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Double Bass First Impression Of Flexocors

Rob Hunter

Rob Hunter

Dec 10, 2001
177
2
Toronto, Canada
#1
After using Obligatos for several years, I switched to light-gauge Flexocors (likely '92s) because I'm starting to work on my arco more. I strung up my Czech bass last night and so far I'm impressed. Some initial thoughts:

- They don't take forever to stretch (when new), unlike Obligatos
- They severely reduced my noticeable B-flat wolf tone down to a barely audible purr
- The tension seemed less than Obligatos, but I can't verify that
- They respond to the bow quite nicely
- As for sound, well, it's probably too early to tell. They do sound brighter than I'm used to, but I expect they'll mellow with age (just like the rest of us!). Still, the brightness shouldn't be a deal breaker and I look forward to spending some more time on them.

My Kay is strung with Obligatos for "hybrid" gigs, when I need both arco and pizz, so I'm still a fan of these strings. But I was looking for a change and the Flexocors have given a great first impression.

Just thought I'd share,
- Rob
 
#7
Since I don't plan to use 'em for pizz, I wasn't expecting much. But I gave them, maybe, 20 minutes or so of pizz and I found them quite usable. I'll have more to say after I spend some time with them.

One pizz thing I can say now is that they seemed to give me a bit more "noise." By this, I mean sounds of the strings hitting the fingerboard, a few rattles, etc. This is likely due to the thinner gauge, lighter tension, and my ham-fisted pizz technique. I didn't hear this noise when I played arco.

It's all quite doable, though....
 
#9
I have tried the Flexocors 92s and i like the D and G but found the E and A kind of floppy and horrible for pizz.

i love their arco sound on the top strings it is just glorius. i think flexo 92s make a really nice warm sound pizz on the D and G as well for anyones info. pretty old school tone though but as i mellow with age this sounds better to me than the growl thing.

at the moment i have spiro orchs on the E and A and while they are ok i am thinking maybe there is a better match for the flexos on the top strings. any suggestions?
 
#10
Tonally, Obligatos would match them well I would think. I don't know about playability though...As you probably know, Edgar Meyer uses Spiros on the bottom and Flexocores on top. There are some Orchestral musicians who use the Original Flexocores on the bottom and the new Flexocores on top. I guess you just need to experiment.
 
#11
Ok francois, I got it.. There are two types available.. Original Flex. and flex which are the 92s. One luthier told me that the 92s sound and work closer to the original ones of 30 years ago than the Flex orig actually do.. Can anyone comment on that.. anyone here old enough to remember...... I wasn't a Flex user back then. I used mainly Spiro. orch on every Bass with a short experimental period with Jargars/blue(yes francois!) and Rotosound synthetic Orch strings(loop ends)in the mid 1970s. My Italian Bass bowed pretty good with Spriocore but not all of my Basses did.... It was my main Bass from 1973 so it didn't matter much what I tested. I never set up a Bass for just Arco. It was always Pizz first.. One time on one of my Basses I did use the Flexs but hated them for Pizz and took em off quickly (early 70s). I'm not really that old.. I just started real young...lol
 
#12
Yes I have to admit that after a long period of denile, I have decided that new flexocors are a better all around strings on my bass and newer basses I believe. I used to hate them but I have changed my mind. They bow easier, are dark enough, are more responsive than original flexocor and are cheaper. I use them with a Helicore E string though. Contrary to other reports, I kind of like the A string which sounds good with the bow, and better than original flexocor for pizz at least. They are better for solo playing since they are a thinner string and you can actually play past the Octave on the A string. I think I will settle for these until I have to replace strings in a year or so.

Jon
 

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