Double Bass Biting the Silver Bullett- from Dominant To Eudoxa, initial impressions

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Well, my Oliv G, very simular to exudoxa i guess, has been with me for about 10years, on and off two basses many, many times, still sounds great and has no issues at all with winding separation.
So i guess if you treat them nice, they should be ok ..

I have an Olive G on my newish Chinese bass. This bass has a fairly dark low end but bright in the high register.
It is very happy with Spirocore mitt E and A and an Obligato D.
The Olive has been on and off other basses and still looks perfect. Give them room at the bridge and nut, and humidify.
Also, I found the Olive D uselessly thuddy. Nothing.

 

[threetone]

threetone,

That sounds like an amazing track record for a wound gut string! Frankly, the longest any set lasted for me was several years of dominants, I can't recall exactly but I think it was 3.5 years.

Best
sidecar

Well, i was curious myself to see if i was a bit optimistic with regards to the 10 year mark, so i tracked down the invoice of my puchase of my Olive D & G. I bought them januari 2012, so a little over 7 years and counting now, still, not too bad ;-)

 

[MrSidecar]

Well, i was curious myself to see if i was a bit optimistic with regards to the 10 year mark, so i tracked down the invoice of my puchase of my Olive D & G. I bought them januari 2012, so a little over 7 years and counting now, still, not too bad ;-)

How do you like the D? Do you play arco mostly, or pizz?

Best
Sidecar

 

[threetone]

How do you like the D? Do you play arco mostly, or pizz?

Mostly pizz 90/10, but practice daily w the bow a lot.

I find the D to be super nice. Very thick in diameter wich makes bowing the A string a little more challenging. Actually i find well worn spiro d & g easier to bow.
Pizz:It is dark, has a some serious thud, shorter sustain, but i like that, and that is why we change from spiro D in the first place right?

But it is not for all occassions and gigs i find. The oliv d & g combo makes my bass more mellow, dark, and luxuriously beautiful sounding, but it cuts much less in a more high energy context.

 

[Matt Birtchnell]

Matt,
I have never used anything else than the occasional dry cloth.
Best
Sidecar

Do the Eudoxas like to be downtuned after use to improve their longevity (I think I read that on the Pirastro site) ? Cheers

 

[MrSidecar]

Do the Eudoxas like to be downtuned after use to improve their longevity (I think I read that on the Pirastro site) ? Cheers

I don't know if they would like that, I'm not doing it. I'm only tuning to pitch whenever I start practicing/playing, and whenever necessary. A string has a way of tuning sharp while playing/rehearsing, other than that the set is very stable.

Best
Sidecar

 

[lurk]

My long experience is that messing with tension on strings - down tuning, alternate tunings - shortens their life. On a steel string like Spiros that might be desired to reach the worn out stage sooner. The exception is shipping your bass in a case in the belly of a plane. Back in the day when this was a possibility David Gage would advise a crank or two down to ease pressure on the top.

 

[MrSidecar]

Time for an update after 16 months with “The Queen Of Double Bass Strings”.

The whole set has been really stable in terms of pitch now for a long time. Even the A string has stopped getting sharp on rehearsals or longer practice sessions.

The pizz sound has mellowed- less overtones but surprisingly, not a significant decrease in sustain. Even the e string which has gotten really dark is nowhere near a short thud, it’s deep with still some growl left but almost nothing in the brilliance department. Pretty remarkable.

Still no loose windings.

The arco sound keeps being beautiful, and the slightly less overtones are translating to more low end power. Still the strings sing beautifully under the bow with no indication of “deadness”.

If anything, they’re holding up too long- I’m a little worried about my next set (which I already have as part of a trade with an amplifier) aging in their sleeves because I don’t need to change. First World Problem, anyone??

best
Sidecar

 

[MrSidecar]

Update.

I just put My second set on. The first was from May 2018 and would most likely still be on the bass sounding as great as always. But a kind of freak accident that involved tailpiece wire suddenly slipping and the whole setup basically falling off, forced the off-and-back-on game on them. And the G didn’t like that. First it looked like all was cool, but this morning the string winding came undone. I debated long if I should only switch the G, but decided on changing the whole set.
So, soon the remains of set one will turn up in the classifieds- even though I have no idea what to ask for them.

The heart of the matter is, these strings would have lasted a lot longer hadn’t it been for bad luck. The new ones now are in there initial stretch out period that is going to last ages, but I’m not complaining.

Best
Sidecar

 

[Fran Diaz]

Sorry to hear that.
If you're interested in selling/swapping the D string PM me please.

Update.

I just put My second set on. The first was from May 2018 and would most likely still be on the bass sounding as great as always. But a kind of freak accident that involved tailpiece wire suddenly slipping and the whole setup basically falling off, forced the off-and-back-on game on them. And the G didn’t like that. First it looked like all was cool, but this morning the string winding came undone. I debated long if I should only switch the G, but decided on changing the whole set.
So, soon the remains of set one will turn up in the classifieds- even though I have no idea what to ask for them.

The heart of the matter is, these strings would have lasted a lot longer hadn’t it been for bad luck. The new ones now are in there initial stretch out period that is going to last ages, but I’m not complaining.

Best
Sidecar

 

[Sam Dingle]

Update.

I just put My second set on. The first was from May 2018 and would most likely still be on the bass sounding as great as always. But a kind of freak accident that involved tailpiece wire suddenly slipping and the whole setup basically falling off, forced the off-and-back-on game on them. And the G didn’t like that. First it looked like all was cool, but this morning the string winding came undone. I debated long if I should only switch the G, but decided on changing the whole set.
So, soon the remains of set one will turn up in the classifieds- even though I have no idea what to ask for them.

The heart of the matter is, these strings would have lasted a lot longer hadn’t it been for bad luck. The new ones now are in there initial stretch out period that is going to last ages, but I’m not complaining.

Best
Sidecar

Depending on the G string condition I’d buy them to try....

 

[MrSidecar]

Depending on the G string condition I’d buy them to try....

Sam

The G is toast. Utterly burnt toast. E,
A, and D are used but ok. Take in an Oliv G and you’re good.

Best
Sidecar

 

[james condino]

A quick note on removing / swapping Olives: I've currently got an Olive G on my old American Standard that is approximately 7 years old. It has been swapped on at least a dozen basses and gets a lot of outdoor gigs in the North Carolina humidity. So far it shows no sings of winding issues, but I pay a lot of attention to the bridge area gently coaxing it regularly and making sure the bridge slot is very smooth.

A big thing with bridges is that they tend to get a better arco sound when made very thin, but for guts that thinness makes them wear out faster and the windings have issues. I shape them a bit thicker on top for guts- maybe 5-6 mm with a nice roundover, rather than the thinner 4mm crisp fulcrum that I see on a lot of more Arco specific basses from other shops. ymmv...

 

[JBarz]

Sidecar, still going strong on that second set of Eudoxa?

 

[MrSidecar]

Sidecar, still going strong on that second set of Eudoxa?

Zootsaxes

During the first lockdown in March 2020, I was forced to change rehearsal spaces and left my bass in way too dry climate for two evenings- that loosened the windings on the D and G enough to cause weirdities especially on the G (wonky intonation and buzz on certain notes). So those two had to go and I swapped them to Oliv.
The Oliv G is simply the definition of the perfect G string in every aspect, be it super nice feel, majestic sound, the exactly right amount of sustain and punch… and the D string is equally fantastic. Easily the most powerful and beautiful D I have ever played. Arco and pizzicato. They both go really well with the lower two Eudoxas and especially the G is even better than Eudoxa. This is most likely the string combination that I’ll keep using.

But if it weren’t for those two upper strings drying out, I’m sure they’d be still on and very much alive and kicking.

Best
Sidecar

 

[MrSidecar]

Update.

I now have first-hand experience of Eudoxas holding up for 2.5 years. The lower ones, that is. The top ones being still the Oliv from I guess September 2020. The whole set still sounds glorious and holds pitch very well (ahem… okay. Not Spiro-well). They actually do not degrade at all neither in sustain nor in punch and brilliance. Or at least so it seems. The (silver wound) E and A get a little discoloured every once in a while, but that wipes off easily and it doesn’t do anything to the sound.

Never in my playing time have I been tempted less to try other options. I ogled Perpetuals without ever buying them, I had an eye on the thread about the Temperas. But for my bass, this Eudoxa/Oliv combo is the thing.

Granted, they haven’t seen nearly as much gigging time as my previous sets. Still, loads of pizzicato and arco practice and quite a few gigs whenever that was possible (it is again, I’ve just been busy fenderbassing).

anyways
Best
Sidecar

 

[lurk]

Well, good for you guys who get long life from your Oliv G. Mine just started to come unwound at approximately C above the G harmonic on today's gig. I don't think it matters, but the bridge is well lubricated. I live in NYC, so there are humidity issues which I scrupulosity tend to with a humidifier. I did take it off for a brief experiment with those new Aquila strings, so it's been off and on once. A little less than a year old. I'm very careful not to wipe it hard with a cloth after playing as I do the other strings. Very disappointed. Was a joy to play, though.