metallic string reccomendation

[justbill]

Hi everyone, I need a reccomendation for a set of
magnetic strings for my dbl bass. I'm strung with Gamut
G and D with Obligato E and A right now. Love the way they sound
and feel but they will never work with the new group.
I just signed on to do some live shows, mostly medium sized
rock clubs, with a band that is a cross between Rush, King Crimson and
Tool. Definately a change in direction for me....

Due to the volume level, I'm putting my PJ String Charger back into service.
Most of the material will be done on my electric 5 string but there are 5 songs that call for
bowed dbl bass. Very little pizz. From what I remember about the string charger,
it makes arco sound kinda like a chainsaw.

Sooo...I guess I'm looking for a string that is magnetic, is very bowable,
and that has a strong fundemental with very little overtones. Pizz tone is not very important.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom.

Bill

[TimoMetzemakers]

Hi Bill, I was going to recommend Jargars, but then I remembered that I ran into lots of problems trying to bow with a mag pickup.

My Framus EUB with a mag pickup and Jargars is fine when I pizz, but with the bow there are very large variations in volume, depending on the bow angle. I'm just guessing here, but I think that this weird behavior is caused by the relationship between the direction of the magnetic field lines, and the direction of the vibration of the string. Perhaps one of our resident scientists could enlighten us here...

I'm going out on a limb here since I don't know if the String Charger has the same problems, but maybe it would be a better idea to get a feedback-resistant pickup like the Full Circle instead of new strings?

[Bobby King]

For arco, it's hard to beat Pirastro Flexocor. Corelli 370 is also very good, and many people are raving about the new Thomastik Bel Canto. All of these are steel strings and are not real bright and ringy.

The best amplified arco sound I ever got was using a Realist pickup. The Full Circle was good, and the Revolution Solo was also decent. All of those may not perform as well at high volumes however.

[jtlownds]

Magnetic pickups just don't work very well with arco. I don't know why, possibly, the bow dampens the string too much? I have a Schaller on my laminated bass that I use for outdoor and stupid loud gigs, and it is pretty much useless for arco work.

[justbill]

thanks for the input everyone. If this doesn't shake out somehow I guess I can always use a synth pedal or an eBow but that isn't as much fun.
bill

[Uncletoad]

For Tool kinds of volume the DB is out of it's depth. An EUB is the way to go there. Lots of good ones that do arco well.

If I was just doing arco on an EUB I'd use Belcanto or Flexocor.