Nice suggestion, and done!

[Francois Blais]

I suggest that all Belcanto related questions be asked in the Belcanto megathread.
Otherwise, making it a sticky doesn't make sense anymore.

[TroyK]

Point well taken. :-)