[ABG] Aquilastrings Round Spirals (copper round wounds)

This has been along time coming... I received a set of Aquilastrings Round Spirals last ... Fall?? and Ive been meaning to post a demo for a while but work and family got in the way. Let me thank @Mimmo upfront for 1. sending me a pre-production set to demo 2. having incredible patience while I hustled thru the school year.

Ok lets dive in.



UNPACKING/Installation

G .047" 1.20mm
D .060" 1.56mm
A .080" 2.04mm
E .098" 2.45mm
B .116" 2.95mm

Installation was a breeze. Fit and finish of these coppers are very nice and the strings feel robust.



First Impressions

These round wound copper strings are warm and present with just a touch of top end zing from the wrap. I'd characterize them as a med-light tension string with a nice medium sustain. Above all; I love the sweetness of tone (similar to their Aquilastrings Flat Spirals I demo'd earlier) —they beg for vibrato!! (Labella Copper-Whites were the only other brand that came close in sweetness)

From 'day one' these strings really resonated and spoke clearly. The first week I had them on I compared them to another set that was installed on my Balor5 (that demo's coming too). From another room, my friend quickly remarked on the difference in tone, clarity, and projection.

I installed these on the Furch in Dec and immediately took it on a record date, followed by a musical for 6 weeks. I was just so comfortable with the smooth yet resonant tone I couldn't put it down. I would put these in the 'deep singing guitar' category, similar to TIAC, Fisoma2716, and Jens Schoenitz strings. While not big on the "TB THUMP", these strings really open up the bass—the B and E strings really sing deep—theyre great for playing wide chordal passages.

Another plus (for me), is that the wrap isnt as 'aggressive' as some other brands, but they still squeak alittle in the shifts.



DEMO

This is an acoustic-only recording.
All tracks are dry/no plugins.
Headphones suggested.

Gear:
Furch SW5 bass
Lumix GH6 HD/24fps
Studio Project C4mkII XY stereo pair, cardioid pattern

**With a very special thanks to Jay Frederick for all his help and instruction on cameras and lighting. He's an amazing musician and artist based in Nashville. Go check him out!


0:00 Title
0:17 Excerpt of Django - MJQ
1:04 Excerpt from Untitled Fantasie 2023 - Kaminski
2:09 Excerpt from Some Other Time - Bernstein, Comden & Green

(too late to amend post #1)

FYI— The ball to silk length for both Round and Flat Spirals is approx 36.5±" (standard long scale)

1.5yr Update:
The Round Spirals have held up well over the past 1.5+yrs. I had them on two ABGs over that time (three string changes; Furch-Balor-Furch again). I really like the Round Spirals for that little bit of 'airiness' to the tone. They really sing and harmonize well across the instrument. The only thing I noticed with this pre-production set was slight tarnishing. The B-E strings oxidized, but the A-D-G remained untarnished except for where the strings were worn by the frets. I believe the production sets are "coated" as part of their finish to prevent oxidation?—but granted with heavy playing, even that might wear-off over time. (Apologies for images out of focus—didnt realize till the next day)



After trying the Jen Schoenitz' Sanded/Polished Set I wanted to see if I could similarly tame the 'zing' and slide noise with this set. After speaking with Luca at Aquila, he mentioned that these could also be 'polished' down—but to the detriment of the "finish tarnishing over time". Though this doesnt bothered me as long as the tone doesnt suffer. So I wanted to post my experince with sanding and polishing this set.



'Sand' For A Smoother Wrap:
Since my Round Spirals were 'well broken-in' with heavily tarnished B-E, I thought it might be a good chance to experiment. The recommendation was to "tune to pitch and evenly sand the full playable length of the string". I did this in stages to get a feel for the sandpaper and the strings durability.

I covered the instrument with heavy paper to protect the fretboard and instrument in general, then started with the recommended 320 grit and worked each string for 10 strokes (the goal being a 'repeatable even' process), squeezing the paper around each string with the aid of a block of wood—to achieve an equal constant pressure.



After sanding I tested/played them and noticed a 'slight' reduction of string noise/smoothness. So I went 'all in' and did 20 more strokes of 220 (this was my choice not Luca's recommendation) and the wraps were 'knocked back' just enough to aid in recording with the Round Spirals. I would say the resulting finish feels similar to TIs AC or JR sets—if not a little smoother. Very satisfied with the results.

Note: I would recommend using an aluminum oxide sandpaper—or silicon carbide for wet work. I did mine 'dry' to keep the workspace clean as possible, but using a wet work grit with the Weiman wipes (see below) might be an option? (something for me to consider in the future)



Tarnish/Polishing:
Once the wraps were sanded, the tarnish definitely started to fade (which is to be expected), but I wanted to go a step further. I used Weiman Silver Wipes to polish the strings and remove any excess residue from sanding. (Weiman Wipes are good for Silver/Copper/Brass, so I may be using these on other string sets in the future.) After using the Weiman wipes, I cleaned the strings down with water on a dampened Microfiber cloth to remove any excess polish and try to clean the strings as much as possible. (I thought about following up the polish with a protectorate coat of a light waterbased sealant, but I think I'll see how far these Weiman Silver Wipes will go in daily-use first.)



Overall, I’m very satisfied with the process and polishing. The strings feel and sound like they're just broken-in again. But maybe thats a placebo effect.

the sponge is an interesting idea. I may try that next time.