Making the jump: ordered Oliv / Eudoxa set

[liam_g]

First off ... I've been away for months, it seems. Sorry to be such a stranger!

I've been struggling with strings, like most of us do. I play mostly pizz, in a mixture of styles, mostly folk / bluegrass and alt-country, but also some jazz and blues. I do an increasing amount of arco though, and have just not found the right string to give me the sound and feel I want for both pizz and arco. I haven't gone through the number of strings some of you have, but have used Spiros, Superflexibles, Eurosonics, and most recently Animas. I'm fairly happy with the pizz on the Animas, but hate them under the bow. I finally just decided to bite the bullet and try the Oliv G and D with the Eudoxa A and E. I *really* hope these give me what I'm after, that great gut pizz tone, plus good bowing.

I've never actually played gut before, just have really liked it when I heard it played, so this was diving off the deep end a bit for me. I just realized that I'm always going to wonder, and might as well try this now. Also, I'm playing on a studio project with a singer-songwriter who wants some arco, and I really couldn't stand the Animas any longer.

I just ordered them from Quinn Violins ... I'll give a report when I get them and get a chance to try them out.

Wish me luck!!!

Liam

[Marcus Johnson]

Keep us posted... although it probably wouldn't fit my style at all , I've always been intrigued by this combo.

[jmpiwonka]

the Oliv G and D are sweet...they are warmer and less growly than the Animas...i think they are loud as the Animas too, maybe louder...and really quite arco-able too.
i haven't played anything Eudoxa except the G, i imagine the A and E are nice though.

[Marcus Johnson]

BTW.... I've always enjoyed dealing with Quinn. Chris is a cello guy, but he knows what he's talking about when it comes to DB, and he's really helpful.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by liam_g

I've been struggling with strings, like most of us do. I play mostly pizz, in a mixture of styles, mostly folk / bluegrass and alt-country, but also some jazz and blues. I do an increasing amount of arco though, and have just not found the right string to give me the sound and feel I want for both pizz and arco.

Sounds like me.

I did my time with Animas and a lot of the others. I'm using Belcanto G, D, A and a Spiro Stark E string at the moment. It's the middle of a long experiment so I'm not sure that I'd recommend that combination but it does have potential.

Please report on what you find.

I've thought about the Olive G and D for quite some time. I have a Eudoxa E but didn't like it much. Bows well but pizz was mushy to me. I'm using a Stark E which is a huge pig of a string so I wouldn't say my feelings about the Eudoxa means much.

[Bobby King]

If this is your first gut set, remember that gut requires a lot of tuning initially while the strings stretch. After that you'll still need to tune more often than you're used to as gut is sensitive to temperature change. Each time you go to the bass after not playing it for a few hours, overnight, or in and outdoors,etc., you'll need to tune up once or twice and then they will start to stabalize. This is the annoying reality of gut strings and some people get freaked out by it, but once you get used to the "gut high-maintenance" routine, it's no huge deal. And the sound and feel are well worth it, IMO.

Also, Eudoxa and Oliv need to be handled carefully where they pass over the bridge. They can be prone to having the windings separate there so make sure to use plenty of graphite or a little wax in the slots.

[Don Higdon]

Originally Posted by Bobby King

If this is your first gut set, remember that gut requires a lot of tuning initially while the strings stretch. After that you'll still need to tune more often than you're used to as gut is sensitive to temperature change. Each time you go to the bass after not playing it for a few hours, overnight, or in and outdoors,etc., you'll need to tune up once or twice and then they will start to stabalize. This is the annoying reality of gut strings and some people get freaked out by it, but once you get used to the "gut high-maintenance" routine, it's no huge deal. And the sound and feel are well worth it, IMO.

Also, Eudoxa and Oliv need to be handled carefully where they pass over the bridge. They can be prone to having the windings separate there so make sure to use plenty of graphite or a little wax in the slots.

Olivs will go out of tune on a 20 minute break.
Eventually, they stabilize (I'm talking months).

Considering the cost of the strings, the best thing is to have a luthier widen the bridge grooves. He'll have round files appropriate for the string diameters.

[Bobby King]

Originally Posted by Don Higdon

Olivs will go out of tune on a 20 minute break.
Eventually, they stabilize (I'm talking months).

Considering the cost of the strings, the best thing is to have a luthier widen the bridge grooves. He'll have round files appropriate for the string diameters.

Definitely widen the slots at the bridge and nut. But if someone's used Animas in the past, the diameters should be similar.

I always keep a Boss pedal tuner in line (which mutes the output when you step on it) when I'm gigging and do constant little tuning checks between songs. Some people can't deal with this regarding gut strings, but you can get used to anything eventually.

[Don Higdon]

Originally Posted by Bobby King

Definitely widen the slots at the bridge and nut. But if someone's used Animas in the past, the diameters should be similar.

I should have mentioned the nut.
Oliv is wider than Anima. There's no substitute for using a micrometer.
The sound is worth the effort.

[liam_g]

I'll check the widths. Before the Animas, I used Eurosonics, which are huge (G=.074, D=.098, A=.118, E=.149). I'll mic everything though and be sure.

Thanks for all the tips, guys!

Liam

[larry]

On my bass, I'm happy pairing an Oliv D & G with Superflexibles on the E & A. May be an option if the E & A are not what you want.

You will dig the Olivs.

[Adrian Cho]

I used Olivs and Eudoxas for years. It's a great combination. I eventually gave up on the Pirastro guts because I had too many cases of the windings coming apart. I also decided that having gut on the bottom two strings is not worth it. The cost of the strings, the instability of the tuning, etc. doesn't justify the little difference in tone between something else gut-like (I am now using Permanents on the bottom with gut on the top now). Most of the gut sound comes from having gut on the top two strings. Having two strings on the bottom with stable tuning gives you something to tune the top two strings to.

[Michael Case]

I just put them on today and practiced for 3 hours before an early gig. Tuning aside they were great, I love this set up (for now).

[GriffithLea]

Originally Posted by mike da mook

I just put them on today and practiced for 3 hours before an early gig. Tuning aside they were great, I love this set up (for now).

Pretty brave, putting on gut strings the same day as a gig. I'd do that only with steel strings, and even then only before a rehearsal.

[Aaron Cohn]

Originally Posted by GriffithLea

Pretty brave, putting on gut strings the same day as a gig. I'd do that only with steel strings, and even then only before a rehearsal.

Brave is right. Hope you made it through the gig ok (I feel for you). Anyway, I think you'll find the strings will change in feel a little (mostly for the better) as they stretch. I play Eudoxas top to bottom, and they get a little less smooth in feel--the stretching of the core opens up a little space between the windings--and lower in tension within a couple weeks. This probably isn't a problem with the Oliv G and D, but I also find that what's initially a kind of harsh excessive brightness on the Eudoxas tones itslf down during that time, if you get any of that. Great strings, though.

[jmpiwonka]

my Oliv g string has some stretch in the windings where you can see a little bit of the core in a few places...
it's no big deal to me, i don't feel it when i play so no big deal to me.

[Michael Case]

I got through the gig, I played without an amp and had the tuner plugged into my pick up so after every song I tuned quickly. The gig was a function at a college so we were hired for 3 hours and played for 1, I love college gigs.

[THE SAW]

When I was in service, we could order any brand of string we prefered. Of course, I ordered Olives because they were the most expensive.
I don't have to tell you guys that these strings are terrible in just about every way, except that your string dealer will love his profit margin.

[jmpiwonka]

Originally Posted by THE SAW

When I was in service, we could order any brand of string we prefered. Of course, I ordered Olives because they were the most expensive.
I don't have to tell you guys that these strings are terrible in just about every way, except that your string dealer will love his profit margin.

are you serious. these strings are terrible on your "old italian"?
what don't you like about them?

[GriffithLea]

Originally Posted by Aaron Cohn

Brave is right.

I should have said that "he has guts" .