• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Bowing On Nylon-Coated Strings

sasebastian

sasebastian

May 18, 2008
52
2
New York
sasebastian.com
#1
I'm new to playing upright, and have been learning to play rockabilly and country styles. After playing finger-style for a couple months now I want to get into bowing. My bass is setup with nylon-coated strings, and I love the sound and tone I am getting. Some of the guys in the local shops are discouraging me from attempting to learn to bow with the nylon strings.

Can I get away with playing these strings with a bow? If so, any bow/rosin combinations I should be looking at? If not, should I really be getting more "appropriate" strings?

Cheers,

S
 
  • Like
Reactions: RRR
#2
While its not the easiest to bow on, it can be done. You will probably just have trouble getting a good attack. I would suggest using Pops rosin as it is quite sticky. You might even try rubbing a bit of it directly on the strings. I have found that to work on nylon before.
 
#4
+1 on Jason' post. Learning arco is challanging enough. Learning with strings that are not appopriate for arco will be very fustrating. Kind of like a new driver learning to drive a car with bald tires on ice. Do you want to put yourself through it? I tried with Helicore Pizz strings and afterward switched to Evah's which made learning arco much more reasonable. Also, you don't know if you're doing things right or not since bad sound may (or may not) be a funtion of your technique (or wrong strings.) Give your self a fighting chance. Get appropriate strings and a teacher.
 
#5
^^^ +1 to that.

I was lucky enough to acquire a second bass a couple of months ago - so now I can devote one to a nice, easy, slapable setup and the other (a hybrid) as a jazz/arco bass.

But, when I had to make the ply do all three, it was possible. A compromise, but possible. I got pretty good results with a mix of Thomastik Superflexible solo's on the E/A and plain guts on the D/G for awhile. Evah weichs were really good - if I were doing it again, I'd go with Evah solos for lower tension though. For a steel wrapped string, I thought they sounded quite warm when slapping. Other options that I haven't tried but might work - solo gauge Dominants, Obligatos, Belcantos...
 
#8
sasebastian said:
Thanks for all the feedback. I think I'm going to stick with the nylon wrings for a while and take on arco following some of the recommendations made here.
Click to expand...

Seriously, this is the kind of response that I see too often on this forum. Someone asks for advice, knowledgeable bassists chime in, and then the OP chooses to ignore their recommendations. It's very discouraging to the people that take the time to share their expertise.
 
#9
Eric Hochberg said:
Seriously, this is the kind of response that I see too often on this forum. Someone asks for advice, knowledgeable bassists chime in, and then the OP chooses to ignore their recommendations. It's very discouraging to the people that take the time to share their expertise.
Click to expand...

Eric, I'm not choosing to ignore advice. I'm choosing to keep learning rockabilly & country without a bow and "take on arco following some of the recommendations made here" when I can afford to. Purchasing a bow is expensive, and so are new strings for this kind of bass.
 
#10
sasebastian said:
Eric, I'm not choosing to ignore advice. I'm choosing to keep learning rockabilly & country without a bow and "take on arco following some of the recommendations made here" when I can afford to. Purchasing a bow is expensive, and so are new strings for this kind of bass.
Click to expand...

If money is the issue, I'd look out for used strings for sale in the classifieds. Good deals can be found, makes it much more affordable to try things out. I've done it a few times now. Then if you don't like them, you can sell them again. Good Luck! :)
 
#14
Eric Hochberg said:
Seriously, this is the kind of response that I see too often on this forum. Someone asks for advice, knowledgeable bassists chime in, and then the OP chooses to ignore their recommendations. It's very discouraging to the people that take the time to share their expertise.
Click to expand...


I definitely understand your frustration Eric. I would just say that you alls expertise and advice certainly does not go to waste. You all took the time to share your knowledge on the subject and this young bass player ‍♂️ Is benefiting greatly from it 7 years later. As I'm sure many other bassist have as well. So I thank you all! Don't stop helping us out!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eric Hochberg
#15
Nyman`s swedish rosin is IME better for " hard-to-bow " strings than Pop`s. I just unwound my nylon wrapped Pirastro Pizzicato D and G for better bowability ( G had started to unravel in the pegbox anyway ) a couple of days ago. At least these were close to unbowable before the stripping.
 
#16
Reiska said:
Nyman`s swedish rosin is IME better for " hard-to-bow " strings than Pop`s. I just unwound my nylon wrapped Pirastro Pizzicato D and G for better bowability ( G had started to unravel in the pegbox anyway ) a couple of days ago. At least these were close to unbowable before the stripping.
Click to expand...

Unless someone is huge fan of RC's worst years, it is a safe bet those asking questions don't have a great bow or bass and therefore fresh Pops is best. An advanced player can get them to sound with any rosin or bow set up.
 
#17
I don`t find any reason to not recommend the rosin that has worked with Velvet Garbos, Pirastro Pizzicatos and guts ( Strings that are often called " hard to bow " here on TB ), instead of fresh Pop`s that didn`t work as well. It`s also cheaper to try different rosins instead of different strings. I`m not a " experienced player ", but I do recoqnize when something works / doesn`t work.
 
#18
One thing I've definitely learned over the years...don't square peg round holes. It's a massive waste of time. Get equipment that is appropriate for what you are trying to do. Nylon strings are not made for bowing, they roll and react in ways that will only cause you frustration. Yes, you could likely spend a good many months with too much rosin on your bow and a lot of focused practice to begin to get a sound out of them. You may have to change your whole technique. But it can likely be done. But why? We've all done this from time to time, ignore the conventional wisdom and attempt to remake reality. But you will find that if you get the proper equipment for whatever you are tying to play, life will be easier, you will get to that sound quicker, and numerous sonic/physical gifts, shortcuts even, will be given you. Get a hybrid type string that is soft but not ridiculous, one made for the bow as well as pizz and get to work. Don't waste time.

And hard to bow basses are usually either set up incorrectly or your technique is faulty. Always slow down and do your long bow exercises to diagnose what's wrong and re-build your sound from there. IMHO sticky rosin is never a cure and often creates it's own set of problems for the player and the sound.
 
#19
Reiska said:
I don`t find any reason to not recommend the rosin that has worked with Velvet Garbos, Pirastro Pizzicatos and guts ( Strings that are often called " hard to bow " here on TB ), instead of fresh Pop`s that didn`t work as well. It`s also cheaper to try different rosins instead of different strings. I`m not a " experienced player ", but I do recoqnize when something works / doesn`t work.
Click to expand...
Might be a continental issue, we probably don't get fresh Nyaman's over here, doubtful you get fresh Pops there. In any case the stickiest rosin is going to get the string moving best. Getting any sort of pleasing sound is a whole other matter.
 
#20
I got fresh Pop`s from Bassico.eu. Have you actually bowed nylon coated strings and with which kind of rosin and bow hair? I`m bowing Velvet Garbos at the moment, have bowed nylon wrapped Pirastro Pizzicatos, plain gut, Velvet Animas, different Spirocores and Evahs. With Garbos I`m using Nymans rosin and it just works better than my fresh Pop`s. I have black hair on a carbon bow.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back