Frustration

[Kevin Hsieh]

I've been in Los Angeles playing on Andy Allen (another TBer)'s bass for the past month and a half (Superflex G and D and Mittel E and A) while my bass sat in a corner of my friend's apartment. I come back, add a fishman full circle and switch out my Stark E (i'm not manly enough) for a Mittel E. and start playing, only to find that the Superflex G (on my bass) is too tight for me to comfortably play on it anymore.

so... what now?

i'm thinking about a Oliv G and D (see classifieds if you want to help me out)
still pretty adamant about keeping the E and A Mittel

[Jake deVilliers]

Weichs or FCS with the Mittel E.

[AMJBASS]

The Olive G is one of the nicest sounding strings out there. However they are expensive, and the windings are delicate(they don't last very long... less than a year usually). I might recommend a Dominant G and D. This combination is really nice. The Dominant has a really smooth tone with good sustain, and responds easier than Superflexible.

[TroyK]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Weichs or FCS with the Mittel E.

Jake, I'm disappointed in you! Not bad string suggestions, but my response was going to be "Get thee to a luthier!"

If you liked that string combination on your friend's bass and you know what you are going for now instead of tension and tone, find a good luthier to work with you to get that setup working for you.

It might be something really simple.

-tk

[Jake deVilliers]

"Jake, I'm disappointed in you!"

Well, you're probably right Troy - someone with experience will get to the heart of the matter a lot more quickly than an interweb discussion..

Kevin, get yourself an appointment with your best local bass repairman and see what he/she has to say on the subject.

Better now Troika?

[TroyK]

We're just having some uncomfortable role reversal here.

I'm supposed to advote trying every string ever produced, including some that have been discontinued and rumors about some that are yet to be available.

You're supposed to say "It might be a simple adjustment to the soundpost/bassbar/flux-capacitor. Have you had a luthier look at it yet?"

You've done a good job converting me to the latter, you weren't supposed to assume the post I was abandoning. :-)

[Jake deVilliers]

Well Troika, as you know, its way more difficult to explain the subtleties of DB setup in print than it is in real life and sometimes I just go for easy.......

Its a character flaw.

[bribass]

Kevin,

I find the Superflex G gets stiffer when it's older. A new one would feel less stiff.

Also, I too recently had a Full Circle installed on my German which currently has a full set of Superflexibles on right now, and while i really like the pu this set up seems to feel stiffer than when I use the Realist that is also still on the bass. Maybe they only seem stiffer because the Full Circle picks up less body sound than the Realist so have to dig in a bit more to get a fatter sound when needed.

BG

[TroyK]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Its a character flaw.

Well, it's a character flaw that can deliver some serious acoustic tone when it wants to. =^)

[Kevin Hsieh]

thanks you guys. took the bass to David Gage's shop and we found that the G and D weren't cut low enough so we lowered that side and not it feels great. the superflex feels just fine now!

i still am drooling at oliv's though :[

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Getting your bridge cut to your own personal volume/feel needs is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of setup. For years now, I've noticed that with the "standard" setup, the D feels way too high and the G too low - I call this "orchestral bridge syndrome", or OBS for short. Pizzwise, if not corrected, this creates an overbearing open "D" on most basses I've played, and a slightly anemic G to my ears. Once you get the bridge cut to where it feels right for what you're doing, then the string game starts to make a lot more sense.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Kevin Hsieh

i still am drooling at oliv's though :[

Wait 'til you try them on the G & D. Oh, baby. Everything changes after that.

[Gornick]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

Getting your bridge cut to your own personal volume/feel needs is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of setup. For years now, I've noticed that with the "standard" setup, the D feels way too high and the G too low - I call this "orchestral bridge syndrome", or OBS for short. Pizzwise, if not corrected, this creates an overbearing open "D" on most basses I've played, and a slightly anemic G to my ears. Once you get the bridge cut to where it feels right for what you're doing, then the string game starts to make a lot more sense.

ahhhh!!! I have always had a weak g sting on this bass, and sorta corrected it with sound post adjustments, but I have been suspicious that the G is cut too low, which causes that string to die away too early and not cut through. never did amplify well... I will look into that.

[Jason Hollar]

OBS!

No kidding.

My D string shakes the walls while the G string always seems like it could have more fundamental.

Well, there's probably not much I can do with my current Barbera setup -- but on the next one -- I'll keep this in mind.