Why have I not tried these? Of course Herve sounds good on everything, but these seem perfect.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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 Dominants?
- Thread starter Paul New
- Start date
Welcome to my world. I’ve been using them for 20 years.
Yeah they sound and feel great. Great punch and focus. Unfortunately I had one break. Honestly it was over a decade ago and I can't remember which one, but it put me off them. I tried them because my stand partner in a community orchestra was a fan and he sounded great.
I've always found the Dominants on Chris' bass to have a nice tone and pleasant to play. I have no complaints about them. I do wonder why they don't get more advocates. I'm pretty sure Chris is their only client! 
Possibly my favorite strings, but I’ve had two A strings break, likely because I have a C-Extension so the A has a harder break angle. I use a Spiro E/C.
I’ve had good luck with the D and G. Still, it makes me nervous that they *could* break.
It’s a shame because they check all the boxes and sound great both pizz and arco.
I’ve had good luck with the D and G. Still, it makes me nervous that they *could* break.
It’s a shame because they check all the boxes and sound great both pizz and arco.
I have broken as many Spiros as Dominants. Current set is 10 years old on the main bass. Close to that on the teaching bass. Have broken two Stark E’s since the last Dominant.
But I never got the thing where people say they have gut qualities. They sound nothing like guts to me. I always just describe them as “Everything I love about Spiros, without everything I hate about Spiros.”
But I never got the thing where people say they have gut qualities. They sound nothing like guts to me. I always just describe them as “Everything I love about Spiros, without everything I hate about Spiros.”
Is there a particular reason a lot of bassists seem to sub the E for a Spirocore?
I’ve considered trying detuned Dominant Solos.
I’ve considered trying detuned Dominant Solos.
As a noob I'd love to hear what you hate about spiros.
They're basically the only string I've played consistently, and I wonder what I've grown accustomed to that I needn't.
Exactly my question. I play spirocores too. Exactly how do dominants compare to spiros?As a noob I'd love to hear what you hate about spiros.
Earl
Supporting Member
As a noob I'd love to hear what you hate about spiros.
I love most things about Spiro Mitts. I like the punch and the solid middle they deliver, part of which is a function of the tension (at least on my basses). I even played a full Stark set for a year in 2005. I like the sustain, the way they cut through on the gig, and the fact that you can get growl when you want it by playing on the pads, but mitigate it by moving closer to the tips when it’s too much.
The things I don’t like:
- the banjo thing with a new set. I have dry skin, so it takes a long time to tame it no matter how much I play. When I was using them, I would sometimes rub down a new set with some kind of food oil to tame that, but that’s messy.
- the G string is a little thinner than I would like.
- perhaps because of the thinness, or maybe for other reasons, the G has a nasal whine up in the area between E and the 8ve G. You can sometimes mitigate this somewhat by digging in more with the left hand, but this is an annoying and tiring adjustment to have to make all the time. But I really dislike that whine, which is why the Dominant G was my gateway drug.
My theory is that most string sets are too weak on the E string, especially for pizz. I’ve always bumped up the E string to a higher tension version to balance the set.
Another thing I love about Dominant A-D-G: because of the inherent stiffness of the string, if you set them high enough, it is absolutely impossible to bottom them out, no matter how hard you hit. The thing I absolutely hate about Evan’s, and I think they are otherwise a really good string, is that there is a point of no return beyond which if you hit them harder, they give you nothing. When I had them on my bass for a hot minute ,I found this really tiring. With the Dominants, if you reach for more, you will get more and they will never fart out.
Herve sounds great on the video in the OP, but there’s a lot more twang in that sound than I’m used to from the Dominants. Some of that is obviously playing style, but I’d also be willing to bet that that’s a newish set without a lot of miles on it, and/or that they are set lower than the 7 to 10 mm range on my bass. Meaning that they are very versatile. If you set them low, you can absolutely fly on them. If you set them higher, they have a beautiful punchy front end, but without much twang to them at all.
I should add that none of my big three mentors, Rufus, John Goldsby, or Lynn Seaton, enjoyed playing my bass with the Dominants on it. They all felt it had too much stiffness and tension. One of them, I can’t remember which, once jokingly referred to that bass as “Excalibur “.
The one person who seems to enjoy the sound and set up and tension of my teaching bass is Christian McBride. He calls to ask if he can borrow it when he’s playing a show in town, and of course I’m always happy to oblige. But then, that kind of makes sense. Not only is he Christian McBride, meaning he can do whatever he wants on a bass, he’s also a ridiculously strong human being by nature. What we in my family jokingly refer to as “country strong “. I always feel like a wide receiver standing next to a defensive lineman whenever I see him.
Herve sounds great on the video in the OP, but there’s a lot more twang in that sound than I’m used to from the Dominants. Some of that is obviously playing style, but I’d also be willing to bet that that’s a newish set without a lot of miles on it, and/or that they are set lower than the 7 to 10 mm range on my bass. Meaning that they are very versatile. If you set them low, you can absolutely fly on them. If you set them higher, they have a beautiful punchy front end, but without much twang to them at all.
I should add that none of my big three mentors, Rufus, John Goldsby, or Lynn Seaton, enjoyed playing my bass with the Dominants on it. They all felt it had too much stiffness and tension. One of them, I can’t remember which, once jokingly referred to that bass as “Excalibur “.
The one person who seems to enjoy the sound and set up and tension of my teaching bass is Christian McBride. He calls to ask if he can borrow it when he’s playing a show in town, and of course I’m always happy to oblige. But then, that kind of makes sense. Not only is he Christian McBride, meaning he can do whatever he wants on a bass, he’s also a ridiculously strong human being by nature. What we in my family jokingly refer to as “country strong “. I always feel like a wide receiver standing next to a defensive lineman whenever I see him.
I remembered that you played Dominants a long time ago, but wasn’t sure if you still did. I know of a slap player, Mark Winchester, who at one time used them under guts, and you.
They are just spiro mittles with some damping, maybe?
Correct! There are some basses that get a big E sound but rare- acoustically most decent basses the E actually is working if you are further out further in the room. I was in Robertso's and when they were playing my okay Lemur bass with a stock Pirastro Perpetual that I though was always thin, In that Atrium of theirs with a 3 or maybe 4 story ceiling , there was actually fuller bass on that E string -- so I learned to trust that in a band settings specially if you are amplified - there is enough bas even with Weich strings on the E. In fact it's muddier with the mittel spiro that I have been using when I checked live set recordings and has improve with weichs and t6he current perpetual which sounds tangy from my perspective.
Check the post, the tailpiece and the nut - then have someone play your bass in a large enough room before going down the string rabbit hole. 20 string sets since 2017 when I descended and most of those where purchased before COVID. For a long time I was just happy with the Spiros and Flexocores and Jazzers that I've used since the 90's. But of course half the fun is string search but at today's prices, I will probably hold on to what I have and probably last me until I can't play bass anymore.
Having said that - Dominants are cool. They have that model for a long time because it works for a lot of people. Thomastiks makes good strings. Heck I even think the Bel Canto is good for pizz jazz. If I go with synthetic core again, I'll probably go the dominant route instead of Evah. They seem to have a better attack profile.
Sort of, but not exactly. They have slightly less tension, but are stiffer. When you open a new dominant package, once you unwind the circle, they pretty much straighten out by themselves. I’ve never seen any other string with that quality. They also have the smoothest wrap of any string I’ve ever played, which is nice.
If you check out literally any video on my technique series, that’s the sound of broken in Dominants on a LaScala. For performance vids, check the “You on YouTube” thread here. There are a couple of recent ones where there is no amplification, which is a better measure of the real sound.
Last edited:
Earl
Supporting Member
I don't think, the attributed gut qualities have much to do with the sound of Dominants, but the feel. Under the bow and under the left hand, and to a certain degree pizz as well, they share some qualities of gut-core strings. To me, this fat, solid core with thin wrapping reminds me of some gut-core strings. But since the surface is totally different to unwrapped gut, that's where the similarities end. Totally different surface noise.
I think most bass players, comparing them to gut, are using Dominats as downtuned solo string. So the tension might feel somewhat similar. I never did that and have no intentions to so in the near future.
How long do these things take to break in? /anyone have any experience slapping them? All I want is an A string that plucks like a spiro but slaps like a gut, why Lord is this too much to ask. . .
