Double Bass 3/4 vs 4/4 Spiro REDS

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I only recently discovered the 3885 mediums and have two of them (G and E) on my travel bass. Wish I'd bought a whole set, as now I have two unopened S42 strings as backups. Live and learn. The 3885 strings pop a lot more on the front of the note, and I think will be my second favorite string after Dominants.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I only recently discovered the 3885 mediums and have two of them (G and E) on my travel bass. Wish I'd bought a whole set, as now I have two unopened S42 strings as backups. Live and learn. The 3885 strings pop a lot more on the front of the note, and I think will be my second favorite string after Dominants.

maybe throw get a AD and save those s42's for when you get tired...old man

I have the s42's on my full size bass and notice that at their intended tension they feel much better and have more front pop. Could be the bass since its a canon.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

... save those s42's for when you get tired...old man

This is no joke. I hope to have another 10-12 years of tension junkie-itude in me before I have to start lightening up. Fortunately most of my injuries to date are lower body ones related to old sports activities that I no longer engage in (knocking on wood now....). I think I'm going to try to get me mitts on some 3885 A-D for the travel bass and see how that goes. I may try an Evah G for poopies and giggles, but no idea whether the regular or weich would be a better match and I'm sure whatever I do will be a mixed bag.

 

[Sam Dingle]

This is no joke. I hope to have another 10-12 years of tension junkie-itude in me before I have to start lightening up. I think I'm going to try to get me mitts on some 3885 A-D for the travel bass and see how that goes. I may try an Evah G for poopies and giggles, but no idea whether the regular or weich would be a better match and I'm sure whatever I do will be a mixed bag.

As for evahs use the medium with the mittles especially the 388 set. The weich is a good match for the 3/4 weich Spiro set imo.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Okay, so S42 is for 4/4, and 3885 for 3/4. And the giveaway is the first number in the name. I have only been confused about that forever. (I am aware of the possibillity of mixing and matching, etc.).

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Okay, so S42 is for 4/4, and 3885 for 3/4. And the giveaway is the first number in the name. I have only been confused about that forever. (I am aware of the possibillity of mixing and matching, etc.).

Even works for the solo sets and Superflexibles. A good way to remember.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Okay, so S42 is for 4/4, and 3885 for 3/4. And the giveaway is the first number in the name. I have only been confused about that forever. (I am aware of the possibillity of mixing and matching, etc.).

You aren't the only one. I finally completed the 3885 set on my travel bass, and it is glorious. I think I have found my new second favorite string set! Why did I not figure this out earlier?

 

[unbrokenchain]

You know, if I had to have a beef with Gollihur (which would be tough because they're awesome..), it would be that they almost discourage folks from buying the 3885 set in favor of the s42.. "Only very particular players bother with the 3885, as the difference is quite minimal to most of us." Man I just don't know about that, they seem like different strings to me, both in mittel and weich variants.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Agree. They are very different strings. The 3885 have a pop on the front end and an all around laser focus that the s S42 strings don’t have on a 41 or 41.5” scale bass. For me, they are the superior string by a fair bit. They split the difference between “mittel” and “stark” perfectly.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I guess that makes us “very particular players”, then?

 

[unbrokenchain]

I guess that makes us “very particular players”, then?

HA!!

 

[unbrokenchain]

Agree. They are very different strings. The 3885 have a pop on the front end and an all around laser focus that the s S42 strings don’t have on a 41 or 41.5” scale bass. For me, they are the superior string by a fair bit. They split the difference between “mittel” and “stark” perfectly.

Well said. I thought I was the only one who noticed, or that the 4/4 sets I've tried were defective or something. I've never tried starks, and both my sets of 3885m's are installed, but I keep s42s as my spares. I like 3885 weichs a lot too, but the s42 weichs were useless for me.

 

[Matt Ides]

You know, if I had to have a beef with Gollihur (which would be tough because they're awesome..), it would be that they almost discourage folks from buying the 3885 set in favor of the s42.. "Only very particular players bother with the 3885, as the difference is quite minimal to most of us." Man I just don't know about that, they seem like different strings to me, both in mittel and weich variants.

I think most players if they are buying used (or even new) don't know if they are 3/4 or 4/4 most of the time. Ironically enough the biggest tension difference I have had is between 4th and 5th tuning spiros. The 5th tuning feel tighter to me and loose a little bit of the Spiro magic.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

I recently put on E and A 388, with a Superflex D and Zyex G. My bass now has a lot more oomph than with the Zyex Lights it was wearing and a fair amount more perceived tension, some of the time, I think when humidity is higher. With the humidity down, these strings play much looser than I would have expected from Spiros, especially from the 3/4 version.

 

[stefaniw80401]

Anyone have any other thoughts on a bright steel string? I don't have a problem with "difficult" to bow strings. Spiros and plain guts are fine under the stick for me.

I thought I too could bow anything until I tried DAddario Helicore Pizzicato string.

 

[carl_modal]

I don't know if this is the right thread to ask but I thought that you might be able to help me.
I bought this set of mystery mittels from a friend a couple of months ago and silk length is all over the place, and the colour seems to be a bit lighter on the AD and G strings. I'm suspecting the strings are of varying age.
What's going on here?

 

[nogbert]

It’s available in the paint department of hardware stores. It will get a lot more than ISO alcohol, particularly rosin. However, maybe try it on one string first and see if you like the sound of your “cleaned” string. If you don’t, the string will revert back to its former “broken in” sound with a few weeks of playing.

Toluene is nearly identical chemically and my be considerably cheaper. can be found in the same section of a hardware store.

 

[stefaniw80401]

I don't know if this is the right thread to ask but I thought that you might be able to help me.
I bought this set of mystery mittels from a friend a couple of months ago and silk length is all over the place, and the colour seems to be a bit lighter on the AD and G strings. I'm suspecting the strings are of varying age.
What's going on here?

See

I don't know if this is the right thread to ask but I thought that you might be able to help me.
I bought this set of mystery mittels from a friend a couple of months ago and silk length is all over the place, and the colour seems to be a bit lighter on the AD and G strings. I'm suspecting the strings are of varying age.
What's going on here?

See this thread here
Solved. Is my Spirocore 4/4 (S42) or 3/4 (S3885.0)?

 

[SMollock]

I should add the the Ron Carter strings are just about the most fun for practicing pizz. Double stops are super easy to tune. Right hand loves them. If I could just get a little more mid and a better bow experience...

Spiro Mittel will give you plenty of thump, and lots of low mid and highs. When they settle they darken a little, but are really great strings.