Genssler Strings

S.fasciani · #1 07-24-2012, 03:58 AM

Just wanted to say that after installing the "wraps" on my bass ive never been so happy with a set of strings. These string are worth the investment!

robinunit · #2 07-24-2012, 06:16 AM

Anyway you could put some soundclips up?

S.fasciani · #3 07-24-2012, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robinunit

Anyway you could put some soundclips up?

Ill try to if I have some time in the next few days.

martinc · #4 07-25-2012, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.fasciani

Just wanted to say that after installing the "wraps" on my bass ive never been so happy with a set of strings. These string are worth the investment!

S.fasciani: Can you expand....why do you like them so much?

cold elephant · #5 07-25-2012, 02:32 PM

Quite excited to say I've got a 5 string set of Red Labels winging their way to me as we speak - will let everyone know how they perform as soon as I get a chance!

cold elephant · #6 07-26-2012, 10:32 AM

....They came in the post today! Whacked them on the bass, and had a bit of a scrape and a pluck.

I was quite surprised how thin the g string is in diameter, but the rest of the set seems fairly standard in this regard. They certainly respond very well to the bow and put out a lot of volume. The sound is extremely focused and is at the moment on the bright side, I think I'm going to remove the baroque style bridge (heartless and wingless, Gerold's response upon receiving a photo of it was 'without heart - how would you like to live without one?' - Seriously though he did express concern about the suitability of the sound for orchestral playing, and now I have his strings on the bass I'm inclined to agree with him) and put a modern style one back on to tame a bit of the zing. The thinking behind that whole experiment with the bridge was to try and liven up the sound, and I can see that now I've got some strings that really work that this is unnecessary.

The lower tension feels great for both hands, my bass has a 43 inch stop and a chunky neck. It's tiring to play at times even running fairly user friendly strings like Belcantos, Passiones, etc.

I imagine it'll probably take a few weeks for the strings to really settle in and for the instrument to really adjust to the lower tension, and I'll report back once a more sensible bridge and the RED SONOPHIL tailpiece wire have been installed. But right out of the box I think they sound extremely promising indeed, so much so that I'm thinking I won't be going back to any of the offerings from other companies in a hurry. Or ever, really.

I'd be very interested in trying some of the gut strings he offers, but at present I think I'm happy to leave that adventure for another day. Hope this is of some interest to anyone reading all the hype about his strings - from my limited experience I'm already confident in saying that installing a set of Sonores string is extremely unlikely to result in anything other than a significant improvement in playability.

foilracer · #7 12-29-2012, 02:41 PM

Just stumbled upon this thread and would like to hear your comments "now" after possibly 6 months of use. And another comparison to Passiones. Thanks in advance!

salcott · #8 12-29-2012, 06:16 PM

Could someone put up contact info/website for Genssler?

bassist14 · #9 12-30-2012, 02:58 AM

you can try this:

geroldgenssler@gmx.de

he is at facebook too

cold elephant · #10 01-02-2013, 01:06 AM

I'm using gerold's 2012 gut set now - I made the change after he said that I'd get a thicker orchestral sound out of them. They're amazing. Huge sound, incredibly resonant and deep. Pizz sounds almost like there's a little bass drum inside the instrument. Fairly thick gauge (he describes the gut core as 'thick' in his leaflet) but no more than Olivs/Eudoxas or anything like that.

There's no comparison to strings like Passiones to be honest - they can't hold a candle to the amount of depth and harmonic content you get from these gut strings. They're very expensive but totally worth it. They've been on about 6 weeks and the feedback I've had from everyone else who's heard the bass in that time has been overwhelmingly positive. I won't be using anything else for orchestral playing again unless when these wear out he's developed a better model.

salcott · #11 01-02-2013, 10:08 AM

How is tuning stability in different temp/humidity situations?

Nathan Levine · #12 01-02-2013, 12:23 PM

I've had little to no issues with tuning in the unstable environment of wintery AK.

cold elephant · #13 01-03-2013, 11:34 PM

I wheeled my bass through about -2c windy/rainy newcastle about a week after I put the strings on and there didn't seem to be any problem. They took maybe 3 or 4 days to hold pitch really well but were fine after that, just about the same as the belcantos that were on previously.... There was a slight humidity problem at the venue I was playing at too (it was yo-yoing between about 29 and 42 degrees) but there was no effect on the pitch at all.

foilracer · #14 01-04-2013, 07:07 PM

Thank you cold E...next question... can your satisfaction be compared to Compas 180 orchestra bowing/ ? anyone else
bowing "guts" in orchestra?

cold elephant · #15 01-05-2013, 12:43 AM

re. Velvet strings comparison, I've never used any other gut strings for orchestra except Eudoxa and I feel I can do everything that's required with the same amount of ease and a better sound. They are like other gut strings in that there is a looser feel under both hands and a somewhat different approach is required with the bow. But I'm extremely happy. Great sound.

TonyD · #16 01-05-2013, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cold elephant

I'm using gerold's 2012 gut set now - I made the change after he said that I'd get a thicker orchestral sound out of them. They're amazing. Huge sound, incredibly resonant and deep. Pizz sounds almost like there's a little bass drum inside the instrument. Fairly thick gauge (he describes the gut core as 'thick' in his leaflet) but no more than Olivs/Eudoxas or anything like that.

Cold elephanth - how can you get this leaflet?

cold elephant · #17 01-06-2013, 06:53 PM

TonyD - just send him an email expressing interest in his products to the email address bassist14 posted above. He should get back to you fairly quickly.

rxman28557 · #18 01-09-2013, 10:18 PM

Cold elephant-If you could put up any soundclips of the 2012 set, it'd be much appreciated!

cold elephant · #19 01-11-2013, 06:07 AM

No problem - i'll get the recording machine out tomorrow. Little bit jetlagged at the moment...

cold elephant · #20 01-12-2013, 08:27 AM

Here's a couple of bits. Go easy on me, I haven't played on my bass in 2 weeks! Just got back from a tour of china playing some truly dreadfully set up basses. Almost back onto GMT...

https://soundcloud.com/coldelephant/2012-set-arco

https://soundcloud.com/coldelephant/2012-set-pizz

Hope these work for everyone. They're a little bit scrappy but I think you get the general idea of the sound. In person you get a lot more of that sound that you feel rather than hear, but obviously there are limitations to what can be conveyed through a zoom h2n. Enjoy!