Strings for the obnoxiously versatile bassist?

[KeepEmThumpin]

Hey, so I've been lurking the forums for a while and I've seen a lot about swapping off between pizz and arco... which is great, but how about slapping? I play Classical, Jazz, and, dare I say it, Psychobilly. And yeah, I only have one bass. So I need something that'll sound at least decent with all three. My arco technique is alright, I mean, I had pretty good tone when I was playing with gut strings, although I just got so frustrated with them that I just had to say, "No. Back to steel."

I've been looking at the Helicore Hybrids, medium tension, thinking they're probably my best bet.

[moles]

My first thought is that you'll kill yourself trying to slap on that tension. (Or, in the spirit of the holidays..."You'll shoot your eye out, kid!")

Downtuned Superflexible Solos are working alright for me. They're a bit bright for slap but not too bad, and the tension is good, they work with the limited arco use I give them, and I can lower my bridge and get some growly pizz out of them.

I'm looking for something a bit darker though. Jargar Dolces or those Eurosonics, as soon as the season of giving is over, and I can go back to buying crap for myself that I don't need.
If you're going with Helicore, I'd at least go with the light gauge - and possibly stick with the orchestrals if you can handle the dark pizz sound.

[TroyK]

Spirocore weichs

[Bobby King]

Originally Posted by TroyK

Spirocore weichs

I'd say that's your best bet too.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by TroyK

Spirocore weichs

Yep, with sugar on top.

[Co.]

If you find the "click" of weichs too harsh, when slapping, you might try permanents. Their "click" is much rounder and fuller sounding. The top strings feel pretty stiff though. They are of course great arco strings and good pizz strings.

[endorka]

Originally Posted by KeepEmThumpin

Hey, so I've been lurking the forums for a while and I've seen a lot about swapping off between pizz and arco... which is great, but how about slapping? ...
I've been looking at the Helicore Hybrids, medium tension, thinking they're probably my best bet.

I did some slapping with these strings during maybe 3 or 4 numbers in a show in the summer, and while it is possible and sounded good, it was hard work and a bit tough on the fingers/hands. I wouldn't have wanted to do a whole set in this manner.

Jennifer

[KeepEmThumpin]

Thanks, everyone. I read up on the Spirocore Weichs and while they sound like a good call, I was getting that their arco is a bit scratchy. Remember that price is also a factor here, so the Solo-Gauge Superflexibles are looking good to me.

I don't really have a problem with the slapping being rough. I learned to slap on a set of Corellis (which I'm now in the process of replacing) and while they gave me callouses the size of dimes (Okay, not that big, but they were pretty big), they weren't too bad, and the E was actually quite nice.

[Jeremy Allen]

Originally Posted by KeepEmThumpin

...I was getting that their arco is a bit scratchy. Remember that price is also a factor here, so the Solo-Gauge Superflexibles are looking good to me.

People make way too much of the "scratchy arco thing" with Spirocores IMO. Chris Fitzgerald told me that the former principal of the Louisville S.O. won his audition with weichs on his bass. 'Tain't no thing. It just takes a minute for them to settle in, but you can hasten the process by taking a towel and vigorously rubbing each string up and down the whole length until they get very hot to the touch. One of my students who plays a similar mix of music as you describe recently switched from Helicores to weichs and he is a happy dude.

The one time I played on solo Superflexibles tuned to orchestra pitch, I did not find them to be a serious option for anything but serving with pesto and a bottle of chianti. Of course, string height is also a factor, so jacking up the bridge would help.

[Uncletoad]

So let me get this straight. You want a string equally at home playing rock, jazz, classical and don't want to spend any money on it?

You really must be more realistic.

Buy a used set of Spirocore Weichs off this board for under $100 and deal with the arco. It's not as bad as everyone whines about around here. They are orchestral strings by design. Ask Bertrand Turretsky. He plays Spirocores arco and sounds like god.

Superflex Solos will leave you in the dirt playing classical and Jazz. Arco strings will leave you in the dirt on Jazz and Rock. Gut and solo strings common with 'Billy players will seriously handicap you in the classical and Jazz gigs.

The only string capable of doing what you ask is Weichs.

Really. Three professional bass player heavies wouldn't ******** you about that.

[Andrew McGregor]

Weichs are annoyingly scratchy to the player, but the scratch sound doesn't carry (except to a mic that is right there, of course). You'll just have to deal with the scratchy arco feel... which is entirely doable, we had an entire orchestra section playing nothing but Spirocore Weichs for most of the time I was playing with the Christchurch Symphony, and it worked just fine.

Heavy gauge Corellis just might work, if you're prepared for arco that is a bit weak; I'd take scratch over weak for orchestral, though.

[KeepEmThumpin]

Honestly, guys, thank you all so much. I got the Weichs, threw them on there, and I am in love with them. They haven't quite broken in yet, having only been on there for a day, but I'm really enjoying them. The arco isn't bad at ALL. Not as smooth as my old Corellis, but then, I've been bowing on guts for about 4 or 5 months, so the Weichs sound like a dream right off the bat (Hah, I remember when my teacher tried them. He made them sound great, but continually joked about how they started to sound like bagpipes when you got into thumb position).

The pizz is beautifully resonant. The slap is a little weird, but the feel is fine, and it's something I can easily EQ anyhow when I gig.

Good stuff, I'm very pleased with my investment.

[NBass]

Helicore Hybrids medium are (IMHO) the best hybrid string. You can slap them, although a whole night of Rockabilly type playing might be a bit of a finger bleeder! However The problem with using solo strings at concert, in my experience, is that they are useless for anything else other than slap playing. Either way you have a problem. Personaly i dont think a true 'all rounder exists' although my own solution to the problem is as follows.

I use Helicore hybrid mediums for 95% percent of my gigs which involve arco and jazz both acoustically and amplified. For the odd rockabilly gig when i would be expected to do a lot of slap then i would just detune a semitone and just transpose everything up. the common Rockabilly key of A becomes Bb and E becomes F which are just the keys Jazz players are use to anyway.

Just my thoughts and discoveries on the matter.