Obligato strings megathread

[MartinBorgen]

Oh, ye obligato-enlightened people, do you happen to know if these break in noticably? I notice mine are slightly metallic in their sound, and unfortunately my bass transmits those kinds of sounds quite well (might be that the bass is relatively new as well). I'm keeping them on for now, to see if they develop.

[AMJBASS]

They break in within a couple of weeks. Still remain clear, but have a nice warm sound to them. I would definitely still use them if they lasted longer.

[MartinBorgen]

They don't last very long?

EDIT: this might be covered already, but a 17 page thread is a bit heavy to barge through.

[AMJBASS]

I think 8 months is about tops IME before they start to go.

[tornadobass]

Originally Posted by AMJBASS

I think 8 months is about tops IME before they start to go.

...what happens when they "start to go"? Is it tonal or structural?

[reedo35]

First you get the legendary "Obligato roll" where the winding separates from the core. This invariably causes tonal and response differences.

[fdeck]

I didn't notice any sort of break-in period, at least of the magnitude of what happens with Spiro's. My playing was breaking in at the same time that the strings were, since they were on a new bass.

[drurb]

Well, as we're returning to issues previously covered in this megathread, I'll post my my thoughts again. For me and other players, Oblis are the strings that "sound great in your living room." When I got my first set, I really liked their dark sound and their feel. That is, until I got them on the bandstand. When I would dig in, they would give up. The love-affair ended quickly. No doubt, my dissatisfaction with Oblis is a largely a function of my style of play. YMMV applies more than usual when it comes to strings. Still, if you do go through this thread, then you'll see that my evaluation is somewhat common. It certainly didn't help that the Oblis had a rather short life.

[MartinBorgen]

Hmm. So far, I've found them to be rather metallic and not very dark, and excellent to dig in on. That said, it's been about two weeks, and only one week of playing on this bass.

[Will Kelly]

I've had a set on my hybrid for about a month and a half, and here are my impressions...

-They have a plastic-y twang to them, especially the G, especially amplified pizz
-They get decent volume
-They are okay to bow... not great, but okay

For what I paid for them ($75 musicians friend blowout) I really shouldn't complain, but I probably won't buy another set.

[LouisF]

We did a sound post adjustment and traded some Original Flatchromes for Obligatos on a new 5 string bass I'm dealing with (Spiro Low C). The bass definitely responds better to the lower tension. The sound is warmer and fuller, but with less volume and "bite" - it's alla trade off.
Louis

[acubass]

I like the Obligatos. I just put Super Silvers on and the Obligatos are much, much louder than the SS's on my Shen SB-150.

[AMJBASS]

Might need to let the strings settle in a bit before making a judgement. I know with Velvets(which are much lower tension), it takes a week or 2 for them to settle in and the bass to adjust.

[Champagne]

I have an E and A string on my old german with a spiro weich d and spiro mittel g and it is awesome get up for that bass. I can beat the crap out of the E and A and they don't bail out. My bass has a 41" string length with lowish action. If I get crazy on them, they will rattle on the board. My other bass did the same thing and that bass had a full set of spiro mitts. When I do play them harder, they get more low mids while softer the mids are not as present, but the low end it still there. I find them on this bass to have a softer fundamental punch than my bass that had spiro mitts on it and I find the balance of lows and mids really nice. They feel great too.

The tone of them did change after a week of non-stop playing. They mellowed out a little. I still love them on that bass.

[Bobby King]

I currently have a bass with Obligatos on the G&D, and Spiro Solos on the E&A. This combination is working very nicely -- the tone and tension are close, you don't get the roll on the low strings, they bow well and sound good for pizz without being too whiney on top.

[fdeck]

I have Spiro Orchestra Mitts on E&A, and Obli's on the top. Since getting the bass, 2+ years ago, I have been wondering how long the Obli's would last, and the only way to get over this obsession was try some new ones. My impression is that the new strings are louder and brighter, but I guess that I should wait the Obligatory couple of weeks before making a final judgment.

[Steve Boisen]

Originally Posted by fdeck

I that I should wait the Obligatory couple of weeks...