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Double Bass Flex Deluxe or Belcanto? Spiro or Permanent?

G, D Bel or Flex Del with either Spiro or Perm A, E?

  • Belcanto G, D with Spirocore A, E

    Votes: 8 61.5%

  • Flexocore Deluxe G, D with Spirocore A, E

    Votes: 3 23.1%

  • Belcanto G, D with Permanent A, E

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Flexocore Deluxe G, D with Permanent A, E

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Total voters
    13
L

Leonidbass

Feb 14, 2023
14
4
#1
Hi,

I have Permanents and I have Belcantos. The problem is that my Belcantos are about to die and I don’t want to put Permanents on the top. My luthier said that his instruments are working great with both Belcantos and Flexocore Deluxes, but I am slightly afraid to approach G and D Pirastro strings due to previous bad experiences with Original Flexocores. They just never seemed to break in and always sounded thin and nasally. Of course maybe I got a bad set, but that’s just my impression as of now. Before I buy anything I just wanted to ask what people would choose between Belcantos and Flexocore Deluxes and wether or not Flexocore Deluxes are comparable to Original Flexocores. For my bottom two strings I definitely want to use either Permanents or Spirocores so it also be great to know peoples preferences. Also, if someone can tell what my preferences are in sound and knows a better combo, please let me know!

Thanks!
 
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#3
Flex Deluxe and Original Flex have almost nothing in common aside from a broader range of tone color than Belcantos. Spiro Mittels on the bottom is a safe bet. The question is, will the characteristic stiffness of Flex Deluxe be a bigger problem on your bass than the floppy blandness of Belcantos. I’d opt for the Flex Deluxe. Pirastros are generally high quality.
 
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#6
Welcome to the rabbit hole. For lower strings, in my experience: spiros sound a little better, permanents respond a little better. I use a permanent c ext string and love it, but the spiro E and A are great too. Flexocor deluxe are great strings, but they're not my favorite as I like a string that can really take a beating, and found the deluxe to almost give out when the going got tough. I'd use them in chamber/solo work, but for orchestral playing I think Original Flatchromes tend to go a bit under the radar. I've been using the A, D, and G for about six months and they're awesome. I think BelCantos are good on basses that already sound excellent by themselves, since they don't offer much tone wise IMO, but they feel quite good to play.

To be honest, it's hard to go wrong with anything by Pirastro, it's just about finding which string works the best with your equipment and how you play. Their website gives a pretty good idea about how their strings sound, but as with everything DB, your mileage may vary.
 
Last edited:
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#7
Write to Pirastro and ask if they can mail you some of those rubber tone filters for the G. I used Belcantos w/ a Permanent (sometimes Spiro Weich) low C for a long while, but have switched to Flex Deluxe GDA with a Permanent C and am quite happy with the setup. It’s also good to have a capable bass player friend play your instrument in a hall or church and stand 5, 10, 15, etc feet back so you can hear what it sounds like to the audience. Strings that seem bright from behind the instrument may and likely will take on a different character when heard from out front.
 
#8
I currently use Bel Canto GD with a Spiro 3/4 light A and a 4/4 light E/C string. I have used Deluxes in the past and to me while I felt they responded comparably to Bel Cantos there was kind of a "fizz" to the sound that I didn't really like. I think it's part of the character of the strings since I've heard it on other people's basses too (whether I'm playing the bass or am listening in front of the instrument), and while that may be a tone quality you find appealing, it's not a sound that matches how I want to sound on the instrument.

Both Permanents or Spiros for low strings are a pretty safe bet. I prefer to have brighter low strings for clarity of pitch and articulation as I've found that on my bass warmer low strings (especially Bel Cantos) can sound pretty muffled when playing with an ensemble and/or in a hall. I've stuck with Spiros on the bottom because I used full Spiros for years and feel very comfortable with them. I haven't used Permanents on my bass, but I have played them on other people's basses and I think they would accomplish a similar thing.
 
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#9
the_Ryan said:
I currently use Bel Canto GD with a Spiro 3/4 light A and a 4/4 light E/C string. I have used Deluxes in the past and to me while I felt they responded comparably to Bel Cantos there was kind of a "fizz" to the sound that I didn't really like. I think it's part of the character of the strings since I've heard it on other people's basses too (whether I'm playing the bass or am listening in front of the instrument), and while that may be a tone quality you find appealing, it's not a sound that matches how I want to sound on the instrument.
Click to expand...

I agree about the low strings. BCs are nice on the top but I don't like their response to harmonics, and they're a little dull and grunty for me. I would love to find a brighter, ringier string that bowed like the BCs. FDs and Spiro Weichs don't work on my bass. Currently running OFCs, but they have a bit of that fizz too and are trickier to bow than BCs (but they're much easier to get harmonics!).
 
#13
Leonidbass said:
Hi,

I have Permanents and I have Belcantos. The problem is that my Belcantos are about to die and I don’t want to put Permanents on the top. My luthier said that his instruments are working great with both Belcantos and Flexocore Deluxes, but I am slightly afraid to approach G and D Pirastro strings due to previous bad experiences with Original Flexocores. They just never seemed to break in and always sounded thin and nasally. Of course maybe I got a bad set, but that’s just my impression as of now. Before I buy anything I just wanted to ask what people would choose between Belcantos and Flexocore Deluxes and wether or not Flexocore Deluxes are comparable to Original Flexocores. For my bottom two strings I definitely want to use either Permanents or Spirocores so it also be great to know peoples preferences. Also, if someone can tell what my preferences are in sound and knows a better combo, please let me know!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you're on a similar hunt to what i've been trying for the past few years.

I really love the top 2 belcanto strings for their tone. Something about them - on my bass at least - is my ideal balance of openness and ease of bowing, a nicely scooped midrange, and an organic bite in the top end. While many pirastros achieve something similar, i always find it sounds like a synthetic version of this sound, so my goal was/is to try and emulate that tone across the board, because obviously the lower 2 belcantos SUCK on many basses.

The closest i've gotten is: belcanto G and D, original flexocor A, spiro weich E/C.

I like the permanent E/C but it's a bit too metallic and synthetic for me, the spiro is just so organic sounding and open but with a lovely top end. The mittel E was too tight for my bass but also a great string.

Spiro weich and mittel A on my bass sounded great but the pitch was too unreliable for quiet, quick, slurred playing. I know other people havent had this experience though.

I'm yet to try kaplans or helicore or Evah A strings, but have tried most every other staple arco string and nothing has gotten closer than this. The original flex A is tighter than the rest of the set, especially next to the weich E/C, but the playability, versatility and tone make up for it.
 
#14
So if I understand you have Belcanto G and D, Permanent A and E? Why don't you just replace the two Belcanto strings with the same thing and declare victory?

I will say that i've tried Spirocore Mittel and Stark E on my bass with all Belcanto otherwise, and I didn't get a significantly stronger pizzicato E, but I did get a tonal character shift that I didn't particularly like. So I'm back to all Belcanto top to bottom and I like the sound for me, on my particular bass. The point of the little personal story is that I found that tonal difference to be more important to my enjoyment of the sound than I had thought it would be. So if you are happy with the way it sounds half Belcanto and half Permanent, maybe just repeat that and consider well enough done.
 

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