Double Bass 2022 Spirocore Challenge

[TroyK]

I'd prefer not to totally derail this thread. Let me verify and I'll start a new thread and sticky it.

 

[WG Plum]

Wait … so I’ve had Spiro 4/4 Weichs on my bass for over 4 years but recently just changed to a 3/4 set of Weichs.

So I’m ineligible?

I am also ineligible. I've had the same set of Spiros on for ten years.

 

[Inky13]

I'd prefer not to totally derail this thread. Let me verify and I'll start a new thread and sticky it.

Speaking just for myself, I enjoy reading and learning about the various Spiro quirks and features.

 

[TroyK]

Here's a new sticky on Spirocore and other Thomastik gauges and offerings.

Thomastik String Gauges

 

[JLubinsky-Mast]

Granted I'm confused by it all, but I have done alot of slapping on the s42 set. Is that 3/4?

 

[Don Hergert]

S42 is 4/4. So it's probably smaller gauge strings than the 3/4 (3885) in the same set would be. Were you on Mittels?

 

[JLubinsky-Mast]

Yes I was on Mittels. They fit my American Standard just fine.

 

[Sam Reese]

Does anyone out there slap 3/4 Mittels?

I do a little bit of slapping on 2-3 songs in our repertoire. I'd probably go for my Evah Slaps or my Eurosonics if I was playing all night every night slap-style.

 

[mattj1stc]

I'm technically one week in (had to wait for my bass to arrive) and I've played about 1-2 hours per day - first time with Spirocores. My initial impressions are very positive on the S42s (4/4 size). First, they are less bright than I expected them to be brand new. They are also surprisingly even in feel (string to string) and not overly high tension (to me). I am enjoying the sustain and resonance. I can see why these have been the default string choice for years. My only thought might be to try the Starks at some point down the road, but for now, this seems less like a challenge and more of a logical choice for me.

 

[Reiska]

Does anyone out there slap 3/4 Mittels?

TB'r Jason Sypher does some very serious slapping on propably 4/4 mittels. Check him out in YT, wonderful stuff right there.

 

[JLubinsky-Mast]

Had a last minute gig last night.
A 100+ size club in Vancouver (although operating at less than half capacity due to restrictions, and rather empty last night)
Played a little old time jazz gig. Trumpet/vocalist, pianist (electric keyboard), guitar, and myself. Mostly pizz, with maybe 1/4 of the tunes slapped.

I felt like I wasn't getting anything back fro the weichs. A soundperspon friend was in the audience and said everything was clear. But, I found myself pulling too a bit too hard, and missing the richness of guts, or the Evah/Oliv set I had on this bass previously.

In the past, to my ears, the weichs are inferior to the mittels. I feel like they lack a midrange that I enjoy.
I can understand the appeal of them as arco strings, and I enjoyed practising on them so far this year.

I think I'm going to spend the afternoon practising on my gut string bass as a palet cleanser, and tonight, I think I'm going to be putting on an old set of reds

 

[TroyK]

Well, I just got home from my luthier appointment with brand spanking new 3885 Weichs installed. They sound and feel great. Whatever problem I was having with the old set must have been the strings or maybe she just nudged things the right way, because these sound and feel fantastic. I was actually a bit worried about how bright and whiney they were going to be. It's been more than a decade since I had new Spirocores.

They sound great out of pack, I think it's going to be an easy year for me.

 

[statsc]

Well, I just got home from my luthier appointment with brand spanking new 3885 Weichs installed. They sound and feel great. Whatever problem I was having with the old set must have been the strings or maybe she just nudged things the right way, because these sound and feel fantastic. I was actually a bit worried about how bright and whiney they were going to be. It's been more than a decade since I had new Spirocores.

They sound great out of pack, I think it's going to be an easy year for me.

In my 40-year history with Spiro Mittels I’ve also noticed that in the past few years they seem to be less zingy brand new coming right out of the package. Maybe a slightly tweaked manufacturing process?

 

[DoubleMIDI]

This was discussed earlier.
The supplier of Thomastik’s wires changed the wire production formula a bit.
Thomastik didn‘t change their manufacturing process themselves but since the used material has changed, the string did change a bit too.

 

[bassmanbrent]

Had a last minute gig last night.
A 100+ size club in Vancouver (although operating at less than half capacity due to restrictions, and rather empty last night)
Played a little old time jazz gig. Trumpet/vocalist, pianist (electric keyboard), guitar, and myself. Mostly pizz, with maybe 1/4 of the tunes slapped.

I felt like I wasn't getting anything back fro the weichs

That's a really tough room to get a decent sound in! I could be playing there on Charlie Haden's bass with Ron Carter's fingers and I'm pretty sure I'd still be feeling like I wasn't getting anything back.

 

[Selim]

In the past, to my ears, the weichs are inferior to the mittels. I feel like they lack a midrange that I enjoy.

I disagree with your word choice here. No string is inferior to another string. And no string gives you everything you want from it (at least I haven’t found that “perfect” string yet) — IMO it’s mostly a matter of how much any string is able to give you what you and your specific instrument want from it.

As to Spirocores: weichs give me things that mittels don’t, and vice versa. Whenever I have one set on, I miss what the other gives me!

I can understand the appeal of them as arco strings, and I enjoyed practising on them so far this year.

This is a reason why a player such as myself chose to stick with the weichs over mittels. The weichs give me more of what I want with the bow — they respond quicker and more of the lower strings are useable in thumb position.

Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE mittels. I have a nice old set in my drawer that sound FANTASTIC on my bass and if I were a pure pizzicato player, they would be on my bass right now. I also love their arco sound. But again, for what I want to do on the bass, the weichs carry me further.

 

[TroyK]

Agree with @Selim

Strings have to be matched not only to players and genres, but to instruments and setups. Some basses need heavier strings and some need lighter ones. Presumably, some basses can deal with either, but mine is not one of them. As of yesterday, I have a 2nd respected luthier saying the same about my bass.

Also, the whole Spirocore gauges thing is real. What inspired me is that I found the missing gauge that falls between "Weich and Mittel" according to my old thinking. S42 Weichs are everything that we love to hate about Weichs on my bass. 3885 Weichs feel like they are more than 1/2 way to S42 Mittels. That discovery was a game changer for me.

 

[JLubinsky-Mast]

I was careful to preface my statement with, "to my ears". I wasn't trying to present this statement as an opinion.
Just want to make sure, I'm not ruffling any purple peg end feathers

I've played weichs on three different basses, a late 1800's German carved bass (that I no longer own), and a '39 King, and up until yesterday a '52 American Standard.
I could be using this term wrong, but, they've always sounded "scooped" to me, and I'vre never been able to enjoy the sound I get from them.
Physically I totally agree. They feel great, they speak easily. I was enjoying where I was getting with them in the practise room this past week and change, but, sonically, acoustically but more so amplified I've always felt them lacking in a "thing".

Haha @bassmanbrent you know Guilt and Co then? Great room to play, but, if the soundperson is having an off night, you can be in for one. Luckily we had one of the best techs in that room doing sound, and my buddy who was drinking was the normal gfuy who does sound there. But, oh lord have I had the odd tough night there.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Weichs always sound a little hollow to me when used for pizz. Not as hollow as superflexibles, which are maybe the only Thomastik string that I really thoroughly dislike, but still missing something. Weichs do bow well, though.

 

[Selim]

Weichs always sound a little hollow to me when used for pizz. Not as hollow as superflexibles, which are maybe the only Thomastik string that I really thoroughly dislike, but still missing something. Weichs do bow well, though.

I think I know what you mean by hollow but on my bass not hollow, they just don’t have the pizz depth that mittels give you. Instead they have a nice thump and they go “pong”.

Otherwise, the tone I get from weichs is pretty close to mitts (just without that depth). Weichs and mittels are brothers who get along famously, on my bass anyway.