The Toad's Steel Period.

[Uncletoad]

As suggested by Jake I will now begin to document my "Steel Period".

Progris Riport:

I got tired of Gut D's and not having clear notes up the neck on just the D string. So I bagged the guts for awhile and put on a set of Spirocores for several weeks. Great clear sound. Hated breaking in a set. I hardly have the patience for it anymore. I never did get comfortable with the D and G even after they were broken in. I even put on a beat up D from Bribass hoping the ancient one would work better.

Nah. buzzy as hell, short lived lows and low mids. Yick.

Put on some Superflexes that were fairly new. Those were a thin buzzy mess too. I may come back to those but when I put them on I had to run out to a gig in an hour and knew I wouldn't make it with them then.

So I put on my older Belcanto D and G and ran to the gig. Very nice. Warm, fat. Pretty clear sounding. A little light tension for me but very livable.

Left the Spiro Stark E and Mittel A on there that have been on for many many months. They still sound great.

Bought a Flexocor Stark D and G. Thought I'd put them on for 10 minutes and hate them like I did the Original Flex D/G. No. Didn't hate them at all.

In fact I liked them so much I left them on for Friday and Saturday nights gigs. They are still on there.

Very stiff. Not for everyone for sure. Shorter notes than spiros or other metal strings (which helps me simulate the gut sound without having guts) but still very singing and super clear and dark. No buzzing just clear tone with lots of low mids.

Solo in the living room they came off as somewhat simple or sterile. Not as musical sounding by them selves as the Belcantos. But they were loud as hell and very true sounding. That seems like a hallmark of Pirastro to me. Good clean workable sound that doesn't have much personality. Forces you to be musical on your own without the help of artifacts from the strings.

On the gig they were brutes. I have every note all the way up on both strings. They are all very loud without near as much effort as a lot of strings.

There was quite a bit of discussion on these as pizz strings several years ago when Ray was using them. He mentioned that they carried across the room and seemed louder in the room than on the bandstand. That's true and kinda weird. They project in the upper register pizz in a way other strings I've played dont' do. Perhaps the Oliv and the EP D and G strings but louder by a mile. Sound very good with the bow as you would surmise.

Pizz is just a bit slow from the dampening for it's arco friendliness. The heavy tension helps balance that out for me in that they don't require as much effort to sound loud and clear as the Belcantos or EPs.

It's also the first Pirastros (besides the unreliable oliv) that I really dug the sound of.

The volume can even eclipse the spiros in the right spot or the right room. That's ok with me usually the G string disappears, nice to have it the other way.

So I'm gonna leave this on for a bit and see what happens.

If you missed it the mix is Spiro Stark E, Spiro Mittel A, Flexocor Stark D and G. 7 to 11mm off the end of the fingerboard G to E.

End Progris Riport.

[Bobby King]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

As suggested by Jake I will now begin to document my "Steel Period".

Progris Riport:

I got tired of Gut D's and not having clear notes up the neck on just the D string.

You mean like Picasso's "Blue Period" etc. ?

I'm with you on the gut D, Phil. As I mentioned in the Gamut thread, I've been using a Pirastro Pizzicato D, which I like much more than an Olive D. I just hope it holds up. So far, so good.

I remember liking the pizz sound of Flexocor, at least the G&D, and they sounded good through an amp. The dampening gave a gut-ish effect when amplified. Maybe that's why some rockabilly guys like strings like Flexocor and Jargar for slapping.

Those're some manly gauges though. I'd be a little leery about shaking your hand!

[bribass]

Yeah, that makes sense. I used a med gauge Flex G w/ Spiro Weichs A,D and Spiro Mit E for yoears on my German bass. I always did like the sound of the Flex G for piz, but when they started to go, they get kinda stiff next to the longer lasting Spiros. Never did try a Flex D.

When I got the Prescott I went to Spiro Weichs all accross to to give it's darkness a little edge, but when I went to Mittels on hat bass it really got HUGE. Then I found a SF G I forgot I had and that really worked well w/the Mitts. Great bowabilty. Come to think of it I don't think I ever put on one of the old Flex G's I have on the Prescott . What I'm finding is that it's hard to find a string that does't work on that bass. Maybe Flatchrome Steels were too banjoey. EP's.. great.

Now I got the SF G, Mit D,A and Toad's Stark E on there. WOW!, those lows are scaring my kids now at 30 paces.
Plus the higher tension on the top seems to make the other 3 strings seem looser. Jeff Bollbach. says his C extension customers have the same reaction when they get their basses back from him. Interesting. We'll see how this works in a modern Jazz quartet setting tomorrow.

Stark Flex G and D? Yeah, Phil's handshake is like a cross between a Bear claw and vice grip.

BG

[Reuben]

What, Toad? No stark A string?!?

Come on, you know you want to.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by Reuben

What, Toad? No stark A string?!?

Come on, you know you want to.

I tried it. It doesn't work.

It pulls the top just that much to tight and makes the amplified sound feed back and sound wobbly. The Stark A chokes my bass for some reason and the Mittel just opens it up and makes it balance better across the strings.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by bribass

I always did like the sound of the Flex G for piz, but when they started to go, they get kinda stiff next to the longer lasting Spiros.

Its one of the only strings I've tried I like brand new out of the box. I imagine it will suck after it's burned in. Sort of exactly opposite Spirocores.

Now I got the SF G, Mit D,A and Toad's Stark E on there. WOW!, those lows are scaring my kids now at 30 paces.
Plus the higher tension on the top seems to make the other 3 strings seem looser. Jeff Bollbach. says his C extension customers have the same reaction when they get their basses back from him.

I keep forgetting to mention that. It's a great point.

[Francois Blais]

Those stark Flexos are indeed great, but much too stiff for my poor small hands!

For an inexpensive experiment, get D'Addario Prelude D & G...
They are simply the best I found so far.
Very warm, but a tad more mids than the Flexo.
They have more character, without any metallic edge.
They have some stiffness and meat, but not as much as stark Flexos.
Maybe like regular Flexos.

Very affordable too!

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by francois

For an inexpensive experiment, get D'Addario Prelude D & G...

Will do.

[larry]

Ever tried Olivs or Eudoxas?

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by larry

Ever tried Olivs or Eudoxas?

Yes. Oliv D and G are fantastic strings. The E and A, not so much. Have only tried Eudoxa E and A which I though were thunky and clunky for my style. Never have played the D/G. I don't dig on the wrapped gut thing overall. It's hard to get steel to live over gut. It doesn't hold up for me for very long before things start coming apart.

[Jason Sypher]

There are animals in foreign countries dancing on table tops. Steel strings, powerful sound and nobody gets hurt. I'm walking in the opposite direction with a new set up Gamuts including a Copper Wound E and A. What's it like to buy a set of strings and be able to pay your bills at the same time? I'm headed with the missus and boychild to Holland to live in Amsterdam and tour-lite for five months. I figured, with the high consistent humidity, it was a good time to try the wound guts. Good luck...

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

I'm headed with the missus and boychild to Holland to live in Amsterdam and tour-lite for five months. I figured, with the high consistent humidity, it was a good time to try the wound guts. Good luck...

Sounds like a blast. Kiss the baby, bang the wife, and send us some pictures.

Of the trip....

[bongomania]

I've been thinking for a while of building a preamp and calling it the "Steel Toad Boost".

[Kevin Hsieh]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Sounds like a blast. Kiss the baby, bang the wife, and send us some pictures.

Of the trip....

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I've been thinking for a while of building a preamp and calling it the "Steel Toad Boost".

Sweet. I have always wanted to do a distortion solo with a bow on my DB.

[moopants]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Sweet. I have always wanted to do a distortion solo with a bow on my DB.

I'm ahead of you on that one. It's pretty fun.

[gp_bass]

toad, i'm so glad you liked those strings. i thought they were incredible except for the tension. glad they went to a good home. thanks for posting!

i'm still using mittel A & E with the flex 92 regular tension D and G, and i wish the D and G had as much oomf as the starks. ah well...

[Anonymous75966]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Sweet. I have always wanted to do a distortion solo with a bow on my DB.

Then you could start a punk band called Steel Toad Wash Tub.

Anyone have the tension stats for Flexocore Stark handy? Can't seem to find em. We like to hear about really loud strings.

[MT Spaces]

Man .... I was thinking of having a string sale since I been heading toward gut and other non-steel strings lately. Now that I think about it ... I'll hang on to the Pirastro Permanents A & E that I bought off Toad about a year ago.

I can see it now .... in a decade or so I will be able to sell them for big $$$ to the Intergalactic Museum of Double Bass .... fine examples of Pre-Spiro Steels manhandled by The Toad himself complete with Toad finger slime and Toad scribbling on the zip-lock bag protecting the national treasures ...... to be enshrined in the showcase display of items from The Early Days of Toad's Steel Period .

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by Bob Knebel

...... to be enshrined in the showcase display of items from The Early Days of Toad's Steel Period .

Those would be Pre Toad's Steel Period. Akin to the Pre CBS Fender Years. Worth 4 times what Steel Period items would be.