Stark E

[bejoyous]

I just ordered a Spiro Stark E from All Hail.

I'm so pumped!

[Chris Fitzgerald]

You might want to go reinforce the studs on the walls of your music room while you're waiting for it to ship. I'm just sayin'...

[Marc Piane]

Luckily if you ever need to tow your car out of a ditch you have a suitable cable.

Prepare to scare children, make women swoon, and invade small countries.

Oh and probably some nasty blisters as you get used to it.

Probably the best E string on the market. I took it off my bass when I put the Evah set on. I miss it a bit but the Evah E is holding its own right now. I'm sure it'll be back.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by bejoyous

I'm so pumped!

Not as much as you will be after you play it for awhile.

[bejoyous]

Just bought a small exercise weight in anticipation!

[Uncletoad]

Might wanna go through your drawer and be sure your shorts have enough room for you're expanded package.

Don't wanna get things packed in to tight on the gig.

[davidAaronCarte]

So
Is the Stark just bigger/louder?
Or is it a good way to get more fundamental/subharmonics in the tone?
I'm pretty happy with my set-up right now, but a little more low end would be nice

[bejoyous]

Hey David, here's a whole mega thread dedicated to one string!

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by davidAaronCarte

So
Is the Stark just bigger/louder?
Or is it a good way to get more fundamental/subharmonics in the tone?
I'm pretty happy with my set-up right now, but a little more low end would be nice

Not that simple. It changes everything across the strings that remain. Sometimes for the good sometimes not. Also it is very thick and high tension. Some hands rebel with it's thickness and some basses/bows don't grab it very well.

Worthy experiment but sometimes it's just to much.

When it's good, it's really really good.

[davidAaronCarte]

Cool, I'll start picking through that thread
Tempted to try one on my bass
The only thing is my bass is already on the high-tension side, it might be too much
Anyone have a used one they wouldn't mind selling?

[William Hoffman]

as Toad sez: "Manly!"

funny, never thought i'd say that too , but i've been playin a Stark E for about 4 months now, and never did i have such a great E string! Stark E and Mittels.

Man, that's a string!

[bejoyous]

So the Stark E is on. With the family sleeping during practice time and an Ultra mute on I haven't bee able to fully explore the possibilities of the string.

It's about the same thickness as a Dominant E and slightly thicker than the Mittel E it replaced. I have a rather small string length (100.5mm) and have it tuned to drop D, so the tension isn't what it normally would be.

I had all EP's on which were pretty evenly matched on my bass. When I switched to all Spiro Mittels, there was a rather noticeable drop in the volume of the E.

So far, it's only been on for 24 hours and I haven't been playing it too much yet due to work, sleeping family, etc. but this is what I've noticed so far:

1. The volume and presence now matches the A string.
2. There's a definite "THUNK" to the pizz's as well as a great "MWAHHH" to a long held pizz, especially with vibrato.
3. The bow response is different from the Mittel E.
It's still in the shiny, banjo stage so I can't comment on the rest.

I have a gig next week where I'm playing Beethoven 8th. There's lots of low-F's (previously the weakest note of the Mittel E) in that work so, I've give a better report then.

[Uncletoad]

I like them best on the fresher side. When they wear out they are just work.

[lurk]

Where do you buy a Stark E. I've checked the usual places I use, Gollihur, Quinn, and Lemur, and none of them seem to carry them.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by lurk

Where do you buy a Stark E. I've checked the usual places I use, Gollihur, Quinn, and Lemur, and none of them seem to carry them.

Spirocore Stark E or something else?

Gollihur sold one to Bejoyus on the 5th of this month.

[bejoyous]

So a friend came by to try out his new bow and I brought my bass downstairs to my living room so there'd be more space.

He played my bass for a while and when he hit the low-C, a cheap violin I had hung up for a nice piece of art, fell down from the vibrations!

Loving this new string!

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by bejoyous

So a friend came by to try out his new bow and I brought my bass downstairs to my living room so there'd be more space.

He played my bass for a while and when he hit the low-C, a cheap violin I had hung up for a nice piece of art, fell down from the vibrations!

Loving this new string!

How is it under the bow? Slower or ok?

Is that an extension then?

[bejoyous]

Everything seems fine with the bow.

I tune DADG with a short extension for a low-B and a capo on low-C.

So, a regular E-string works with this setup.

[bejoyous]

I played my first concert with the Stark E. I'm really glad they make this string.

The big work was Beethoven 8th Symphony which has lots of low-F's in it.

All the low notes were big and fat with lots of whomp. It's definitely the strongest string now rather than the weakest.

[davidAaronCarte]

Uncle Toad was nice enough to send a used Stark E my way to test out on my bass and I finally had a chance to give it some good playing time today
Holy hell, what a string
Nice amount of girth to her