Strings for new plywood bass?

[PaperbackRyder]

Help!
I've bought my first DB after decades of EB. Plywood for economy. With excellent build quality and expertly setup. The builder recommends Spiro/Obli as a rule. But I need to learn arco for pitch. I have a teacher who love Obligato's on his carved bass. The bass is not yet delivered.

In the mean time I have been reading about strings (Lord help me) and am very interested in the Evah's, for both their playability and tonal qualities. BUT by the looks of the mega thread, most of the expert opinions are from experienced guys who play lovely carved instruments. Thank you all for those opinions. Informative and entertaining.

My question (assuming the usual YMMV disclaimers):

Will the reviews /qualities / descriptions also apply to a laminate bass?

I would like to avoid jumping into the pit of string evil, and concentrate on learning the new axe.

Thanks,

=JR=

[salcott]

NS LaScala w/ Evah Pirazzis. Happy with pizz and arco.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by salcott

NS LaScala w/ Evah Pirazzis. Happy with pizz and arco.

Same here, mine's a hybrid (solid top and sides, the back is Arnold Magical Mystery laminate ). Deliriously happy with EPs.

That said, most of the plys that I've played have done well with plain old Spiro Mittels.... they seem to wake 'em up a lot. And they bow fine after you get used to them. I'll probably go back to them next time around, just to get back to home base. I will keep the Evahs in the string drawer, however.

The Evahs might be great on a good ply.... I've just never tried them that way.

PS.... I also agree with Uncletoad's contention that it's best to start out on Spiros and play them for awhile, just as a sort of "homeplate" benchmark standard string on which you can base your future string choices. The lucky ones just put 'em on at the beginning, and never look at a string catalog again.

[PaperbackRyder]

Thanks for your insights!

[PaperbackRyder]

my main concern is to avoid injury while learning proper technique. For good intonation proper arco is essential, from what I have read here. Minimizing stress while learning the bow with an optimal string choice, seems a good idea.
So I will go with the EP's as a starting point.
I will be starting out in a couple weeks.
Thanks!
=JR=

[BassMap]

I have a plywood bass strung with Evahs. I've tried varoius metal core strings like Spiros, Corellis, Pirastro Jazzers and Belcantos. There were things I liked about those strings, but the Evahs have been the only string to significantly darken the sound of my rather bright sounding bass. They also added some balls to the bottom end. YMMV

[malloybow]

I have an Upton plywood that I play primarily arco on, Evas gave a nice dark "closer to carved bass" sound and pizz is good also. A decent brazil or pernambuco wood bow males a huge difference also.

[shadygrove]

Originally Posted by PaperbackRyder

my main concern is to avoid injury while learning proper technique. For good intonation proper arco is essential, from what I have read here. Minimizing stress while learning the bow with an optimal string choice, seems a good idea.
So I will go with the EP's as a starting point.
I will be starting out in a couple weeks.
Thanks!
=JR=

Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of doublebass! What model of bass are you getting ? Please don't forget to post pic's in the basses forum when you get it

I'm also considering either EPs or either spiro weich or mittle for my Eberle ply that currently has helicore orchestra on it. Ease of bowing is a consideration, but pizz thump is the top priority.

Be careful with that bow when you get that DB in your hands. IME it can be addictive I also thought I was learning arco strictly to work on intonation, but once I started playing with the bow I found I really liked it and often pull the bow out at celtic jams to drone chord tones behind the melody players on waltzes or ballads and even take melody on a tune now and then. I played AEB before getting a DB so thought I had an idea what I was getting into, but that bow is opening up a whole new world ! Have fun !

[PaperbackRyder]

Thanks Shadygrove, It is an Upton std w/ a rev solo pickup. I called the shop today and they were happy to accommodate the switch to Evah's. I will probably upgrade the bow ($99 shop special) sometime next year, or whenever I develop enough to discern the difference.

Yeah, the bowed bass is a sweet sound to behold. There is a clip of the Ray Brown Trio on youtube where Ray plays his german bow throughout the ballad "If I Loved You". Just Beautiful. Thank you Ray. Again.

I play at church and can foresee many opportunities for long, flowing legato lines, & dramatic deep notes on endings an such.

=JR=

[pat1151]

From my plywood experience. I would reccomend D'Addario Helicore Orchestral.

They seem to work well on inexpensive basses.

[Mudfuzz]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

PS.... I also agree with Uncletoad's contention that it's best to start out on Spiros and play them for awhile, just as a sort of "homeplate" benchmark standard string on which you can base your future string choices. The lucky ones just put 'em on at the beginning, and never look at a string catalog again.

+1

If you can make spiros sound good with a bow on a ply bass then you can get around almost amything

My favorite strings are Jargars, I'm using the Forte set right now but I am planning on trying the MED set out when I kill them; although, I've had them on for over a year now and they still sound great.

[damonsmith]

Spiros are still the best all around string. Arco is not a problem, especially if you have a good teacher.

[drurb]

The EPs would be an interesting choice. On my bass anyway (an Upton Concert) pizz. is fantastic and arco is substantially better than Doms or Spiros. I heard/played the EPs on an Upton Professor as well. Sounded great. That they would work well on an Upton ply seems an educated guess. I think you'll probably like 'em.

[damonsmith]

I think a plywood bass needs strings with more life, like spiros. getting a good sound on spiros first will help with arco on other strings.

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by damonsmith

I think a plywood bass needs strings with more life, like spiros.

I agree with Damon here - plywood needs a little more 'zing' to the string. Weichs are a great starting point.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by damonsmith

I think a plywood bass needs strings with more life, like spiros. getting a good sound on spiros first will help with arco on other strings.

I agree with that.

[Paul Warburton]

Myownself does too.

[shadygrove]

Originally Posted by shadygrove

...I'm also considering either EPs or either spiro weich or mittle for my Eberle ply that currently has helicore orchestra on it....

OK, youse guys have almost got me sold on the Spirocore, but why Weich rather than Mittel? I play a lot of old-time fiddler and celtic jams and rarely amplified so would like as much volume as possible and am willing to sacrifice some playability. How likely is it the higher tension or extra effort needed for mittels could result in less volume? is your recommendation based on the ease of bowing weich compared to mittel? easier to get around with lower tension? or is there something else i'm not considering?

[PB+J]

If you're going to be playing the double bass for awhile you'll end up trying spiros sooner or later. Might as well get it over with!

I don't find them all that hard to bow. They're a little scratchy, but they're very responsive and lively, very accurate. Same as pizz, actually. If you want an easy to bow string the easiest I ever tried were Bel Cantos. I couldn't make a bad sound with those. But they were too thuddy for pizz.

Spiros are a great all around string, although they have their famous deficiencies. They last forever and they sound better as they get older. Coming from EB you might like the Weichs more than the Mittels

[damonsmith]

The volume is 6 of one half dozen of the other. The orchestras are going to have a fatter tone, but the wiechs will cut more and be clearer.
Thinner strings tend to be more responsive to the bow.