in need of string advice. please help.

[LizzieBurns]

i'm a high school bassist who has been pretty successful thus far. i mainly play classical music but i do play some jazz. i play with some of the best high schoolers on the east coast on a weekly basis and i see that a lot of them use jazz strings for their top 3 strings. i've tried their basses and i really like the feel of them and they get a really nice tone. i was wondering if anyone knows what jazz strings have a really nice arco sound like that and are not too bright. i think im going to use a medium gauge D'Addario Helicore for my e-string for the nice meaty sound but im not sure for the rest. can you help me out?

[Reuben]

Thomastik Spirocore Weich

[Francois Blais]

What's the color of the silk thread at the tailpiece?
Red?
If the thread at the tuners end is purple, they're the weichs suggested by Reuben.
Also red at the tuners is Spirocore Mittels (mediums).

[LizzieBurns]

their kind of darkish blue at the tailpiece end

[bassist1962]

Darkish Blue tailpiece. Superflexibles maybe. Are the A and D strings almost the same in diameter?

[LizzieBurns]

i guess. what do you know about original flexicores?

[dchan]

Originally Posted by LizzieBurns

i guess. what do you know about original flexicores?

They're nice orchestral strings that are thicker in gauge than Flexocor 92' Starks. They have solid violet-colored tailpiece silks.

From my old teacher's old Italian bass, they were really good under the bow (I think any string would have been good on that bass, though). I don't really know how they would be pizz-wise; I would guess that they're nice, pretty dark sounding, and punchy with big volume. I don't think they have great sustain. It would be a good string for old-school jazz pizz, I guess, but not for the sustain of modern jazz pizz.

Of course, these strings are relatively expensive at almost $200 for a set.

[LizzieBurns]

Originally Posted by bassist1962

Darkish Blue tailpiece. Superflexibles maybe. Are the A and D strings almost the same in diameter?

i thought they had light blue tailpiece end.

anyway, i've also heard a lot about Thomastik Belcanto's. any thoughts?

[bassman1489]

hey lizzie, it's corey from CHS. i use belcantos, they're awesome. great orchestral string, and they're low tension so they work fine for jazz.

i'm gonna get a set of original flex's soon, maybe i'll sell you my belcantos to try.

[LizzieBurns]

sure, thanks cory.