Eurosonic orchestra strings

[LouisF]

Has any one tried the Eurosonic orchestra "lights" for bowing?

Louis

[dchan]

Ken Smith has them available, and talks about them a couple of times on his Forum:

http://www.smithbassforums.com/showt...=9666#post9666

They appear to be made or contracted by JR Music Supply:

http://www.jrmusicsupply.com/strings.htm

$144 isn't bad in this day and age.

Also, I just pulled out a receipt for Obligatos from Quinnviolins from 2003, and it says I paid $98 for them. Seems so long ago.

[Francois Blais]

I'm not sure you're talking of the same strings.

Drake is talking about the Presto Balance strings, which are chromesteel over steel rope-core.
The polymer-coated Prestos are marketed in the US under the Eurosonic name.

Louis: are you talking about the regular, polymer coated ones?

[LouisF]

Francois,

To tell you the truth, I don't know. I haven't actually seen the strings. We're getting to the point in the bass restoration project where we're thinking about strings. I tend to use corellis or spiro weichs because of hand issue; Nick wants a fatter, gut-like sounding string for the bass.

We'll probably start with Obligatos and go from there, but the way Ken described the strings on his site (below) made them sound interesting.

Advice, maestro?

Thanks

Louis

"These new Eurosonic Orchestra Strings Pizz great as well but not like a Spiro Red. More like an Obligato or Jargar with a softer feel. Also, I tested the Oliv/Eudoxa combo on my Bisiach Bass so I decided to put the new Lights on that Bass as well for its final test.

The results? Well in my opinion try putting Olivs, Eudoxas, Obligatos and Jargars in a blender! Both the Medium and Light sets are about the same thickness but the Tension is different. They Bow smooth, loud and deep and Pizz with a thickness better than most regular steel Jazz strings. They feel almost like Olivs under the fingers and stay in tune better. They Bow close to the Olivs and Jargars and better than Obligatos."

[dchan]

Louis,

I think you're talking about the Orchestral strings, AKA - Presto Balance, because the more established Eurosonics (I don't think they have an actual name for them) has a polymer wrapping, which as I understand is a no-no for serious bowing.

The Eurosonic Orchestral 'light', with the chromesteel wrapping as Francois mentioned, was last reviewed over a year ago:

Eurosonic Orchestral strings?

and mentioned here:

presto strings?

[LouisF]

Thanks!!

Louis

[Francois Blais]

I had two sets of the Orchestral Presto Balance strings. (there's also an Hybrid set)
I had the medium and light gauges.

The medium was the best, but also harder to play.
I found the tension too high for me.
The E was also somewhat too floppy, but it was a prototype set, and they changed it since.

The light gauge was definitely easier to play, but brighter if I remember well.

In both cases, they were not of the gut-like genre to me.
The regular Eurosonics (polymer coated) would be more appropriate.
But forget bowing on them.

Jonas Lohse told me they're going to launch a new set, akin to the regular Eurosonic (but called Presto in the EU), called the Jazzicato.
It'll use a black coating instead, and is designed to give a more modern tone, while still being very easy to play.

Did you think of the Innovation 140B set?
It uses a braided synthetic core, flat metal wrap, and is primarily designed as an orchestral string.
The 140H set uses a solid synthetic core, and provides a brighter tone with more sustain, but still with a flat metal outer wrap.

[LouisF]

Thanks. I'll look into the innovations, but just might go with Jargar Dolce or Mediums - which are an old favorite.

LF