full set of starks?

[lurk]

Anyone tried this? I like the E so much, I'm thinking of taking the plunge. I'm mainly a jazz player, but bowing is an important part of my game. Most of my work is amplified, so pick-up-ability is important, but acoustic volume (less amp) is important, too.

[Robert Sabin]

I'm thinking about the same, as my bass seems to really respond to higher tension.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I played a set for a few years before switching to Dominants with a Stark E. I liked them, but they could be brutal on the later sets of a gig. I have some recordings under "Java Men" that were recorded with a set of Starks on. They have their own very tight, articulate vibe about them.

[davidAaronCarte]

Just the E was great on my bass, but the full set was just too much
It really choked the sound (and killed my hands)

[lurk]

I do like your sound on Java, your playing sounds great on everything on your site, by the way - that Harry Pickens swings his ass off! The sound of the starks is darker than I expected. I've been going back and forth from Evahs and Spiro mittels in various permutations for some time, and each has something I like and don't. How did you like arco playing with the starks? I've never tried Dominants. What are you using on the Nachbar stuff? I think that's my favorite sound of yours. Thanx.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Thanks for the nice review. The way I strike the string has something to do with darkening bright strings I think, and I'm sure that the way the engineer mixed the JM records had something to do with it as well. Still, the starks can do dark if that's what you're hearing/trying to pull out of them.

Arco, I couldn't say, as I'm not really an arco player. The Stark E starts a lot slower than the Dominants, but under my hand all of the strings sound equally scratchy and not so great. As far as the other recordings, the Nachbar and Klingman recordings were all done within the last year or two, so they're all Dominant G D A and a Stark E.