low tension

[armybass]

Thank you sir, that explains a lot. My Corelli's are M. I have a set of Spiro Weichs on order. I have never tried them. I like the tension of my Obligatos on my carved bass but prefer the articulation of the Spiros but I have only used Starks so I am hoping for the "perfect" string in the Spiro Weichs....LOL but I am not holding my breath.

[rdwhit]

I USE FLATCHROME STEEL. THE TENTION IS LOW,SORT OF LIKE CORELLIES, BUT I GET MORE SUSTAIN W/THEM. I THINK I GET A LITTLE MORE VOLUME W/ LESS WORK ALSO. THEY BOW MUCH BETTER THAN OTHER STRINGS THAT I HAVE USED FOR JAZZ. THIS MAKES THEM AN IDEAL CROSSOVER STRING FOR MANY STYLES IMHO.

[DaveAceofBass]

The Weichs have always been my favorite jazz string, but alas, they suck with the bow. However, I've not tried them on a carved bass, but I can't imagine them to be much better. The Obligatos are nice, but feel to rubber-band like for me, and they're hard to hear, not much presence, just warm. My new Kolstein bass has the Heritage strings on it... I think I like them better than the Obligatos, but I'm not sure I'll stick with them. The overall feel is better though than the Obligatos. On my trusty old King plywood, the Corellis have the best bowing tone hands down, but they lack the volume for jazz, especially on the low E. I have tried the 370 Mediums, but I preferred the Fortes since they were light anyway. I've not tried the TX, but I'm curious how they stand up against the Fortes and the Kolstein Heritage... I had switched to the Superflexibles on my King. They are better with the bow than the Spirocore Weichs, and they are louder than the Corellis acoustically speaking. I'm not sure whether I'll try them or the Corellis next on my new bass. I've not heard much about the Innovations...how are they? Any other suggestions?

[vitoliuzzi]

Naturally I was talking about Corellis Tungsten 360 Medium or TX for a classical player like me. Nowadays I have setted Corellis 360 Medium. Very and very low tension! I also used an Arcus Sinfonia carbon fiber bow. After a difficult period to understand strings and bow, now I'm a little bit more satisfied. Absolutely with 360s Medium you can allow to experiment incredible bowings (balzato, saltellato, Jetè and ricochet seem to be the ones of a violinst) also because the string (beeing very thin) is also very reactive and iper-flexible. So a 120/125 bow like a Sinfonia jumps very well and without efforce. When I directly asked to maestro Rabbath the model of Corellis he used ... he declined
Thanks a lot Johnny for your comment, I've very appreciated it. But I'd like to tell you another thing. Corellis Medium 360 SOlo need a lot of time to become sweeter and they have an incredible sustain. But I'm convinced that they play better in recordings because it's a different sound in comparison with strings with a larger gauge. But surely I'm in mistake. Next month (or next year) I want to test Corellis medium in a solo perfomance with pianist in a good hall. I'm sure only about one thing: using these strings it's the first time that I finish to play Koussevitzky Concert without needing of extra-oxygene. I will let you know ... if you are interested in it .

Regards

Vito Liuzzi

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by vitoliuzzi

When I directly asked to maestro Rabbath the model of Corellis he used ... he declined

He uses either the 370M or 370TX.
Next time you see or meet him, just look at the silk colors at the tailpiece...
With this we'll be able to know!

[DaveAceofBass]

There's a big difference between the 370M and the 370TX--the 370F is in between. Why then is there so little discussion regarding the Forte guage?

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by vitoliuzzi

But I'm convinced that [the 360 solos?] play better in recordings because it's a different sound in comparison with strings with a larger gauge.

Hi Vito,

That article I read of Gary Karr praising the Corelli strings with his Amati, he had great things to say about their projection and clarity...but on his newer bass he didn't like them as they sounded too harsh for his tastes.

I've seen Jeff Bradetich play his Amati and it is a powerful instrument indeed!

Anyway, yeah it's hard to say what is going on with professional recordings...so much can be done with recording technology to shape sounds in so many ways. But I'm much of a beginner on bass with often too loud a mouth...whatever my offenses, I blame them on my interest in all things doublebass. Please forgive me.

[jfv]

Originally Posted by francois

The Corellis in TX gauge give more volume, but in M or solo gauge, don't look further why you have a hard time being heard.
They are very thin and don't have much mass, so they don't move the soundboard a lot.
Solo Spiros will already give more volume, but possibly not as much as thicker ones, depending on how your instrument reacts with tension.

The players that like M (and I am one) are usually playing
bowed, and further they do best on my bass when in thumb.
For lower register Bel Canto's still win the day. But when
working on the Cello Suites the Corelli's sing so sweet

[TroyK]

Yes, if Weiches are your favorite jazz string and based on your description of the others, you owe it to yourself to try Pirastro Jazzers. They are compared to Weiches, but sound less twangy to me. A tad more tension and gauge than weiches, but not as much as orchestral spirocores. And they don't suck with the bow. They're not a true crossover string like Obligatos and they're certainly not like an orchestral string under the bow, but they're quite manageable.

-tk

Originally Posted by DaveAceofBass

The Weichs have always been my favorite jazz string, but alas, they suck with the bow. However, I've not tried them on a carved bass, but I can't imagine them to be much better. The Obligatos are nice, but feel to rubber-band like for me, and they're hard to hear, not much presence, just warm. My new Kolstein bass has the Heritage strings on it... I think I like them better than the Obligatos, but I'm not sure I'll stick with them. The overall feel is better though than the Obligatos. On my trusty old King plywood, the Corellis have the best bowing tone hands down, but they lack the volume for jazz, especially on the low E. I have tried the 370 Mediums, but I preferred the Fortes since they were light anyway. I've not tried the TX, but I'm curious how they stand up against the Fortes and the Kolstein Heritage... I had switched to the Superflexibles on my King. They are better with the bow than the Spirocore Weichs, and they are louder than the Corellis acoustically speaking. I'm not sure whether I'll try them or the Corellis next on my new bass. I've not heard much about the Innovations...how are they? Any other suggestions?

[rdwhit]

Originally Posted by TroyK

Yes, if Weiches are your favorite jazz string and based on your description of the others, you owe it to yourself to try Pirastro Jazzers. They are compared to Weiches, but sound less twangy to me. A tad more tension and gauge than weiches, but not as much as orchestral spirocores. And they don't suck with the bow. They're not a true crossover string like Obligatos and they're certainly not like an orchestral string under the bow, but they're quite manageable.

-tk

I'm glad that the Jazzes strings bow well for you. They don't bow well for me at all. They roll & the bow won't grip the string well. The Weiches bow much better and sound LESS twangy to me. I'm not saying You are wrong, just that our results are suprisingly different. I'll once again plug the flat chromesteel sts. They remind me of the things I like about both the weiches and Obligotos--smooth bowing without scratchy surface noise, similar to obligatos;more sustain that obligatos, similar to weichs. The tension is low,maybe a slight bit less than weiches. Great crossover strings, maybe with a slight bit less sound than weiches(or not) . ?

[TroyK]

Yeah, I've seen different results from the same strings on different basses. I concur that Flat Chromesteels are more bow friendly, but I don't like the pizz sound as much.

You gots to experiment.

[Don Carrigan]

Lowest tension strings?
I loaned my 1820 Prescott Busetto to the Boston Handel & Haydn Society last January (they insist on "period" instruments or good copies). The player (Nic Pap) took my bass and affixed new, experimental "gut" strings, wound over with something like dental floss! I was invited back stage at Boston Symphony Hall where he let me try to play on the experimental strings. They were extremely loose, probably because H&H does not tune to A=440, but to "period" pitch as low as A-418, I'm told. Anyway I could not get a sound out of the strings, mainly because the only use I have for French bow is to swat pit bulls. Also, I am a very pedestrian player to put it politely. The Dutch player got all kinds of great sounds out of it. Darned if I know how he did it. Here he is re-affixing my strings after the last concert. Click below:
http://home.earthlink.net/~prescottv...pBackstage.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~prescottv...apRestring.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~prescottv...06Prescott.jpg

[Michael Glynn]

Originally Posted by rdwhit

I'm glad that the Jazzes strings bow well for you. They don't bow well for me at all. They roll & the bow won't grip the string well. The Weiches bow much better and sound LESS twangy to me. I'm not saying You are wrong, just that our results are suprisingly different. I'll once again plug the flat chromesteel sts. They remind me of the things I like about both the weiches and Obligotos--smooth bowing without scratchy surface noise, similar to obligatos;more sustain that obligatos, similar to weichs. The tension is low,maybe a slight bit less than weiches. Great crossover strings, maybe with a slight bit less sound than weiches(or not) . ?

Originally Posted by TroyK

Yeah, I've seen different results from the same strings on different basses. I concur that Flat Chromesteels are more bow friendly, but I don't like the pizz sound as much.

You gots to experiment.

I'm going to split the difference between you two. I used to use a combo--Flat Chromesteel on top and Jazzer on the bottom. They blended great and I got a better arco sound on the top strings but kept the growl and sustain down low. I will probably go back to this setup next string change.

[Jake]

Happy New Years!!!
Have any of you guys tried the Corelli TX 370 set that Lynn Seaton uses? I am thinking of going with a more "hybrid" type of strings. In the Lemur catologue it says that these are the heaviest they make and that they're good if you need a lot of pizz volume. I've been fortunate to hear Lynn play a lot and he always sounds great.

[TroyK]

Originally Posted by Michael Glynn

I'm going to split the difference between you two. I used to use a combo--Flat Chromesteel on top and Jazzer on the bottom. They blended great and I got a better arco sound on the top strings but kept the growl and sustain down low. I will probably go back to this setup next string change.

Yeah, I've stuck with the full set of Jazzers for a while, which is very unlike me. I've been thinking about something else on G or D and G, maybe FlatChromesteels or maybe even Obligatos. My problem with Obligatos were the E and A strings.

But, it appears we've hijacked someone's "lowest tension strings" thread.

-tk

[armybass]

I don't know about hijacked but it one of the most informative threads I have read on the internet. This is the kind of info I have been searching for for months. It appears that many of you have been using the same strings I have or the ones I have been interested and your comments are extremely valuable to me.

Thanks to all of you for your input.

[ricobasso]

In search of very low tension when I was starting off on slap (with a magnetic pickup) I tried a set of Jazzers BUT with a high C in place of the G string and so on down ..... using an A string for an E. It worked OK but was still harder on the fingers than the Rotosound nylon I used later (with a piezo pickup). They do feel very thin though.

Never did try bowing them so I can't comment on that.