A student just bought a new bass with a very bright sound. It looks like his sound post is in the right place. He only plays classical. Looking for a very dark string. Go . . .
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Double Bass Darkest string for arco known to man.
- Thread starter Don Sibley
- Start date
passiones could wok, same with Flexocors, and Evah Pirazzi's. Bel Cantos as also a good choice.
Olive's are dark as hell, but they're also a small fortune.
Olive's are dark as hell, but they're also a small fortune.
Soundpost may be in the right place, but is it too long? I struggled with both of my basses being too bright for the first bit of owning each for that reason.
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He is going to take it to a qualified luthier for an inspection but since it definitely needs new strings anyway and he only plays classical . . .
I run Bel Cantos on my bass and consider them to be of a medium timbre. Why are these Jargars so inexpensive? All the reviews I can find look promising.
Concur- I almost included Oliv in my post but decided against it. They are a dream to bow, but their cost is prohibitive. They also suffer from tuning instability in certain climates, and Pirastro's quality control with Eudoxa and Oliv have been a point of concern for many (to include myself) in the past. They are gorgeous sounding strings though...
Flex 92's are nice and dark too, once they've lost their initial "new string zing".
Joe
I play a Shen SB180 (hybrd) which is not a dark bass - I have used Evah Pirazzi Regulars (two sets over three years) and I think of them as the darkest and loudest strings I have ever played. (Using the same bass and bow, over the years I have played Heliocore Orchestra Mediums, Flexicore 92, Evah Regulars and currently, Bel Cantos)
Go to d'addario's site and listen to the sound samples of the Kaplan and Zyex. Kaplans sound pretty good all over, but I think the Zyex is to warm on the bottom.
Jargar are not 'hybrid' strings that's why they may be not as popular. They have beautiful tone for symphony both pizz and arco, great projection but for virtually any other purpose they are useless. I used to own a set of mittels and a set for a 5er that I sold here on talkbass. Maybe the new owner has something to tell about them as well.
Greg Clinkingbeard
Commercial User
Kaplans are about as dark as it gets. They are much darker than either Helicore or Zyex.
It came with a set of Super Sensitives on it so the strings have to go anyway. As I said in the OP he will have it checked by a luthier.
If it came with red labels (solid steel core string, really bright sound), don't look for the darkest string available, any decent and not too bright string will do. Probably even old Spiros. If you have any old set of strings laying around, try them first to get an impression of the sound if the bass itself.
