felt washer w/D'Addario strings

[Sergio Barrozo]

For a long time I have used Thomastik strings. Now I bought a D'Addario Helicore Pizzicato Series strings and I have noticed that each string comes with a felt washer.
What is the use of this? Where is it placed?

[Marc Piane]

My understanding is it keeps the metal ball end from buzzing against the tailpiece. I've gone with and without and never noticed a difference.

[Sergio Barrozo]

I have never used it too. For this reason I asked...

[Pat Harris]

Sergio,

I too just switched from Spirocores (solo gague in standard tuning) to the Helicore Pizz medium gague. I'm still waiting for the strings to settle in, but my first impression was that the Helicores ring for days. I'm not sure if like/dislike them yet. The jury is still out.

[Jake]

I guess if you have a painted tailpiece, the washers could keep it from getting scratched.

[Phil Rowan]

I take the felt washers off any strings I use that have them because I feel the washers may dampen the sound a little bit.

[jonas]

Originally Posted by Phil Rowan

I take the felt washers off any strings I use that have them because I feel the washers may dampen the sound a little bit.

That's what I think about them, too, but I never made a A/B comparison so far.

[Marc Piane]

I find it VERY hard to believe it changes the sound. The string is wrapped around the tailpiece before it gets to the felt washer so it is not vibrating at the point anyway. There are TONS of other things including how clean you keep your strings and fingerboard that are going to dampen the sound of the string long before you have to worry about that felt washer.

That said I rarely use them. Not for any reason other than laziness. If they are on there already then cool. Some strings don't come with them though and I don't feel like digging through my string drawer to find some. I don't really think they do anything.

[pdbass]

I have to agree. I had some Helicore Hybrid heavies on the bass (which sound excellent, BTW) without the washers. I played a rehearsal where I got my *ss smoked playing "Strike Up The Band" at, like, 320. I decided to put lighter strings on for the gig. They never sounded quite the same, so I put the heavies back on, this time with the washers. No difference in sound, brightness, or volume. If you search the threads, some people actually believe that the washers make the string sound better, some think they sound worse, and others just don't care. If you've got a decent, well-set-up instrument, I think that the washers' impact becomes minimal--but if you read enough of these posts, I think it will start to creep into your head. So stop reading!

[Mark Perna]

This is very timely. Two days ago I replaced my Dom G, Mittel D,A,E set up with a new set of all Mittels. The washer had been on the Dom G but not on the other Spiros. I kept the washer on the Spiro G.

After practicing for about an hour today (on 2 day old Spiros--can you say fingernails on a blackboard?), I took the G string off, took off the washer and replaced the G string.

There was a very subtle difference. The string was slightly louder and if I used my imagination, it seemed to sustain a little more. I didn't notice any difference in tone. The volume and sustain difference was so slight it was one of those things that only YOU'd notice and only while practicing in a quiet room and then probably only after A/Bing it. I don't think it would ever be heard in performance.

So there is a very small difference, at least on my bass, but a pretty much insignificant one.

The jury is out with the Mittel G. There is a huge difference between it and the Dom G. I thought I'd give it try (and to give it a fair try, I want to at least let it break in) but so far the jury is leaning toward putting the Dom back on.

mark

[Marc Piane]

Yep Mark. I believe it. Everything has some effect.

Purely speaking for me. The main thing I think about when I start getting obsessed with little stuff like that if to remember that my shortcoming in technique have a much great impact on tone than little felt washers, or my endpin, or my tailpiece, etc. Just like strings and amplification we can really gas about all the little parts of the bass too.

[Mark Perna]

This probably should go in the Dominant thread but since I started it here...

I took the 4 day old Spiro G off and put the (month old) Dom G back on. There was an immediate and astonishing increase in power and presence on the G. The Spiro wasn't broken in but it was broken in enough (I used a Spiro G for years before trying the Dom and I know what it sounds like) to tell that the Dom was kickin' in comparison. The Spiro is going in the Mooradian in case the Dom breaks.

On this bass and with the way I play, I think I'm going with a Dom G from now on.

mark