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Double Bass Evah Pirazzi strings megathread part I

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#121
Hampton said:
I've choked it off a time or two in ff passages where a less aggressive approach would have yielded results.
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This is why I have had to stick to Spirocores or Dominants for the lower strings (for a heavy orchestral setting). Even Flexocore Originals or my beloved Flat-chromesteel Originals will "saturate" at the very end of the dynamic spectrum.

What version of the EPs are you using? I understand there is synthetic cores and rope cores, right?
 
#123
I just finished brutal weekend of gigs. 10 sets scatttered across 3 days. Large venues (1500+) small club-like venues, outside venues, and even an old paddle wheel ship. The Evah's sounded great. The Jazz Fest had a house amp at each site. Mostly cruddy Fender little 60 watters. I had a full circle and Realist on my bass. The Full circle seemed to work out better. I also grabbed a mic on stage a shoved it in front of my bass for the sound men (if they were there). There was no way I could have dealt with carrying my bass plus an amp.

Evah's did really well (e and a only). I have oliv's on G and D still. The Evah E and A match really well in tension, sound and diameter. They're holding up very well. No winding issues and pitch is stable. I may go back to the Evah D here soon. I am getting a little tired of the Oliv D with it's tuning issues.
 
#125
Dr Rod said:
This is why I have had to stick to Spirocores or Dominants for the lower strings (for a heavy orchestral setting). Even Flexocore Originals or my beloved Flat-chromesteel Originals will "saturate" at the very end of the dynamic spectrum.
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I should have followed up. The EP's don't, by any stretch, run out of sound when you put your back into them. The fact is the long E responds with less effort and more serious body than steel strings historically have on my instrument. I meant to say I have to adjust one of the 3 elements of tone production to get those results.
 
#127
Well, I'm late into this game, but I can't go without posting some thoughts on these strings...

I got my set two days ago, and my bass is at the luthier to have the c extension made/installed. The set I got has a standard E, so I put it on my school's bass (my students use that one), replacing a Corelli 380M. Definitly higher tension, definitely heavier. It makes this bass (carved Chinese) speak out far more than the Corelli did. It responds very well to the bow, and has a really nice, woody tone to it. For the moment, it's just a tad bright, but that's right out of the envelope. I played it at my weekly church gig (chamber orch. style) and had great results. I'd expect that over time, the string will settle a bit, lose some of the brightness, and more warmth will begin to bleed through. I'm delighted (in a masculine way :D ) with the feel, sound, and behavior of this string.

I've got an Evah long E on order for the C extension, but won't put it on until I've had a chance to try out the Permanent that will go on it in the shop. I plan on trying out a Belcanto long E and possibly a Spiro Mittel long E, but may not get that far, as I suspect that the Evah will do it for me...
 
#134
boombloom said:
My wife went to Oklahoma for ISB. She was accompanying Volkan Orhon for his solo recital. I stayed home with our 3 year old. She picked up a full set of strings for me from Lemur. Haven't put them on yet.
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Ah, so it was YOUR fault!!

I ordered a D & G and Lemur took them all to ISB. They told me they would ship when they got back Tuesday, but they sold them all.

Oh well, gave me an excuse to order the Gamut Light D and Light + G I've been eyeing.:)
 
#135
O.K., so I've had the EP G string on my bass for a few weeks now (bien merci, Francois). I'm pulling it off and passing it along to Jake for a trial, but here are my impressions.

The the rest of my strings are ~ 1 y/o Pirastro Jazzers. I like them quite a lot, but the G is a little trebly and I was interested in the new OLIV on a budget without the issues, G String.

So, overall, I'd say that it was that. I liked it. It's not as big in diameter as an OLIV, nor is it exactly as great and balzy, but the feel is similar. I really like the suppleness of a string like this. The sound was good. I realize that's not very descriptive. It soncially blended pretty well with my broken in Jazzers, but I think lacked some fundemental in comparison and definitely lacked a little volume in comparison. Not a lot, but I noticed it playing an on a gig on recording that I really don't want to share, but I know you'll ask. Some of that percieved drop in volume may have been just the edge coming off sonically, which I wanted, but still it was there. OLIVs don't lack in these areas.

I actually liked it better than I'm making it sound, but those are my persistent impressions. I will say that on the gig, I hardly noticed it, which is good. It settled in and did it's job and didn't give me anything to think about. That's really what I want.

I didn't use the bow much on it, but to the degree that I did, it was very friendly. Others have posted more qualified arco impressions, go with them.

Now, I hate to be the first to say this, but above the nut, in the peghead box, I think I'm seeing some seperation. Similar to what you see on an OLIV. THere was not spinning or twisting and I have no way of knowing if this would have ever caused a problem, but I feel like I've got to mention it. THere was some black stuff between the seperation that wiped away, don't know what that is. In fairness, this string went from Austria to Quebec, got a pretty short trimming from Francois, came up to tension for some time, then taken off, shipped through customs to Seattle, different nut, back up to tension, went out and worked, back off of tension and is now (this weekend, Jake) on it's way to BC where it will start over again. Not generally a good idea or how we would treat strings like this if we bought a set. Jake, please keep an eye on this phenom for us and give us an update, but everyone should take it with a grain of salt until we see a pattern.

So, in spite of my luke warm review, I may try a full set or a D/G some day. For now, since I've fallen off the wagon anyway, I'm going to run a few G's that I happen to have laying around through my Jazzer set up to see what happens (Jargar, Perm, Flatchromesteel, maybe my OLIV again and Flexicore '92 D and G) and then I may go right back to the Jazzer G if nothing sticks. But, I'll keep watching this thread and when it's time to go back out for a full set, I may consider a full set of these. There was a lot a liked about them and maybe with a full set, my bass would settle into them and I'd be thrilled.

Off topic, The Jazzers were an experiment and I'm amazed at how much I like them. If anyone has questions or comments on that, maybe a different thread to avoid the hijack. Since it's not a new string, I don't feel compelled to start a dedicated thread on them.

Troy
 
#136
TroyK said:
...It settled in and did it's job and didn't give me anything to think about. That's really what I want.
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That's my impression - they're not as 'wow' as the Olivs, but they don't give me anything to complain about - which is special in itself.

I've been meaning to write a review but haven't had an amplified gig on double bass since I put them on (just a few with my EUB). I wanted to see how they amplified before I gave any definitive opinion.

Jake, if you'd like to try the D alongside the G PM me and I'll send it - I haven't used it; I didn't want to disturb my Oliv D.

Andy
 
#137
To give my 2 cents...
The G is the weakest of the set. I have been extremely happy with the E and A. Over 2 months now. Mostly mixed w/Oliv G and D but I am thinking about putting the Pirazzi D back on. Once you try an Oliv G...it is hard to try any other steel string and not compare it to the Oliv. Of course it is not natural gut...but still a very lovely string on many basses. I will say again, the E and A are killing on my bass. Tons of thump, great volume, and some dirty growl that is not whiny or nasal. It took about two weeks for the E and A to come to life. Great with a bow as well and the blend across w/Olivs is the best I have found (I have tried many-Dom, Tomastic weich, orchestra, Helicore Hydrib med, Anima, etc.) After a lot of use they show no signs of wear and are holding pitch like champs!
I do think on some basses the G would be wonderful as well. Especially when compared to some of the thinner sounding and in diameter synthetic G strings I have tried. I do have similiar feelings about the G that Troy and Andy have...but I think we are all coming from some serious love with that Oliv. The rest of the set should not be forgotten though!
 
#138
RShew said:
To give my 2 cents...
The G is the weakest of the set.
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After two months or so, I agree with this in terms of both arco and pizz response. It's not that the G is bad, but it is the one string of the four I am considering dispensing with. I look at this way: I can use three Pirazzis and an Oliv G, leaving the Pirazzis on for a long time (assuming they prove themselves to have a long life, which I think they will) and replacing the fickle yet glorious Oliv when necessary. It could be the solution that many people are looking for.
 
#140
Marcus Johnson said:
I like that idea.
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Me too, it was exactly what I was thinking.

As soon as they are readily available I will buy a set and send the loaners on. I'm not going to disturb my Oliv D&G, but should they give up on me then I'll use the Evil Paparazzi D&G and probably only replace the Oliv G. This is a great cost-effective solution, if one can ever apply such a term to DB strings.

Andy
 
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