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11-29-2010, 09:54 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | GUTS ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!
I'm a gut newbie. Been playing steels professionally for 15 years. Just put gut D and G on. I can't put my bass down long enough to write this.
Sorry. Prolly not threadworthy. Oh well. Let's have a gut lovefest. |
11-29-2010, 10:55 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY | | | |
11-29-2010, 11:48 AM
|  | Oracle, Ancient Order of Rass Hattur; Mem. #1, EPC | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Connecticut | | Quote:
Originally Posted by fingers  I can't put my bass down long enough to write this. | Then how did you do it?  "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." Wait, but... That one always made me crazy too... 
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Famous last words: And with that- Im gone. You will probably read in the paper soon about a deranged kid who burns his bass in front of a luthier. |
11-29-2010, 12:31 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | voice recognition software |
11-29-2010, 01:04 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Seattle,Wa. | | Take them off ASAP! If you are having fun you are in danger of not being taken seriously as an important artist! Isn't jazz in general and the bass in particular about pain and suffering and the human condition and all that? How are you going to convey that with a big 'ol smile on your face playing all those fat happy notes? 
Glad to hear you're digging them......  |
11-29-2010, 01:05 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Soquel, CA | | | Yeessssss! We got another one.
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"...sounds like a goddamn train wreck!" |
11-29-2010, 04:56 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NYC, Inwood. | | | Whatcha using for A and E? |
11-29-2010, 06:49 PM
|  | Student of Life Forum Administrator | | Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Louisville, KY | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by fingers |
Man, another one? We steel guys are going to have to start anteing up on the snackage if this continues... |
11-29-2010, 07:50 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | I wouldn't call me a convert just yet. I'm definitely having fun in the practice room but I've yet to see how they amplify or try them on a gig. Though I do like Chicago-style hotdogs. |
11-29-2010, 07:54 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | Right now I have Evah regulars for the E and A. Tonally they match really well. Tension-wise they are a bit different. |
11-29-2010, 10:32 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: New Albany, MS | | Quote:
Originally Posted by fingers Right now I have Evah regulars for the E and A. Tonally they match really well. Tension-wise they are a bit different. |
I really liked these when I was using the Gamuts on top. Since I'm now using all EP Weichs with an Oliv G I've been dying to try the Gamuts on top again....I think the tension would be a better match.
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I want people to feel good. Or bad. Or happy. Or sad. I just think music should make you feel something, and the focus is to never lose sight of that.
Ian Hendrickson-Smith |
11-30-2010, 04:07 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: No' Cal (light) | | Quote:
Originally Posted by fingers ...I've yet to see how they amplify or try them on a gig. | marc, use a mic with the guts! you also might be just amazed at the projection they have acoustically.
btw who made your strings?
__________________ Quote: |
That's my gut feeling. Your opinion may of course differ.
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11-30-2010, 04:31 AM
| | | | Aw ****. There goes another one.
They carry like mad in the room, they amplify just fine. Make your upper register particularly fat and clear.
They are hard to get an arco sound that doesn't make you sound like you suck. Mostly why I haven't gone all the way back there and am using the Oliv D/G.
The Evah Weich E/A might serve you better on bottom if you stay with them. Plain gut are pretty low tension; when you drop the tension on the E/A you can fool with string height a little more to balance better acoustically and via the amp.
If you want to hang with them for any length, spend the $200 on the Gamuts. They really do beat the crap out of the cheaper strings. |
11-30-2010, 09:16 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | I have actually been using a mic on most of my gigs for a little while. I picked up a AT35 or some such and am digging it. Unfortunately (or fortunately) one of my regular gigs is a jazz/funk band that gets pretty loud by jazz standards. I don't really have any choice but to get the pickup going.
These strings are a brand called Dogal. An Italian string maker that recently discontinued their gut line. I picked them up from Eric Hochberg for cheap (by gut standards) to see if I was going to dig it. According to a friend that is a gut nut that brand is a pretty good one. Right now the G sounds killer. The D is a little thumpy but that might open up a bit. Our good friend Mark Perna told me he has some Gamuts I can try if gut turns out to be the thing for me.
The biggest fun I'm having is I'm finding these strings match my style well. I'm not a flashy player and subscribe to the 'low and groovin' school of bass line construction. Even solo-wise I tend towards lines that are rhythmically and harmonically interesting but not necessarily fast.
I've got my first 'road test' tonight at a rehearsal. With that jazz/funk band. This actually might be a crazy time to take this leap because I have gigs Wed, Th, 2 Fri, Sat, Sun. I figure if I'm not insane by the end of the weekend I'm a gut-man for life. |
11-30-2010, 11:17 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | Progris report: Rehearsal one down. Played acoustic. No amp. I did have to jack the strings up a little to let me dig a little harder but the strings really responded well to being raised a bit. The other guys all felt like my tone was 'bigger' and 'woodier'. I did have to resist the urge to really dig in. With Evahs you can dig in as hard as you want and they push back. I noticed that the guts bottom out but they get a big tone with much less work. So far so good. |
12-01-2010, 02:05 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Napier, New Zealand. | | He's hooked.... |
12-01-2010, 04:09 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: No' Cal (light) | | if you hang in there with the guts for a while, your bass will probably adjust to them and open up even more. then there's no going back! 
__________________ Quote: |
That's my gut feeling. Your opinion may of course differ.
| |
12-01-2010, 06:17 AM
| | | | Somewhere down this road is the struggle for E/A strings and the inevitable Chicago weather tuning issues.
May the force be with you. |
12-01-2010, 07:45 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | I can see all that. I did Eudoxa D and G for a while and gave up 'cause of tuning issues.
It sure was nice to tune monthly with all steel strings.
We'll see. I'm not sold. The rehearsal I had last night and the gig tonight are the hardest part of my week. Lots of mixed meter funk and slamming latin. Prolly the weak point of gut. Later in the week I have ratpack **** and a Rosemary Clooney show Fri and Sat. I'm betting gut will be perfect for those. |
12-01-2010, 08:48 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pittsburgh, PA | | | Unlike wrapped gut, plain gut shouldn't be too much of a tuning problem with weather. I have to tune every time I play but they tend to stay pretty stable over a period of hours so it isn't much of a problem on gigs. Of course, that's after they are stretched out. When you first put them on, they are a little finicky.
You've figured out the first hurdle which is you can't muscle them. There is a need for a lighter touch and once you find the touch, you can make them sing out strong with very little effort.
There are trade-offs as well since they don't respond or recover as quickly and have much less mid range content. You have to find some new things to play when playing funk or more aggressive latin. They don't cut through like steel does. On the other hand, playing anything swing is glorious with that huge, warm fat sound and monstrously percussive thump. I find they have a very vocal quality to them.
Good luck with the rest of the week!
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