A String Wandering

[Hector Wolff]

I have a relatively new set (four months)of Helicore Orchestra strings on my bass, and I play almost exclusively with a bow.

When I tune up using my chromatic tuner (at which time I am plucking the strings), I always notice that the "A" string takes much more time to settle done on pitch than any of the other strings. Sometimes I just give up. This "A" doesn't react to the bow quite like the other strings either, the "E" is in some ways easier to get a consistently pleasing tone out of.

Is it possible this "A" is defective and should be replaced? Or is that very unlikely?

Thanks.

[Francois Blais]

Maybe you have a wolf tone there?
Any experienced luthier wants to share comments?
Do you have the same problem with other brands?

[Hector Wolff]

Thank you Francois,

No, I have never tried any other brands, this is my first bass, and first set of strings.

The difference in response to the bow, is most noticable on the open "A".

In terms of tuning the "A" string, I can often get the initial response from the digital tuner, to be right on pitch, but then it wanders away quickly.

Now this happens initially, with all the open strings, but I can always get them to settle down steadly on pitch. Not so with the open "A", no matter how delicate I am with the tunning machines, it takes a long time, and sometimes I never get it right on.