Double Bass Dark or Bright sounding strings ? wich brands ? how make the difference

[PBandJazzBass]

Sorry Sam. I know your question wasn't directed towards me but I just thought I'd chime in.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Sorry Sam. I know your question wasn't directed towards me but I just thought I'd chime in.

No worries that’s strange it’s a different experience than me, they all just get dull and stiff. But that’s a discussion for the Evah megathread

 

[sean_on_bass]

Talked to Luques Curtis a few days ago about strings and he says the Zyex on his bass have been on for at least 5 years probably more.

Hah, maybe i will put my old set back on and see what happens. I recall them getting thumpy to the point i couldn't really stand it but it's been awhile. Lack of sustain and limited tonal character.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Hah, maybe i will put my old set back on and see what happens. I recall them getting thumpy to the point i couldn't really stand it but it's been awhile. Lack of sustain and limited tonal character.

I suspect with his touring schedule he doesn’t play his own bass 100% of the time. Also I think his hands don’t sweat like mine which kill spiros in a year

 

[sean_on_bass]

I suspect with his touring schedule he doesn’t play his own bass 100% of the time. Also I think his hands don’t sweat like mine which kill spiros in a year

Yeah i sweat on an extreme level. That set of Zyex i have really went through the ringer. Tons of play time and gigs.

 

[Mister Cbass]

Understand that that is the player. I have a video of Christian McBride playing a kay with dead Evah strings and he still sounds like a bright Christian McBride. Larry grenadier uses Spiro lights and gets a dark punch of a sound.

I’m just giving the advice of spiros and practice based on a few years of experience with beginner students and posts on talkbass. I can think of one person on here who posted about wanting to avoid spiros for years, finally trying them and regretting not doing it sooner. Ya do it for a year while learning because you know it works and you can get a lot of good habits out of it. Something like a SBW will allow you to be lazy on technique. I also know that those strings don’t bow well and you need something that allows you to hear the pitch when bowing for intonation.

I’m greatful that after a month of playing a Luther threw on a set of Spiro mediums and gave my bass a setup. I had no idea how to change strings so they sat on my bass for 2 years. The moment I stared messing with strings thinking it would help was the start of a lot of wasted time. But maybe that’s a lesson we have to learn the hard way. At the end of the day it’s your decision

Hello, thanks for the advises.

I probably will try the spiro in the future.
Why not on my stagg ?

But I have a question :
My goals are learn to play pizzicato --> next approach the slap . And about arco, use it to work intonation.
Why not in the future spent more time with the bow.
But I'm pretty sure that I will never use it in band situation.
I will never play classical with others players ( or maybe jazz with arco, and before I was able to play jazz / pizzicato there is alos a looooong way to do).
So for the moment, I don't want to spent to much time, get a good technic with bow....But in my case " useless" if I could not apply it with a band.

So is the spiro good for pizz / bow, no doubt.
But for slap ?

Or wich type of strings would you recommand for :
pizzacto / slap and just enough bowable for practice intonation.

Silver slaps seems ok for that.
@dhergert sbw could make the job ?

Have nice day !!

 

[DoubleMIDI]

People do slap with Spiro Solos downtuned, but I would not prefer Spiros for that.
Silver Slaps work well for slap and pizz and with some rosin on the bow area of the string you can bow them (with a soft rosin).
IMHO metal wound strings often sound too bright with the slap (at least with an ebony fingerboard).

 

[Don Hergert]

@dhergert sbw could make the job ?

SBW Deluxe would work well for slap, pizz, and also well for arco because of their spiral cut, which gives them more of an affinity for the bow than many of the synthetic wrapped strings including SilverSlaps. That said, I would not recommend SBW E and A strings for any serious acoustic pizz or slap work; the SBW Deluxe E and A are great for tone and feel with amps but they are very low volume and unclear for acoustic work. That's why I use a SilverSlaps EA / SBW Deluxe DG mix.

As @DoubleMIDI indicated, SilverSlaps work pretty nicely for arco after they have an accumulated rosin layer in the bowing area. But, to be clear, I wouldn't plan an arco career around either SBW Deluxe or SilverSlaps, there are other strings that are made for arco, or hybrid strings, that would be much better choice for producing the finer, nuanced tones available in arco.

Like you, I made an early decision that my double bass playing direction is primarily pizz and slap, with arco primarily for intonation practice and for special effects on stage. But to be clear, I started playing at age 64 and really only expect at best 10 to 20 years of playing double bass at this time in my life. I greatly admire the beauty of Jazz and Orchestral double bass and strongly admire the skills of those here and in the professional world who play that way. However to do a reasonable job at this it takes a willing aptitude for traditional written music and 20 to 40 years of learning and practice, and it requires hands and other body parts that work properly to start with, all which I do not have. I also come from a bluegrass / roots music background and the double bass and other instrument playing that I do is targeted at that, my main musical interest area.

@Mister Cbass, I get the impression that you are younger and probably as such, in better physical shape than I was/am. If that is the case, with so much that the double bass has to offer, I would really suggest keeping an open mind about learning more about the instrument. I mentioned in an earlier post that the double bass is not just an orchestral instrument, but it also is not just a roots instrument. If I were young and in good physical shape and if I could expect to play for 20 to 40 years, I would be seriously looking at learning much more about playing the double bass.

 

[Mister Cbass]

@dhergert ah ah not so Young, 41 years old in the next days.
I'm too old to become a great db player / pro etc....
I just want to be good enough to play in a band, enjoy the db, make some venues etc
That would be great for me.

 

[Mister Cbass]

@dhergert if the sbw are good Amped, it's not a problem.
I work a lot with the amp, even during my home practice, something that a lot of db players would not recommend, but
I don't have a great db ( 3/4 hybrid chinese), not old, so with not an exceptionnal tone.
And for me it's important to work Amped, gently Amped, but I would like to learn and work on the sound ( with a fuc**n piezo ) and try to get the best tone I could with my gear.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I think the Silver Slaps are good to start with for your hand to get used to the tension and avoid some blisters, but later you might want to use 4/4 Spiro Solo (downtuned) or probably better 4/4 Spiro Weich.
Since you are in Europe, you should know that US player typically use Spiro 4/4, not 3/4, but in Europe the typical Spiro is a 3/4. They have different tension on the same scale (3/4 has more), so if you read about Spiros or Superflexible from an US resident, read that as Spiro 4/4. You would get disappointed if you use the same type as 3/4 and expect something similar.

It’s not bad to have both, Silver Skaps and Spiros, and used Spiros are cheap and for a lot of players (including me) even better than new ones.
So have a look at the classifieds (there is a special outside US section, but a registered letter should not be too expensive worldwide) to get the strings used for much less than new. Also possible for Silver Slaps, some other strings might not be that good if they were used for more than a year, but not for what you are interested in.

I would rather use strings that sound good acoustically. If you use just a bit of amp, the sound with the amp is better with a good sounding acoustic instrument.
Knowing how to play with an amp is good, but knowing how to without is good as well.

 

[Don Hergert]

@dhergert if the sbw are good Amped, it's not a problem.
I work a lot with the amp, even during my home practice, something that a lot of db players would not recommend, but
I don't have a great db ( 3/4 hybrid chinese), not old, so with not an exceptionnal tone.
And for me it's important to work Amped, gently Amped, but I would like to learn and work on the sound ( with a fuc**n piezo ) and try to get the best tone I could with my gear.

Regarding amp or not-to amp... Everyone has to judge that on their own depending on playing situations and venues. It also depends on your mounted equipment on your double bass, I tend to amp and/or FOH on stage since I have both a piezo setup and a mounted mic and can use them both at the same time. But the most personally enjoyable playing I do is acoustic, un-amped, for volume sensitive acoustic jams.

Regarding practice, if you're planning to play amped on stage a lot you should practice with the amp enough that you are comfortable controlling the amp and playing the double bass at the same time. This especially applies to using piezos with arco, since arco is so much louder though a piezo than pizz is...

That said, like many of us you may find that the acoustic tone of your double bass is more pleasing than its amped tone, and you may find yourself searching out those acoustic stage sessions more than amped sessions. With that in mind you may find acoustic, un-amped practices to be more valuable, because on a double bass acoustic intonation can be different than amped intonation due to perceived overtones.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Am I the only one who finds Youtube videos virtually useless for determining what a string will sound like on my bass?

No, but any information is better than guessing. So as an example, someone posts a clip of McBride playing a bass with helicores, then at least you know "helicores can sound like that".

 

[AGCurry]

No, but any information is better than guessing. So as an example, someone posts a clip of McBride playing a bass with helicores, then at least you know "helicores can sound like that".

You're right. However, what I get is "Helicores can sound like that on that bass played by that player recorded in that room using that equipment in that way."

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

You're right. However, what I get is "Helicores can sound like that on that bass played by that player recorded in that room using that equipment."

Of course! Still, good to know even that much as opposed to nothing, though.

I have a friend who bought a LaScala hybrid in part because he liked the way mine sounded. When he got it, he didn't care for it, so he asked me to play it. He just laughed and shook his head, because suddenly it sounded very much like mine. The story has a happy ending, though: he sold the bass to one of my grad students, for whom it is now a lifetime bass and prized possession in Brazil, and with the money found his dream bass that sounds the way he wants it to sound.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Of course! Still, good to know even that much as opposed to nothing, though.

I have a friend who bought a LaScala hybrid in part because he liked the way mine sounded. When he got it, he didn't care for it, so he asked me to play it. He just laughed and shook his head, because suddenly it sounded very much like mine. The story has a happy ending, though: he sold the bass to one of my grad students, for whom it is now a lifetime bass and prized possession in Brazil, and with the money found his dream bass that sounds the way he wants it to sound.

There’s a lot of personal prefrence and touch to this instrument

 

[sean_on_bass]

Talked to Luques Curtis a few days ago about strings and he says the Zyex on his bass have been on for at least 5 years probably more.

Well i just put on my old Zyex mediums for ***** and gigs. Actually loving them, and ordered a fresh set. Did a quick recording before putting them on to compare and thy Zyex G at least had more volume and full tone in thumb position, less noticeable in lower positions. The thickness of the string is super appealing to me and for some reason i seem to have more accurate shifting with the thicker string. They also have a very warm pillowy character when compared with Spirocore. Definitely won't cut through as much though, but i have been playing so much alone that the Spiro zing was kind of wearing on me. Will leave the spiro E on the bass and put the rest of the set in the drawer to give Zyex another run.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

i have been playing so much alone that the Spiro zing was kind of wearing on me.

There is so much to this seemingly simple sentence. If I had a dollar for every string I fell in love with for not having that Spiro zing at home alone only to discover that it got buried alive at the first gig and then running back to the spirocore....well, if I had a dollar for every one of those, I could afford a single Dominant.

 

[Sam Dingle]

There is so much to this seemingly simple sentence. If I had a dollar for every string I fell in love with for not having that Spiro zing at home alone only to discover that it got buried alive at the first gig and then running back to the spirocore....well, if I had a dollar for every one of those, I could afford a single Dominant.

Exactly. My issue with every string that’s not spiros and perpetuals is the band setting

 

[logdrum]

When I listened to older recordings I did, the Zyex are really not that bad. Will probably install them again.