NEED HELP!!!! pirastro chorda

[Nuno A.]

DOES ANYONE PLAY WITH PIRASTRO CHORDA???I PLAY BASS IN SEVERAL BANDS(FROM ROCKABILLY TO TRADITIONAL JAZZ) AND I SLAP A LOT.I USE 4 PLAIN GUT STRINGS BUT I HEARD A LOT OF GOOD COMMENTS ABOUT PIRASTRO CHORDA.HOWEVER THEY ARE SO EXPENSIVE THAT I WOULD LIKE AS MANY OPINIONS AS POSSIBLE SINCE I DONT KNOW NOBODY WHO USED THEM AND DONT WANT TO SPEND $450 WITH NO INFORMATION.....
THANK YOU AND ALL THE BEST.

[Nuno A.]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AMAZING HOW LEMUR AND QUINNVIOLINS SELL THE STRINGS ALMOST $200 CHEAPER THAN PIRASTRO ....
WELL ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE A AND E ARE WOUNDED,I KNOW THAT IT'S GOING TO SOUND DIFERENT ...BUT THE A AND THE E I'M USING NOW ARE REALLY THICK AND SOMETIMES A LITTLE BIT "DEADTONE" STRINGS....
I WONDER WHAT KIND OF STRINGS THEY USED IN THE 30'S ,40'S.....THEY WERE ALL GUT AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IN THE PICTURES,HOWEVER THE A AND E SOUNDED GREAT....
THANKS AND ALL THE BEST

[David Kaczorowski]

Originally posted by basscrazy72
I WONDER WHAT KIND OF STRINGS THEY USED IN THE 30'S ,40'S.....THEY WERE ALL GUT AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IN THE PICTURES,HOWEVER THE A AND E SOUNDED GREAT....

This is untrue, they used plain gut G and D, wrapped A and E. String makers began wrapping third and fourth strings with silver wire in the mid-1600's. If you examine the pictures you mention closely, in all likelihood, you'll see the A string is actually thinner than the D string and the E is about the same thickness of the D string. This is the case with the few photos of Mingus I examined, and all of the pictures of Ray Brown's bass in his method book. They used wrapped A and E strings.

[Nuno A.]

1st of all thanks for your opinions.
this past weekend i was checking out my videos and my mags and like David said,i found a bass player(Bob Haggart-Bob Crosby's bobcats-a 40's swing combo) who used a wounded E-the string was thinner than the A and slightly clear. however i concluded one more time than Milt Hinton(in several videos with Cab calloway), Slam Stewart(with the duo Slim and Slam),Wellman Braud(with Duke E.),Harry Goodman(B. Goodman), Trigger Alpert(with Glenn Miller) and Pops Foster, among many others(bass players of the Lionel H. Orch.
Gene Krupa Orch,and both Johnny Miller and Joe Confort with the Nat King Cole trio) they used 4 plain gut strings(E bigger than A, A bigger than D........) and most of these players both pizzicato and bow,and the sound is great...(when they play on all registers,the sound is uniform and full toned)
I dont understand why today we just cant find gut strings so versatile and rich toned.
Anyway all of this started with my interest in getting information about the pirastro chorda strings....
after i've seen all this videos and pictures over and over....well, i'll try to find again 4 plain gut strings who'll sound GREAT,just like these guys used....
All the best.

[David Kaczorowski]

Contact Damian Dlugolecki or Aquila and ask if they'll custom make a plain A and E for you.

[hillbilly]

I use the Goetz plain gut set and could'nt be happier w/ the sound(as compared to the Wellman Braud sound you were refering to).
My question is where did you get all those great videos?
thanks
Hillbilly in Alabama