Who makes custom-made flat-wound strings?

[TroyK]

Originally Posted by Jack Clark

Ok, Troy, attached is a very short sound clip of an ending on my UG with its current Rotosound Tru Bass 88 strings. The purpose is only to give you an idea of my UG's sound, so I hope you can ignore my lack of chops. I'm sure my odd instrument would sound much better played by a real bassist.

Sounds great to me! You know the "real upright bass" sound is a bit of a lark. Listen to George Mraz, Charlie Haden, Mingus, Sam Jones, Scott LaFaro, Christian McBride, Charnett Moffit...

Which one has the "real sound"?

Based on that clip, your instrument does not sound like a Fender. Cool.

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by TroyK

Sounds great to me! You know the "real upright bass" sound is a bit of a lark. Listen to George Mraz, Charlie Haden, Mingus, Sam Jones, Scott LaFaro, Christian McBride, Charnett Moffit...

Which one has the "real sound"?

Based on that clip, your instrument does not sound like a Fender. Cool.

Yeah! Way, cool.

(Did I say it right?)

Thanks, Troy!

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by iiipopes

And now for something completely different: Sheldon Dingwall in Canada has to have custom bass guitar strings for his fanned fret basses, some of which are bassically (pun intended) 1/2 upright scale. You might contact him as to where he gets his strings.

Okay, and thanks much!

[TroyK]

I just listened to the clips again, because I had my good headphones vs the laptop speakers I was using before. Really good sound, i think. Based on a second listen, I would be un-inclined towards gut. You're getting a lot of acoustic sound as it is and I think whatever brightness you're getting from the Rotosounds is being put to good use. The instrument sounds warm and full, I think it's very cool.

Now, get out there and play it, man!

[Jack Clark]

That's good to hear--both the evaluation and the recommendation. The Rotosound 88s are easy to buy from JustStrings.com, which sells the set I use already made up for 6-string BGs.

Yeah, the sound now is a whole lot darker and thumpier than the original round-wound guitarrón strings. They had more of that ABG twang and ring to them--especially when not played in octave pairs as they were intended to be played. (Like a lot of DB players, I generally pull one string at a time with the sides of my fingers in what I hope is a somewhat Ray Brown fashion.)

You also hit a needed note when you urged me to "get out there and play it." I've spent more than two years getting my UG into its present form and admittedly have not spent a lot of time practicing it yet. But then, I just retired four months ago and am just now settling into some sort of new normalcy.

Thanks very much for taking the interest and the time, Troy. I very much appreciate it.

[ChuckCorbisiero]

Originally Posted by Dr Rod

Mr Gerold Genssler of Sonores Strings makes incredible flatwound on gut or on synthetic core. He will do anything you want, for a price.

He works in Berlin.

Jack. I think Gerold Genssler has made short scale strings already with great success. Check out Sylvio Dalla Torre's website and the info on the design of his Bassetto tuned GDAE with a 100cm string measure. He praises Genssler's strings.

silviodallatorre.com

[TroyK]

Originally Posted by Jack Clark

new normalcy

You know...that's a great name for a band that features an UG.

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by ChuckCorbisiero

Jack. I think Gerold Genssler has made short scale strings already with great success. Check out Sylvio Dalla Torre's website and the info on the design of his Bassetto tuned GDAE with a 100cm string measure. He praises Genssler's strings.

silviodallatorre.com

OK, Chuck, and thanks. I will check that out.

[EDIT: Which I now have done. Very interesting website, you cited: silviodallatorre.com. At 100cm, his Bassetto's scale is a centimeter more than 50% longer than my UG's. Unlike me, he has a serious musical instrument there--gorgeous in appearance as well as tone. Check out the sound bite he offers at the very bottom of his "My Bassetto III" webpage. (http://www.silviodallatorre.com/inde...etto&thema=235) Besides Genssler, Dalla Torre also references Velvet Strings, with which Genssler was formerly associated. They make bass and cello strings with a silk core, also interesting. Thanks, again, for your interest and for this tip, Chuck. -Jack]

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by TroyK

["New Normalcy"] You know...that's a great name for a band that features an UG.

Especially if the UG player's name were Warren Harding.

Just the mental image of "a band that features an UG" made me laugh, too. It's just that a UG doesn't create a niche or fill a need. Existing instruments are better at doing anything that my UG can do. Amplifying it, as I did, was the height of silliness because it implies playing it with other amplified instruments. Anyone wanting to do that would be better off with a DB, an EUB, an ABG, or even just a BG.

This whole project is just a fun way of learning about double bass jazz and blues lines, starting with an instrument I already had. Now that the UG is finally built, I'm rather uncertain as to how much time I want to spend actually learning this made-up instrument, when I could purchase a DB or a EUB and learn to "play" something real. That thought is probably what's keeping me from practicing regularly. (Play is in quotes because I'm not likely to get very good in the time I have left. But . . . it's not the destination, it's the journey.)

[MR PC]

Jack, I've got a set of Roto 88's I installed on a homemade Fretless BG a few years ago. Initially I didn't like them at all........but when I checked them recently they had settled into a real nice thump with a very focused pitch center. Love 'em now.... Just FYI.

D'Addario makes fractional size strings for upright, way down to 1/10 size!

http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_helicorebass.shtml

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by MR PC

Jack, I've got a set of Roto 88's I installed on a homemade Fretless BG a few years ago. Initially I didn't like them at all........but when I checked them recently they had settled into a real nice thump with a very focused pitch center. Love 'em now.... Just FYI.

D'Addario makes fractional size strings for upright, way down to 1/10 size!

http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_helicorebass.shtml

AARRRGHHH! Would you believe that until I read your note, I'd completely lost track of the fact that kid-sized basses must have kid-sized strings. I'll check into what's available and report back.

[EDIT: Well, I've now spent more time than I care to searching the Internet for 1/10 (or even 1/4) sized DB strings, which are the closest to my UG's scale length. I'm finding that the selection is very small, that they are sold in sets of four only, that they are made for arco (kids are taught to bow right away, I guess), and that they would cost me about 3x what I'm paying now (not even counting the wasted strings I won't need from the full sets I'd have to purchase). So, my current Rotosound 88s--which apparently sound okay on my instrument, for what it is--are feeling more and more okay to me. I should count myself lucky that a ready-made set of all six strings happens to fit my odd instrument as it does.]