Obligatos still a good choice.

[Bobby King]

As many of you probably know, I'm a Gut and Velvet fan and that's what I use on my primary bass. I have a second bass, a Shen plywood, and I like to have it strung with decent arco strings for practice. For a while now I've had Helicore Orchestras on it which are good arco strings, but I also like to play some pizz on the Shen from time to time, and the Helicores are pretty uninspiring in that regard. I recently put on my old set of Superflexibles and was enjoying the pizz quite a bit. While they are not bad for arco, there's still an element of scratchiness in the sound, and the bow just doesn't "sink in" the way it will with orchestra strings.

So, I decided to revisit Obligatos which are a string that I have liked in the past. Playing them again this time, I feel that they are far superior to the Superflexes for arco, and while they dont have all of the volume and sustain of the steels, they are quite pleasant to pizz on. Very comfortable tension and a blunter ( but I won't say "gut-like" )tone. I still think these are a very good "crossover" choice. In fact, I like bowing on them at least as much as on the Helicores. Some months ago, I also experimented with some lightly used Evah Pirazzis, and while they bow very well, they sounded awfully dull on my Shen for pizz. Depends on the bass I guess.

My son's coming home from college for Thanksgiving next week and he's an Obligato fan, so he'll be glad that I have them on too!

[boombloom]

I have a set of Obligatos on my 2nd bass and I like them too. I ran into Mike Barber of the Gibson Brothers a couple weeks ago. His bass sounds great and I asked him what he was using for strings. He sounded embarrassed or apologetic when he told me they were Obligatos. He told me alot of people don't like them but he prefers them. Is there some stigma here I should know about?

[Wilbyman]

I really like Obligatos. They don't get alot of respect here but I find them to be a terrific hybrid string. They feel nice under the bow/hand, sound lively (growly), still sound good when they go dull, and hold intonation pretty well.

[Jeremy Allen]

Originally Posted by boombloom

Is there some stigma here I should know about?

Nah, it's just that a lot of us loved them for a minute when they came out and then eventually got tired of them "rolling" under the fingers and being a little too soft/wimpy. I remember feeling like I was just crushing the life out of them when I would play with full weight (either arco or pizz). I should've just raised the action instead of dismissing the string, but that was then.
Since then, I've had several students with Obligatos come through, and I've definitely noticed that the response differs from bass to bass. With two students in particular (one with a great old carved bass and one with a Sixties Kay), Obligatos are the absolute perfect string.

[ERIC A]

I am gut man myself. But, I recently put a set of Sensicore strings on my back-up bass, and found them to be the most "gut like" in terms of tension. But I have always liked Obligatos in the past. I should mention that I play 90 % pizz, 10% arco.

[Bobby King]

I wouldn't use the Obligatos as my primary pizz string, but what I like about them right now is that they're quite good for arco, and they still get a decent amount of sustain, punch and high end to be able to play pizz, where strings like Helicore Orch or Flexocore are just too darn dull for pizz (at least on my Shen ply). On the other hand, I find that the good steel pizz strings - Spirocore, Superflexible, etc., are somewhat frustrating to bow on. The bow does not grab them as well, they have a scratchiness to their tone, the G strings are whiney, you often have to be careful starting a note, etc. These things can be a bit of a "groove killer" when playing arco.

When I briefly had the Superflexibles on my Shen, I was reminded what it was like playing on higher-tension strings. There are definitely some good things about it. The resistance allows you to play hard and you can execute alternating finger plucking with your right hand easier, etc. With a lighter tension string you generally need the action higher, and it can require some different plucking techniques. Obligatos are certainly not lower tension than the Velvet/Gut combo on my main bass, but they can be set a little lower since they don't vibrate as widely as Velvets or guts. Obligatos are not as loud as Velvets. But they still seem to be the best choice I've found for my "second" bass.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Allen

I remember feeling like I was just crushing the life out of them when I would play with full weight (either arco or pizz).

+1! Loved the sound of the Oblis but they just didn't have enough power and I felt that when I really tried to dig in to them, they'd just give up. I really don't think raising the height in my case would have remedied that experience. Anyway, I just put on a set of Evahs to replace my Doms. Evahs, as some know, are Obligatos on steroids. Time will tell...

[Marc Piane]

Interestingly I've had Doms on one of my basses for 6 months with no breakage problems. My Obligato D string broke after about 4 months.

Made feel like more of a man than I really am though. The first string that just couldn't take the punishing that my 160lb frame can dish out.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by drurb

Evahs, as some know, are Obligatos on steroids.

I'm not sure if that is accurate. Sonically and in a tactile sense, they don't have much in common in my experience, even though the compositions may be similar.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

I'm not sure if that is accurate. Sonically and in a tactile sense, they don't have much in common in my experience, even though the compositions may be similar.

For me, that characterization is quite accurate. Of course, being "on steroids" makes them different, both tactically and sonically. This post by Jeremy Allen seems to agree with my description as did Gary Upton's. Gary described Evahs as being what Obligatos were "supposed to be." I've played both and very recently (just yesterday) and the characterization works for me. Of course, these are all opinions, etc. and I sure understand if it doesn't work for you. That's the fun of chatting about all this on TB!

[drurb]

Originally Posted by fingers

Interestingly I've had Doms on one of my basses for 6 months with no breakage problems.

Just wait!

I, too, have had Dom sets that went for quite a while with no issues. The problem is that even the occasional mishap just go to be too much. Besides all the obvious drawbacks to strings breaking, the sudden release of tension on a carved top is just no good. I LOVE Dominants. If they didn't have the breakage problems, I suspect I'd be happy playing on them for the rest of my bass-playing life (unless Lycons came back ). It was a difficult separation to make.

[Barcza]

The Obligatos works very well on my bass, they has very nice growly sound and good feel. For me equally works well with piezzo/amp, dynamic mic/PA, or condenser in the studio.

[robobass]

Originally Posted by drurb

Evahs, as some know, are Obligatos on steroids. Time will tell...

I totally agree. I'm an Obli guy and have played Evahs only briefly, and they were totally new. I found them similar to Oblis, but just a bit too stiff for my taste. If I get a chance to play a well broken in set I might change my mind. The big disadvantage of Obli is they don't like to be installed and removed too many times. I understand the Evahs are less fussy in this regard. I use to play Eudoxa, but switched to Obli for reasons of practicality. If I had only one bass, didn't play a lot of thumb position with the bow, and didn't need the high stuff to be there even on a really hot and humid day, I would probably go back to Eudoxa.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by robobass

I totally agree. I'm an Obli guy and have played Evahs only briefly, and they were totally new. I found them similar to Oblis, but just a bit too stiff for my taste. If I get a chance to play a well broken in set I might change my mind. The big disadvantage of Obli is they don't like to be installed and removed too many times. I understand the Evahs are less fussy in this regard. I use to play Eudoxa, but switched to Obli for reasons of practicality. If I had only one bass, didn't play a lot of thumb position with the bow, and didn't need the high stuff to be there even on a really hot and humid day, I would probably go back to Eudoxa.

Check out posts 5-9 here. Seems they soften up. If that happens for me, I might just have a long-term relationship with the Evahs. I really like the sound of Oblis but, for me, they just give up too quickly when I try to dig into them. In addition, they are a bit quiet. The Evahs are like cannons in comparison.

[Jeremy Allen]

Evahs definitely soften/brighten up, so you may be in love! It takes awhile, though; I recall noticing it like 9 months in.
Also, it is true, you can install/remove Evahs many many times without troubles. That's a nice feature! (I always laugh when I see someone selling a set of used Obligatos--get real!)

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Allen

Evahs definitely soften/brighten up, so you may be in love! It takes awhile, though; I recall noticing it like 9 months in.

Yeah, it's very gradual. I have about sixteen months on mine, and they feel just right to me.

[drurb]

Nine months in? Sixteen months? You mean I don't have to dump them every year? I got used to doing that when I used Oblis and I did it with the Doms. Oh yes, this could be love!

[dchan]

Ultimately, my problem with Obligatos goes like this.

They're great strings right off the bat: exceptionally warm sounding, kinda growly, and soft under the fingers. But they take forever to get in tune the first time around, and they continue to stretch into the next day.

After 10 months or so, the G string stays fine, the D string is okay, the A string kind of sucks, and the E strings is almost dead. Which is okay, because now you can get new Obligatos. Except, of course, you have to wait for the new set to keep stretching and stretching as it settles in. And oh yeah, it makes you $150 lighter in the wallet.

Why bother with that trouble anymore, when I can get a steel string that lasts at least twice as long? The way I see it, a good setup does wonders that compulsive string-swapping can't approach, and the way you play matters a whole lot more than the strings you choose to play on.

[Francois Blais]

Originally Posted by dchan

Why bother with that trouble anymore, when I can get a steel string that lasts at least twice as long?

Great, but what steel strings features all the qualities of the Obligatos?
I didn't find them yet.

[dchan]

Originally Posted by Francois Blais

Great, but what steel strings features all the qualities of the Obligatos?
I didn't find them yet.

I've found that I don't need all of the qualities.