Innovations?

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by ricobasso

pardon my ignorance but "Steve Berry"? Is that a friend, a shop,.....?

http://www.jazzcds.co.uk/artist_id_24

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Nuno A.

Bruce, Velvets are made in Switzerland


Nuno

Sorry - I was thinking about the Spiros I had on before on my DB - the packet with them in is sitting on my shelf, by my desk, with "Vienna" in big letters!

[BassBod]

Sorry to join on late, really should read these pages more often...I've been using the Innovation strings for a few years now (on Mo Clifton EUBs). I love the feel, the sound is great - a more "old fashioned" warmer sound. Makes an EUB sound more "acoustic" than steel cored strings. However, I do find the construction a bit problematic - the metal wrap seems to creep away from the synthetic core. I've never had one break, and to be fair they've lasted ages, but you can sometimes feel the wrap move on the core under your fingers. Also the silk wrapping seems to fray a lot quicker than other makes?? I still think they're very good strings and I'm not planning to change (other than normal curiosity..)

BassBod (just outside Bath, UK)

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by BassBod

However, I do find the construction a bit problematic - the metal wrap seems to creep away from the synthetic core. I've never had one break, and to be fair they've lasted ages, but you can sometimes feel the wrap move on the core under your fingers.

That was also my experience, and made me move away from them.
The 140B G string solo gauge sounded really good though!
But the above-mentioned loose core problem soon appeared.

[BassBod]

I'm glad it isn't just me. Out of the three sets I've used (on different basses) this has happened on two strings, both times the G. Each time I've carried on playing for months with no real problem, just a bit of concern as to when its all going to unravel.....

BB

[oliebrice]

Originally Posted by BassBod

BassBod (just outside Bath, UK)

I'm trying to guess who you are... do we know each other?

[BassBod]

Hi Olie,

I don't think so.....but I did play with Kevin Figes a few (?) years ago....small world?

BB

[ricobasso]

Got a set of 140Bs this week. They bow very well. It's much quicker to get them going than the Rotosound nylon I was using. The scratchiness is gone too. I knew my bowing couldn't have got as bad as I used to sound with the nylon! The sound is more uniform across the strings (the Rotosound are nylon/nylon overwound G and D and nylon/metal wound A and E).

On the down side, the soft plonky pizz of the nylon is not there. It's a harder and more damped sound. Also the tension feels higher than the nylon, which will make slapping harder and be more tiring. Maybe things will change as they wear in.

I think a lower tension version, which still bows well, would be my choice for best compromise (of course two basses would be better ).

[Francois Blais]

You can get a solo-tuning set I think.

[kwd]

Originally Posted by ricobasso

Got a set of 140Bs this week. They bow very well. It's much quicker to get them going than the Rotosound nylon I was using. The scratchiness is gone too. I knew my bowing couldn't have got as bad as I used to sound with the nylon! The sound is more uniform across the strings (the Rotosound are nylon/nylon overwound G and D and nylon/metal wound A and E).

On the down side, the soft plonky pizz of the nylon is not there. It's a harder and more damped sound. Also the tension feels higher than the nylon, which will make slapping harder and be more tiring. Maybe things will change as they wear in.

I think a lower tension version, which still bows well, would be my choice for best compromise (of course two basses would be better ).

I encourage you to give them some more time. I remember feeling the same way about them initially. They seemed to 'play in' after a month. I replaced them this week with a set of Jargar mediums but took them off and put the Innovations back on after one day. I can live without a lot of sustain but the Jargars had no bloom when pizz'd. They're great for higher position arco though, better then Corellis -IMHO. I'm not sure if it has to do with the diameter, but I find the Innovations kind of tubby for arco thumb position playing and more of a challenge to get a delicate arco sound out of.

[Thomas Stone]

Hi KWD

I'm getting more interested in innovations by the day.
I'm using Jargar mediums on G and D and superflexibles for the A and E at the moment, but the jargars are dying and I'm not a massive fan of superflex.

I'm thinking of a mixed set of innovations 140Bs for the G and D and 140Hs for the A and E.

Apologies It's the same old same old:
How would you compare the tension between your jargars and the innovations?
I don't want any more tension than what I have at the moment.

Thanks for any info

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by Thomas Stone

Apologies It's the same old same old:
How would you compare the tension between your jargars and the innovations?
I don't want any more tension than what I have at the moment.
Thanks for any info

In my own experience, the Jargar mediums D & G are much looser than the Innovations.

[Thomas Stone]

Thanks Francois!

I feared that would be the case.

[kwd]

Originally Posted by Thomas Stone

Hi KWD

I'm getting more interested in innovations by the day.
I'm using Jargar mediums on G and D and superflexibles for the A and E at the moment, but the jargars are dying and I'm not a massive fan of superflex.

I'm thinking of a mixed set of innovations 140Bs for the G and D and 140Hs for the A and E.

Apologies It's the same old same old:
How would you compare the tension between your jargars and the innovations?
I don't want any more tension than what I have at the moment.

Thanks for any info

Just to reiterate what Francois said, the 140Bs have more tension than the Jargar medium gauge. The 140Bs are close to the Jargar forte gauge in tension. Bobby King was using the combination you mentioned (140B G & D, 140H E & A). You might want to search for posts by him. I'm not bothered by the diffuse, thumpy E&A strings -I prefer it.

If you're able to get an acceptable pizz sound from the Jargar mediums and can't tolerate more tension, maybe you should stick with them. I missed the punch of G and D when I switched from Innovations to Jargar meds.

I know that you're an arco and pizz player. If arco is the sole criteria, Jargars have an edge. The 140Bs are easy to bow, but it can be a challenge to get an expressive, delicate sound. The Jargar meds maintain a balanced arco tone in the higher register while the Innovations start to sound 'wolfy'.


more prattle...

I can get a gratyifying 'two-feel' sound with the 140Bs. Not as good as gut but close.

[Thomas Stone]

thanks KWD.

Arco is my main concern, but sadly the few tunes where i need to play pizz require a punchy sound.

I don't mind slight coarseness on the lower strings for arco as it gives a nice bit of grit to the overall band sound, but the D and G need some precision.

I think I'll just jump in and get 140H A and E and stick with the jargars on the D and G for now.

With the unamplified context my group finds itself in these days bass Volume is also becoming a primary concern and I hope these Innovations will deliver, bass considered of course.

[Thomas Stone]

Well after weeks of pestering loads of people and picking their brains on various string choices I settled on a set of Innovation Honeys (that's the 140 H set referred to as the jazz/orchestral set)

I have had them on for a few days and I'm very, very impressed.

A very beefy and full sound. They bow like a dream!! pizz is really lovely if you like an old school vibe (they lack a real midrange presence like spiros have)
My only complaint is with the E string. It lacks the oomph of the other strings pizz (maybe a bit floppy?), but arco it's one of the best Es i've used. It is also too short to mount in my D extension properly, but that's my problem.

Like all synthetic cored strings I'm worried about their life span, but at a current uk price of under 80 quid a set (the sound post .co.uk) they are not breaking the bank.

These have delivered the sound I have been after for a long time and the tension suits me perfectly, being less than superflexibles. Note: I use a high string height.

One happy camper!

[kwd]

Thomas

My Innovation 140Bs remained usable longer than Obligatos. I had mine for one year.

The weak pizz E seems to be a pretty common complaint. I swapped it out for a Superflexible E which was great for pizz, lost something in arco though.

[Thomas Stone]

Hi KWD

Yeah, I'd been prepared for the weak pizz E.

I thought about putting my supeflex' back on, but I love the arco so much on the innnovation that it is going to stay put.

Thanks for the reasurance on the life span.
Obli's are what I'm going by:
My E was dead in a few months and the rest of the set about 6 months. And I was very pleased to get them off my bass too.

As long as I can get as close to a year from strings then I'm happy.

Cheers

[oliebrice]

I found the quiet E problem disappeared after a few weeks. Not sure if I started compensating by plucking the E harder or what, but something solved the problem...