What strings would be best for me?

[Chrisjonesbass]

Hi, My name Is Chris Jones, and I've been playing electric bass for over 3 years, and have recently begun playing the double Bass for about 9 month's now.

I have just been accepted to my local youth Orchestra, as well as all 3 concert bands at my art school, which I study music at.

Being new to the Double bass scene, I need some advice on what strings I should use next. I currently use Helicore's because of their excellent "bowing response". Im not sure what gauge they are as they came on the bass when I bought it.

After research I have found there are alot of popular strings such as the Spirocore, superflexible, obligato, flexocor etc.

I will be mostly playing classical music, so mostly arco for me. I'm looking for strings that are suitable for this sound-wise, and also taking ease of playability as an important factor with the strings. I'd like strings that respond well to the bow, that sound great and would by classical orchestra musicians.

Thanks in advance, and I hope to hear from you guys.


Chris

[Francois Blais]

Hi Chris.
What do you mean by "sound great" ?
It's very subjective, and 10 people will say very different things.
Do you want a dark or bright tone?

That said, Corellis could be a choice, but would probably give a more cello-like tone.

The most popular orchestral string is probably still the Pirastro Flexocor, but expect a darker, boomier tone than the Corelli.

[Bobby King]

Keep in mind that certain orchestral strings are not terribly good for jazz or pop pizzicato playing. Others do "double-duty" better. For instance, a string like Flexocore has a wonderful dark and rich arco tone, but pretty much of a thuddy tone for jazz pizz. Thomastik Spirocore is a standard jazz pizz string, is also bowable, but has a much brighter arco sound than Flexocore. Other, newer strings like Velvet Anima can be great for pizz, but really unsatifactory for orchestral arco.

If you're new to double bass but started on electric, you may find that you want to also get into some pizz playing, so you might stay away from the purely orchestral strings and invest in something more versatile. Helicores (even orchestra Helicores) can be decent double-duty strings. If you like them, why change? If you're looking for a lighter string, some recommendations would be Corelli, Spirocore Weich, Obligato or Evah Pirazzi Weich. All of these perform well for both arco and pizz playing. If you're really committed to being primarily an orchestra player, then Flexocore or Bel Canto would be a good choice.

[Chrisjonesbass]

Thank you for you advice! By sound great I meant that has a suitable sound for the orchestral music. Iv'e heard at first the spirocores sounds very bright and twangy, so i'd imagine would not be the best for orchestral playing?

For this year and the remaining years of high school I will be playing primarily as an orchestral player, and would like strings that would work best for that. However I will take the the others into consideration as well. One of the reason's Im looking for other options from the Helicore's is they feel like very heavy strings, especially the E string in your left hand. I'm not sure if "lighter" strings will make it any easier or not, but I did play a bass that my school owned, that had Spirocores on them for a few years and felt much better and easier to play for both hands.

As for dark or bright, because I have not yet experimented much with strings, I'm not sure what I will like more. However, there is a string shop nearby that has a "string lab" allowing players to try out any set of strings you'd like. So thats when I well likely try out the Spirocores, flexocores, Bel Cantos and the Corelli's.

Also iv'e noticed that there are 2 different Flexocore's, the Original Flexocore's and just "Flexocores". Whats the Difference?

Thanks again for the adivce,

Chris

[AMJBASS]

If you are looking for a string that is softer under the fingers you might try solo gauge strings tuned down to orchestral pitch. The Flexocores, Flatchromes and Original Flatchromes all come in this gauge(meant for tuning F# B E A). I use solo gauge Spirocores on one of my basses and they are very easy to play both Pizz and Arco.

[Tha Ridla]

Helicore are decent hybrid strings, however I don't think they're that great for bowing. I actually think spirocore are better, but they are admittedly probably not what you want for an orchestra.

Before you start messing around with strings, my advice would be to get someone to check the setup of your bass. If you've been playing a relatively short time, chances are you're on a less expensive instrument, which are notorious for being badly set up. When I do gigs abroad I generally play hired basses which often have TERRIBLE setups! It really makes playing a nightmare.

Get someone to have a look at the nut. If the strings are too high at the nut it makes playing in the first register pretty horrible. Also you say the E is difficult to press down-it might just be set too high.

Get these things checked out and adjusted. You may find you don't need new strings after all!

Best,

M