The Toad's Steel Period.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by neroantico

i'm surviving with spiro stark. I agree on left hand fatigue.
Any thoughts about thumb position? especially arco?

I can't take a good sound on A string while bowing t/position.
maybe because i suck.....

thank you for your experience.

Ciao
Giovanni

Agreed. (Not that you suck but that the The A string is just too big). Perhaps substitute a Mittel A string for the Stark and see how it goes.

In general I think Stark Spiros can be set up with lower string height and a flatter fingerboard and still sound great. Only then could someone play in all registers without killing themselves.

If the instrument can tolerate the tension the reward is a huge sound.

I think they sound great under the bow. Obnoxious maybe but very powerfull.

[Uncletoad]

Thursday Friday and Saturday I played gigs with the Cleveland and a Superflexible G string instead of the Stark G string. This is a string that Brian Glassman has bugged me to dig for a long time and I finally got around to giving it a good audition.

Great string. It's more flexible than the Stark and perhaps just a bit more flexible than the Mittel G but by the numbers the tension is between the two. It's got a rounder sound and after it breaks in has very little of the annoying spiro buzz. Balances better with the mittle spiro D/A that's on the bass than the Belcanto did. Doesn't have that guttish flavor the BC G string has but it can deliver the volume the BC can't when sitting next to Mittel Spiros.

Compared to a mittel G the Superflex is warmer darker and almost as powerfull. Easier to bow, sings better. It doesn't have quite the punch or the edge or complexity of a spirocore.

It pulled the bass a little less than the Spiro Stark G so the tension balance across strings worked better.

The combo I used this weekend was a Stark Spiro E, Mittel A and D, Superflexible G. It works.

Heres a tension diameter breakdown:

Spiro Weich G .046" 60.6 lbs
Spiro Mittel G .052" 66.1 lbs
Spiro Stark G .054" 79.4 lbs
Belcanto G .050" 63.3 lbs
Superflex G .052" 70.6 lbs

The superflex in size and tension is very close to a Mittel heading towards the Stark in tension but more flexible so it feels more similar to the Belcanto than the Spiro.

[bribass]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Thursday Friday and Saturday I played gigs with the Cleveland and a Superflexible G string instead of the Stark G string. This is a string that Brian Glassman has bugged me to dig for a long time and I finally got around to giving it a good audition.

Great string. It's more flexible than the Stark and perhaps just a bit more flexible than the Mittel G but by the numbers the tension is between the two. It's got a rounder sound and after it breaks in has very little of the annoying spiro buzz. Balances better with the mittle spiro D/A that's on the bass than the Belcanto did. Doesn't have that guttish flavor the BC G string has but it can deliver the volume the BC can't when sitting next to Mittel Spiros.

Compared to a mittel G the Superflex is warmer darker and almost as powerfull. Easier to bow, sings better. It doesn't have quite the punch or the edge or complexity of a spirocore.

It pulled the bass a little less than the Spiro Stark G so the tension balance across strings worked better.

The combo I used this weekend was a Stark Spiro E, Mittel A and D, Superflexible G. It works.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

The SF G works great next to Spiro Mitt D & A. W/ a Stark E or Mitt E.