Double Bass Eurosonic Orchestral strings?

[wendell]

How are they? Ken Smith has many good things to say on his site about both the arco and pizz capabilities of these new strings. Has anyone else tried them? I am primarily interested in pizz, although arco would be great for practicing too. If I don't go with some sort of plain gut/wrapped gut or synthetic on my new bass I might just go with a set of the regular Eurosonics, but these new ones have me interested as well.

 

[reedo35]

I keep asking the same question, but all I hear is "They're coming soon"!

 

[Marcus Johnson]

I keep asking the same question, but all I hear is "They're coming soon"!

I'm pretty sure that Ken sells them from his website.

 

[reedo35]

I only see BG strings there, no Double bass strings.

 

[Jeff Moote]

I only see BG strings there, no Double bass strings.

Check out his forums, or contact him directly. He's charging $144 a set if I remember correctly.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

You gotta go to the "smith bass forums" site.. he has the price listed in the string section there.

PS... As Jeff sed.

 

[Rickbcnu]

So .......... has anyone tried these strings Eurosonic Orchestra Strings
I am thinking of getting the light tension as they are termed regular. I have read that they are very easy on the fingers with a softer feel but the article I read stated not like a spiro red ? Any pros or cons would be great !

 

[tww001]

My teacher, Kevin MacConnell, has them on his bass and they sound and play great, definitely a good hybrid. They're relatively thin gage, not gut like the regular Eurosonic. I will likely put them on my bass this weekend. If I do, I'll let you know.

 

[Francois Blais]

They're available in Orchestral and Hybrid types.
Orchestrals in medium, light and solo gauges.
Hybrids in medium and light gauges.

 

[tww001]

I'm putting the Eurosonics on my bass this afternoon. My teacher picked them up from Ken for me yesterday. I'll post my initial thoughts tonight (even though they'll need time to settle in), and a few days from now to let you all know how they're settling.

 

[tww001]

So I put the Eurosonic Orchestra Lights on today. I only got to play around on my bass for about 45 minutes to an hour so far. My bass has a naturally large low end, and these strings emphasized this even more. I had a friend play my bass as well, and these strings sound quite different behind the bass than in front of the bass. My friend came to the same conclusions I did: behind the bass the low end is almost overbearing, and the definition wasn't superb, but across the room they had lots of definition and a big round sound. My bow is currently getting rehaired, but even with a crappy fiberglass bow with synthetic hair, these strings bowed smooth and didn't put up any resistance at all. Overall I'm happy with the first hour of life these strings gave me. We'll see in a week how they've settled in.

 

[tww001]

Now that the Eurosonics have been on my bass for a week, I feel I can post a review of them. On my bass the tension is way too high. My bass feels choked and is putting out 3/4 of the volume it was with synthetic core strings (both Obligatos and Kolsteins). It's very frustrating to feel my bass not breathing the way it's supposed to (and can), both pizz and arco. However, these strings seem to amplify exceptionally well. Perhaps it's because the Realist puts out such a hot signal, that it gives a clearer signal with the bass not speaking very loudly on its own?

I'm going to let on my bass a little longer though. Partly because of $$$, partly because I want to see how they sound in another week (though I don't imagine a string would stretch enough after the first couple of hours to allow my bass to breathe more).

 

[Francois Blais]

Your bass is possibly still adjusting to the new tension.
Indeed, a little more and it may be worth the wait!

 

[jonas]

Now that the Eurosonics have been on my bass for a week, I feel I can post a review of them. On my bass the tension is way too high.

Are you sure that they are the Light tension, and not the Medium?

 

[tww001]

Are you sure that they are the Light tension, and not the Medium?

Yes, the say "Orchestra Light" right on the packaging

 

[stefaniw80401]

tww001: It's been a while. Can you remember? How did it go with these strings?

 

[tww001]

It’s been so long, and I’ve gone through so many strings since then it’s hard to remember. The one and only time I’ve ever broken a string was with these Eurosonics (the A broke halfway through a 3 hour jazz trip gig!), and I’ve had no desire to try them since in the last dozen years.

 

[elmer]

Presto (Eurosonic) strings are good value for the money strings from Poland. I have a set of orchestra lights. I like the strings but there´s a big change in the sound when you move from A to D string. E and A are quite bright and metallic (very spiroish) while the D and G are more dampened. I liked the strings but E and A didn´t mellow enough for the arco so I took them off - perhaps too soon. IMO they can be a great hybrid strings on a right instrument. Tension is more medium than light, somewhere between Spiro weich and mittel.
Interesting - I also broke the A string! The windings unravelled when I pulled the string (too) hard when trying to stabilize the pitch while tuning. I got a replacement from Thomann. I´ve never had this happen with steel strings before, so you must be careful with these.