Double Bass After the fat strings

[Remyd]

Since my bass is going to the luthier for a checkup and bridge adjusters anyway, it’s time for some new strings!

I have Silver Slaps on now, but also have been doing less and less rootsy bluegrassy stuff this last year or so. Silver Slaps are also giant cables, so I think a light string might need nut work.

Musically have been going in a more Folk kind of direction with a couple Jazz and Latin sit ins, and a little arco. Arco intonation is much harder than I remembered, and these strings are not appropriate for relearning. I think a set with a little more character is next on the list, but I don’t want to lose too much projection in an acoustic jam session, which will certainly continue to be the bulk of my material, at least until I lose my mind and start another project.

Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[Sam Dingle]

Are you looking for more steel strings or more thick gut like strings? If you want gut like then maybe Evah slaps. The steel string I see most former gut players using is Evah lights. Then they eventually move to spiros.

 

[Reiska]

I hated synthetic Evah slaps at first but ended up putting ADG with Evah weich E on my bass recently. I was using plain guts on top of Spiro weichs for some time but the mwahhing A and arco feel had me going to this direction, along with the fact that I`m playing outdoors a lot this summer. I don`t like the overly floppy E, but then the ADG are a good match with E.P w E, both in tone and feel. My problem with them at first was that I was comparing them to guts, and as I should have known, nothing compares to the real thing. Garbos come close, but arco is a pain with them. Haven`t tried any Innovations though. E.P slaps pizz and bow really well, what they lack is gut projection and volume. They do have lots of gut character when played pizz, there`s plenty of complexity of tone going on the DG, and the A with weich E provides warm and full low end with great fundamental. I play almost exclusively acousticly nowadays with bridge arch suited to plain gut ADG / Evah or Spiro weich E. When jacked up they are loud enough for acoustic playing, I have my G at 8,5mm`s, D 11mm`s, A 13mm`s and E at 11mm`s. My bass is fully carved big 3/4 with 42 inch mensure. For me this is a great compromise set of strings that does everything I need my bass to with relative ease. I play arco 40 / pizz 60 -ish, 50 folky rootsy stuff / 50 improvised music.

Edit: E.P slaps are pretty fat, but nothing like plain guts in that matter. Closer to standard thickness, E.P w E looks normal when paired with slaps.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

A properly set up nut should be able to facilitate thinner strings but I would think the bridge might be a bit more nuanced. If you're really looking for more projection like a gut string and bow-ability, I would talk to your luthier about Spiro solos at orchestra pitch. About the same tension as gut but more modern arco sound, with a higher string height and technique, the Spiro solos can really simulate the gut sound quite nicely. The feel, however, is totally different from the fat strings. Here in the US I would also suggest the Kaplan solos but I don't know the availability in Finland.
-Jeff

 

[Reiska]

Thanks @JeffKissell ! My reason for the extreme bridge arch is that it compensates idividual strings tension to the pizz feel I`m looking for, while still maintaining bowability. I tend to play pretty physically pzz, and like the sound I`m getting that way, but don`t want strings and notes that fart out, or to hurt myself. I`m able to do the bridge sculpting job at home and have been messing with it since last autumn and a right hand disaster when my pizz fingers skin wore out and wrist started aching. From setup perspective, since then I`ve avoided low tension E strings and generally strings with scratchy feel. Obviously it`s a techique issue too, but there`s a zen thing about diggin in and not get killed while doing so, there`s definently a point of diminished returns, when the physicality kills the tone and starts to hurt. I`m working on it Spiro solos are great, as propably are Kaplans, but I`m so used to plain gut tension on my G & D that I want to keep it that way. My bass really likes this sort of tension too as it diminshes the wolf on A harmonic.

@Remyd , sorry for the partial derail.