Three hours holding down the bass part playing old-time fiddle tunes in D than A today, and man oh man, I am one happy guy! The Garbo E and A are a perfect tension match with the plain gut D and G - I can really pull these things, just like the guts. I love the hefty diameters and the not-quite-perfectly-smooth feel of the polished copper wrap. And the sound! Huge and punchy. I was able to shift down an octave and keep a solid pulse going on the bottom two strings, something I never felt comfortable doing with the Spiros or Obligatos - I always felt like no one could hear me, and the groove just wasn't there. My Eastman ply seems to like the low tension; even the gut D and G sounded better.
Yes, the Garbos are still stretching and needed tweaking after every tune, but it was no big deal. Maybe because the day was super hot and dry (we played outside), but the new strings held their pitch remarkably well.
I think I sounded great, anyway. Something must have been apparent, because twice I was asked "Did you get a new bass?" In a way, I did. Can't wait for the string band rehearsal tomorrow.
I just hope they don't turn out to have some fatal flaw, like sudden breakage or causing my hands to break out in hives. (I can live with having my skin turn green and/or black from the copper.)
Sorry for the soliloquy, but who else would listen to someone wax rhapsodic about bass strings?
