Double Bass Evah Pirazzi strings megathread part I

[Bobby King]

This past weekend I was visiting my son at USC in LA where he is a student of John Clayton's. Various students were doing recitals and I wanted to attend his. At the end, there was a bass ensemble performance where six students + John did a few pieces together, including a transcription of John Levy's (who was in attendence) part on Earl Garner's recording of "Back In Indiana". It was all great fun and I enjoyed myself. John is a really nice man and a very inspirational teacher.

Anyway, I wanted to report that John had Evah Pirazzis on his bass, and the bass in question was Ray Brown's old main bass. John sounded great, he has enormous hands and long fingers! The majority of the students had Obligatos on their basses and all did some arco in their recitals. The one student with the best arco sound also had EPs on his.

 

[Jeremy Allen]

That's interesting to hear! John used Superflexibles for such a long time, and then Obligatos when they came out, and now, it seems, Pirazzis. He's always got the best "hybrid" option available on his bass, IMO.

BTW, my original set of EP's is now one year old, has been on and off several basses, and they still sound/respond great!

 

[Bobby King]

That's interesting to hear! John used Superflexibles for such a long time, and then Obligatos when they came out, and now, it seems, Pirazzis. He's always got the best "hybrid" option available on his bass, IMO.

John is an amazing player and no doubt would sound great on any bass/string combination. But since we're a bunch of string-heads here, I'll offer my candid opinion that the tone of the EPs on that bass lacked a little in treble and sustain, although John plays a lot of arco and I know the EPs excel in that regard.

Jeremy, you might be interested -- in that John Levy transcription that they all played in unison, John had them all play it with that old-school right hand technique of pulling up on the string with one or two fingers (a little like classical pizz) with a slight pop, the way you see bassists playing in movies with the old swing bands. Great sound with 7 basses playing!

My son was explaining that John teaches to use very little arm or wrist motion in the right hand. Rather, the hand stays anchored at the end of the fingerboard and the fingers simply move string to string. He says that all the tone and volume necessary can be achieved this way, and a lot of arm and wrist is wasted motion. He uses his middle finger quite a bit, maybe even favoring it over the index, and his long fingers bend in an almost peculiar way. He never looks at the fingerboard! Alex told me that if John catches you looking at the fingerboard, he'll say, "What, is there a picture of a naked lady on there?"

Also, John does a great deal of work as an arranger and he won a Grammy this year!

 

[edfriedland]

Wow, I tried to read this entire thread, but... too much! I'm in need of an E for my gut string bass, I'm using Lenzner plain G and D, with Eudoxa E and A, but the E string broke spontaneously the other night. The silk wasn't long enough, so part of the metal wrap was wound around the string post. It finally went. I still have the Eudoxa A on, and prefer to keep things matched, but at $130 a string, I'm concerned about the thing breaking the same way. I use Oblis on my "steel" string bass and love them, I have no problems with roll, tension, longevity, bowing... they're great.

However... how would the EP set react to slapping? I might consider trying them for the E and A, but it sounds like they're a bit tight.

 

[BigSpikeBass]

my friend just put a set on, bluegrass not honky tonk or rockabilly, but he does slap, says he really really digs them so far, his comment "settled in really quickly, nice and dark right out of the gate"

i'm waiting till this weeks worth of gigs and recording are over b4 i put mine on

 

[Salty]

Wow, I tried to read this entire thread, but... too much! I'm in need of an E for my gut string bass, I'm using Lenzner plain G and D, with Eudoxa E and A, but the E string broke spontaneously the other night. The silk wasn't long enough, so part of the metal wrap was wound around the string post. It finally went. I still have the Eudoxa A on, and prefer to keep things matched, but at $130 a string, I'm concerned about the thing breaking the same way. I use Oblis on my "steel" string bass and love them, I have no problems with roll, tension, longevity, bowing... they're great.

However... how would the EP set react to slapping? I might consider trying them for the E and A, but it sounds like they're a bit tight.

Ed - I had this chronic problem with wrapped gut E strings - turned out that the nut slot for the E was pinching the string just enough that when the bass reacted to temperature changes, it would "catch" just enough to break it as you describe.

Peep that out, it might be your problem.

Best
Matt Rybicki

 

[edfriedland]

I'll check that. I suspect it might be due to the silk not making it all the way around the post, but I'll have the nut slot checked too. Thanks.

 

[Salty]

My pleasure. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

It's pretty remarkable how the feel of these things (Evahs, that is) has changed since August of last year. While they felt very taut at the beginning, they are now very flexible, maybe too much for some people. I like where they're at right now. The sound is still great, acoustically or amplified. It will be interesting if they soften up any further. They feel nice and flexible to me at the moment.

 

[Uncletoad]

It's pretty remarkable how the feel of these things (Evahs, that is) has changed since August of last year. While they felt very taut at the beginning, they are now very flexible, maybe too much for some people. I like where they're at right now. The sound is still great, acoustically or amplified. It will be interesting if they soften up any further. They feel nice and flexible to me at the moment.

Suppose your bass is moving around as the weather changes?

Wait, does the weather change in the land of Ahhs?

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Weather changes? Whazzat?

I don't think so. The bass is pretty stable.

 

[Uncletoad]

So are they stretching? Moving into Weich turf?

 

[BigSpikeBass]

ok, when should i put on my new strings? i have a recording date on tuesday and a string of gigs starting June 4th, should i wait until after the recording date?

 

[bribass]

ok, when should i put on my new strings? i have a recording date on tuesday and a string of gigs starting June 4th, should i wait until after the recording date?

I think if you put them on now and played some every day up to the session you'd have enough time to play 'em in nicely.

They stabilize pretty quickly. Just don't put them on right before (same day) a gig or session. I did this before a string ensemble gig and had a hard time w/ intonation that night, but after a good practice session they were fine for the very next gig.

BG

 

[Marcus Johnson]

So are they stretching? Moving into Weich turf?

Maybe they're stretching... but the pitch is super stable. I can't compare them to Weichs at all, they're completely different. I hate the word "gutlike", but they are in that direction. It's hard to explain. I'll try to leave them on until you get here in December, you can try them if you like. I want to see how long they hang in there anyway.

Ehhhh... that's probably not going to happen. I can't expect Spiro performance from a Pirastro string.

 

[Uncletoad]

I'll try to leave them on until you get here in December, you can try them if you like. I want to see how long they hang in there anyway.

Ehhhh... that's probably not going to happen. I can't expect Spiro performance from a Pirastro string.

Never know. I'm impressed they've been on there that long.

Ok, I dare you to keep them on until I arrive in December. That would be like a year and a half or something.

It'll make good TB...

 

[Damon Rondeau]

I've still got mine on and I have to agree, they seem lower tension. I've gone through the disillusionment phase, too, and I'm back to really digging these strings. Ever since I was at a John Clayton workshop a few months back and got an ultra-close look at his right hand technique, I've been concentrating on that myself, and the strings are really obliging in terms of delivering unto me their fatness.

 

[Francois Blais]

I can't expect Spiro performance from a Pirastro string.

You need to try their The Jazzer line then!

 

[martinc]

You need to try their The Jazzer line then!

Francois:

Right on mon ami!
I recently re-installed a Jazzer A that I bought about 10 years ago and played for a couple of years at least.
It sounded very good but I figured it was not as good as it could be because of the prior use and the age.
Wrong.
I ordered a new Jazzer and put it on. Sounded just the same as the old one. Now that I have two I can't see me living long enough to wear both of them out.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

You need to try their The Jazzer line then!

I keep forgetting about those. Haven't gotten my hands on them yet.