Obligatos v. Helicore?

[boombloom]

I haven't been thrilled with the Oblis on my recently restored bass. A friend has recommended Helicore Hybrids. Any input? Thanks.

Boom

[glivanos]

I believe the Helicore's are more livelier than the Obligatos.

Did you try Spirocores on your restored bass?

[Jason Hollar]

I just recently had a set of Obligatos installed on my carved Romanian bass. I was looking for a more "old school" pizz sound -- like Paul Chambers and Percy Heath, for example.

Absolutely love the feel of the string -- especially the sound...more "bloom" in the low end. I just hope they hold up -- as I've heard they have a tendancy to crap out much sooner than a metal string.

Before that I went through several sets of Helicore strings including Hybrids and Pizz in both light and medium tensions.

The Helicore Hybrid medium would be an excellent place to start. The lights are a dream to play, but don't give a whole lotta acoustic output -- as would be expected. The Orchestra strings are very nice too...never had them on my bass, but several students used them on their school instruments.

Of course, the Thomastiks and Corelli's are fine choices too.

Do you play mostly bow or pizz -- or both? Classical, jazz?

[mje]

I had similar experineces with Obligatos on my Romanian bass. I decided after a while that I wanted a sound with more edge to it, and more volume, so I've been trying various metal strings. But I may yet go back to the Obligatos.

[FidgetStone]

The Helicore Hybrids had no redeeming qualities on my bass. The obligatos were great for their 8 month life span but they became kind of unfocused and nondistinct.

Currenty I have Pirastro Flat Chromesteels on the top and Spiro mittles on the bottom and that works pretty good. My current set-up is my 2nd favorite string experiment to date. My all-time favorites so far are Velvet Compas 180s. Expensive though . . .

[boombloom]

I've mostly played bluegrass and blues. No classical. I have a bow now and want to learn to use it. I have a laminated Czech bass with Spirocore E and A and Golden Spiral G and D. I want to bow and pizz this bass, and I would like to try lower tension strings than Spiros. Still, I wonder what they would sound like on ol' Humpty Dumpty...

[reedo35]

Originally Posted by boombloom

I haven't been thrilled with the Oblis on my recently restored bass. A friend has recommended Helicore Hybrids. Any input? Thanks.

Boom

Here's the pros and cons, IMO
Helicores-Pros- Lots of volume on Pizz, Long lasting string, responds fairly well to bowing.

Cons- Scratchy tone for arco, strings are very stiff, tension is much higher than Obligatos

Obligato-.Pros- Very responsive to bowing, nice "old fasioned" tone,Relatively low tension, Pizz well.Feels good Under my fingers.

Cons- Less volume than other strings, short life span in comparison, ocassionally experience the "obligato roll"