Evah Pirazzi strings megathread part II

[Matt Ides]

Well, I have to say I really like the current sound I am getting from them, although it might be an old/worn out sound. I did put a newer string on recently and it seems super bright compared to the current set up.

my bass is newer and pretty bright so this match is working for me.

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Still on and I don't plan to buy a new set anytime soon. The windings are still good and I don't sense any intonation problems so why change?

[Violen]

I dont remember if i asked this, and i know i know,

"All basses are different, ect"

Im used to plunking hard on a set of Helicore Orchestral strings on my bass because i havent had the chance to upgrade.

I understand the Evah Weichs will be much easier to play, but tension wise, how stiff are the Evah Orchestrals vs. Helicore orchestral strings?

Im a big guy and i can play hard with little effort. The guys at KC Strings said i should be playing a 7/8 or even a 4/4. o_O

id like to try the higher tension strings if they are equal to or less than the helicores.

Halp.

[The Spanier]

Hi!

I´m using Evahs G and D in combination with some older Heliocore A/E (which are already dead and without any definition). Although I do not really like the sound of this pair of EP when played “open”, i´ll keep them on.

I am playing mostly pizz. Could you please recommend me some E-A string to nicely match the existing Evahs??? I am thinking about Obligatos… But I would also consider any other synthetic/gut suggestions if they were worth to try…

Thanks a lot!!!!!

[Jim Mass]

Hey Guys,

First of all, thanks to all who contributed to this thread - a ton of useful info which finally gave me the confidence to make the plunge.
I put Evah medium E and Evah Weich A,D,G on my Shen Willow. Soundwise, it was like waking a sleeping giant! Great low end on that bass for the first time ever. And, I have now experienced and love that iniitial attack thump which has been mentioned several times. If all I were doing was pizz, there would be all kinds of smiley faces in this post! That's all the good stuff...
Now for a couple issues: I'm playing about 75% arco these days, and the G is surprisingly scratchy with a distinct buzz in the lower positions. The rest of them bow very well. I don't believe this is operator error, I've been at arco for many years. The strings have been on about a month now. Has anyone seen this behavior, and will this lessen in time? I saw some in the thread who felt they had received a defective string - do the symptoms fit here? Thoughts?

Thanks,
Jim

[Matt Ides]

Jim, I had the same problem. The G String was still scratchy when my teacher played the bass. Solution was olive G. A bit pricey but works great for both pizz/arco.

[Jim Mass]

Thanks for responding, Matt.

An Olive might be a bit too expensive for me - kids in school, etc.

2 questions along these lines:
Anybody have a thought how a Belcanto G would blend in this mix?
And, If I did take off the Evah G, should I expect it to be dead if I put it back on in the future? Tension, no tension, then retension?

Thanks,
Jim

[Russell Bergum]

Originally Posted by Jim Mass

Thanks for responding, Matt.

An Olive might be a bit too expensive for me - kids in school, etc.

2 questions along these lines:
Anybody have a thought how a Belcanto G would blend in this mix?
And, If I did take off the Evah G, should I expect it to be dead if I put it back on in the future? Tension, no tension, then retension?

Thanks,
Jim

I have a Belcanto G with Evah Pirazzi's on the rest on my Upton Bostonian and it sounds great. Considering doing the same on my Kimmel.

[DoubleMIDI]

Innovation 140B are similar to Evah Weich, perhaps a bit less tension and a bit brigther. They bow very well. You can try a G and if you like it but it doesn't mix well with your Evahs try to change the D too. The E and A of the 140B set have a bit too less pizz sustain for my taste, so I'm using Spiro Weich 4/4 (S42W) for E and A on my 109cm 4/4 (or 7/8?) acoustic bass. Innovation strings ship from some UK (re-)sellers without shipping costs worldwide (from some minimum amount).

Kolstein Heritage have a similar construction too, but I never tried them. SuperSensitive Sensicore also have a similar construction but with a lot less tension than Evahs.

[Matt Ides]

What ever you decide to try out, string are always coming up in the classified at budget prices.

Originally Posted by Jim Mass

Thanks for responding, Matt.

An Olive might be a bit too expensive for me - kids in school, etc.

2 questions along these lines:
Anybody have a thought how a Belcanto G would blend in this mix?
And, If I did take off the Evah G, should I expect it to be dead if I put it back on in the future? Tension, no tension, then retension?

Thanks,
Jim

[Jim Mass]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your replies.

Matt, yep, always have an eye on the classifieds - thanks!

DoubleMIDI, thanks for the suggestions, will keep in mind.

Russell, I looked up your Kimmel - you are truly blessed!

I think a Belcanto G is going to be the first experiment. I'm going to wait a few more weeks with the Evah G though, to give it a chance to start behaving.

- Jim

[DoubleMIDI]

Hi Jim,

I was in a similar situation with the high buzzing string but with my high C (I'm playing a high 5-string). I did my string quest trying about 10 to 15 high C strings (the two steel strings I tried when I got the bass in the beginning had to much tension for me, so I tried a lot). At the beginning I had several if not all strings buzzing at three or four positions but only on the high C, never on one of the lower strings.
After a visit to the luthier who made the fingerboard more even under the high C string it went better and since I looked what he did and why, I did the final stuff myself until all the small buzzes went away. After that, even one string still buzzed a lot. It was slightly damaged (a little kink) during delivery but I thought I made it even. After getting a replacement string I didn't had any problems with this new one so there must have been some damage left with the old string.

So it could be your fingerboard that needs to be corrected or a damaged string or possibly something else. It could also happen with a very low bridge height, but I tried 5 to 6 mm on high C with no problems. I also tried an Evah Weich G with no buzzing (I only tried the G with Spiro Mittel below for comparison).

Are you sure the string buzzes? The Evah Weich has a lot of low frequency power, sometimes parts of the bass that are not well fixed may rattle, sometimes the tuning machines (had that a few times). So try to locate the point of buzzing by holding your ear close to the bass when playing.

The only things I didn't like about the Evahs is the dark sound (at least after a while) and the relativly high stretching of the strings. All the steel strings have a much lower diameter, so I would try a different synthetic, silk or gut core string with the Evahs.

Good luck,

Jörg

[Jim Mass]

Hi,

I ended up not waiting on the change, put a Belcanto G (which has about 8 mo on it) on to keep the Evah wiech D and A, and mittel E company.

After 4 days - FANTASTIC match with the remainder of the Evahs, including a virtually perfect transition crossing the D - night and day difference from the Evah G for arco, and still excellent for pizz. Scratch is GONE; buzz is GONE.

Jorg, in this case I think it was the string. Note that the buzz & scratch only occurred for arco, not pizz. But thanks for the ideas on potential fingerboard issues.

So, I'm a happy guy. This mix is very highly recommended!

Matt, based on this and other recent threads, I'm sure the Oliv would also be a great (maybe even better) choice. Maybe someday I'll go there, too. I'll save my sheckles...

Thanks to All,
Jim

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I had been using an old weich set with an Oliv G. On my bass, the Oliv is just a tad louder than the lower strings. That and the fact that I have wanted a bit more fundamental from my strings led me to try the regulars which I was able to do thanks to a generous friend. Kinda like, 'here, I didn't like 'em'. Well I do! The regulars lack some of the growl and character of the weich but they work better on my bass. The tone is more solid and warmer. Volume is about the same and the tension feels good. They balance better with the Olive G.

[jwbassman]

I just put a fresh set of EP weich on my bass last night. I had a set of Helicore Pizzacato Mediums on there. Much different tone and feel. Probably a bit lighter tension than the Helicores, but not much. I really like the bowed sound. Definitely cool so far.

[Violen]

I GOT A SET OF WEICHS! THEY ARE AWESOME!

Stiffer than the Helicore Hybrids that came on my bass, and i havent noticed if its any louder (loud bass is already loud) but i dig them. They are more unforgiving to bow but respond faster. Great Sound, Took a little getting used to. Gonna give them a full few months of work and see if i wanna keep them. They are less tension than the helicores im used to but that stiffness is kind of strange.

Will report back with recordings soon.

[David Morris]

I recently acquired a new-to-me bass (2009 Wil de Sola hybrid). I had been wanting to try Evah Pirazzis so had the seller (Upton) install a new set of EP Weichs before shipping to me. I liked the sound right away but noticed that the feel and tension were quite different from the Velvet Garbo Lights that I had been playing for about a year.

A week and half ago, I played my first gig - an acoustic blues/folkie/americana coffeehouse gig - with the new bass (and the EPs). Halfway through the first set I noticed a blister developing on my plucking index finger. By the end of the night, I had a huge swollen blister - 1/2" long by 3/8" wide. I managed to work through it with some discomfort.

I have never had such a problem with the Garbos. Any speculation on the cause?

I did have a couple gigs last weekend and had no further blistering - the area on my finger where the blister was had turned into a dark leather-like patch.

[DoubleMIDI]

1. The tension of the Evah Pirazzi Weich is higher than the tension of the Velvet strings. And a lot higher than light Velvet strings.
2. The sound of the Evah Pirazzi is rather dark. I think darker than the Garbos. Maybe you tried to compensate the quieter higher frequencies by plucking harder?

If you want a string with less tension either stay with your light Velvets or try Innovation 140B (Braided). They are similar to Evah Pirazzi, but not as dark and with less tension than the Evah Pirazzi Weich, also a bit quieter. At first they are a bit stiff but lower string sustain will enhance when the string got more flexible. They are made for the orchestral market, probably not for heavy jazz gigs like modern big band but nice for smaller or up to medium volume bands. Personally I like them very much and never had a blister with them (yet) or other health problems.
The Innovation 140H (Honeys) have higher tension, maybe similar or just a bit less than Evah Pirazzi Weich. So I would not recommend them for you.
You can order Innovation strings directy from UK. There are music shops that ship them worldwide free of postage.

[David Morris]

Originally Posted by DoubleMIDI

Maybe you tried to compensate the quieter higher frequencies by plucking harder?

I was playing amp-less while the rest of the group had PA support. So, yes, I was playing somewhat harder than usual.

Originally Posted by DoubleMIDI

If you want a string with less tension either stay with your light Velvets...

I have a set of Velvet Lights ready to put on....don't be surprised if a very slightly used set of Evah Pirazzi Weichs appears in the Classifieds in the near future.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Part III of the Evah discussion can now be found here: Evah Pirazzi strings megathread part III

Carry on.