Double Bass G string hunt

[Trivolis]

Hey gang, here's the story:
I've recently changed my playing stance so that now the bass is more vertical. As a result my right hand is closer to the end of the fingerboard and I get closer to the sound I want for jazz pizzicato which is what I do exclusively on the upright.
With the bigger sound came a change of strings : I have been using Spiro solo downtuned and/or Corellis for the last couple of years but I recently switched to Spiro Weichs 3885.
I have been very pleased except for one thing: The G string has a nice bouncy feel BUT sounds whiney around the D- F# area and also feels too thin under the right hand.The tension/stifness seems about right.
My string heights are 5 -8 mm from G to E. I am considering either Zyex (light or medium) or Evah Pirazzi weich for the G string. I had been using the Evah Pirazzi solo A string downtuned to G for sometime with my previous lighter tension sets and I really liked the feel and sound of it. However, it doesn't really work with Spiro Weichs because the tension is much lower.
So....what would you suggest...and why? Zyex light-medium G or Evah Pirazzi weich G?
P.S : I've tried the Olive G and it is a great string but it's too expensive and I don't want to worry about unraveling.Too many things to worry about as it is

 

[Jim Dombrowski]

Plain gut or Perpetual (regular or stark gauge)

 

[stefaniw80401]

Hey gang, here's the story:
I've recently changed my playing stance so that now the bass is more vertical. As a result my right hand is closer to the end of the fingerboard and I get closer to the sound I want for jazz pizzicato which is what I do exclusively on the upright.
With the bigger sound came a change of strings : I have been using Spiro solo downtuned and/or Corellis for the last couple of years but I recently switched to Spiro Weichs 3885.
I have been very pleased except for one thing: The G string has a nice bouncy feel BUT sounds whiney around the D- F# area and also feels too thin under the right hand.The tension/stifness seems about right.
My string heights are 5 -8 mm from G to E. I am considering either Zyex (light or medium) or Evah Pirazzi weich for the G string. I had been using the Evah Pirazzi solo A string downtuned to G for sometime with my previous lighter tension sets and I really liked the feel and sound of it. However, it doesn't really work with Spiro Weichs because the tension is much lower.
So....what would you suggest...and why? Zyex light-medium G or Evah Pirazzi weich G?
P.S : I've tried the Olive G and it is a great string but it's too expensive and I don't want to worry about unraveling.Too many things to worry about as it is

Innovation Polychrome or 140B is good poor man's Olive G. One could say that about evah pirazzi, but less so IMO.

 

[Don Kasper]

Try a Spiro Mittel G in place of the Weich G, and give the Weich G to a guitarist who owns a Telecaster and plays a lot of "twangy country western" (music?)
Yeah. The Weich G is a very horrible sounding and feeling string, IMFO.
Thanks.

 

[PBandJazzBass]

Pirastro Perpetual G.

 

[Michael Glynn]

I have an Evah weich G on top of Spiro weichs on a bass and I think it works great. Zyex light could work too, but they are a little bright and aggressive for me. Evahs are a bit darker and warmer, but still blend nicely with the Spiros.

 

[TroyK]

I use 3885 Weich, but use an S42 Mittel G string and it is glorious.

Larger diameter, yet by the numbers slightly lower in tension.

Robust, clear, dark, feels great, sounds great pizz and arco

 

[Trivolis]

Eventhough at first I had only Zyex and Evah Pirazzi in mind now you've suggested also

-Innovation Polychrome (and Braided)
- Spiro Mittel S42
- Pirastro Perpetual
From the Innovation product line I've tried the Super Silvers but only the bottom two strings combined with C.H Chordas.I liked them but they felt ,to be honest, a little low quality compared to Pirastro and Thomastik products.Sounded like it too. Is the Polychrome G closer to a Thomastik-Pirastro kind of string?
Pirastro Perpetuals I've tried the solo version on my bass and I disliked them from the very beginning. It was an extremely well balanced set tension wise but the E string belonged sonically to a different set of strings .Their sound was very "generic" -mid oriented I guess might be accurate too .So I am probably not going with the Perpetual G.
The Spiro Mittel S42 sounds like an excellent choice.One concern would be the break in period until the string looses the initial "mwah"-brightness-whine (whatever that thing is called anyway,my english is not that good). Also a long-long time ago I actually had Mittels on this bass BUT they were the 3/4 model and I remember them being hard to the hands. However, I am a much better player now( hopefully) and also the 4/4 Mitts are lower tension compared to the 3/4 model.
My heart kind of goes to the Evah Pirazzi Weich G direction probably because the Evah solo A detuned to G felt so good next to the Spiro Solo or Corellis I had on the bass before . That string just feels and sounds right. However the Evah Pirazzi solo E downtuned to D not only sounded too dark but it also felt really slow probably because of the very low tension (lower than the detuned A actually).
If the Zyex light G is indeed aggressive and bright then it's out of the equation.
Bouncy and a little dark with solid fundamental and some air would be the description of the ideal G string. No plain gut either, too slow for the way I play/my technique.Maybe it would be more accurate to say it slows me down.
Anyway,thanks for your suggestions ,keep them coming!

 

[PBandJazzBass]

The Perpetual Stark G is gaining a lot of popularity, though I have not tried it personally. Some have compared it to the Oliv.

The thing I like about the regular Perps is the short break in period, especially when compared to Spiros. I wouldn’t have hesitated to gig with them the same day I put them on.

 

[elmer]

Eventhough at first I had only Zyex and Evah Pirazzi in mind now you've suggested also

-Innovation Polychrome (and Braided)
- Spiro Mittel S42
- Pirastro Perpetual
From the Innovation product line I've tried the Super Silvers but only the bottom two strings combined with C.H Chordas.I liked them but they felt ,to be honest, a little low quality compared to Pirastro and Thomastik products.Sounded like it too. Is the Polychrome G closer to a Thomastik-Pirastro kind of string?
Pirastro Perpetuals I've tried the solo version on my bass and I disliked them from the very beginning. It was an extremely well balanced set tension wise but the E string belonged sonically to a different set of strings .Their sound was very "generic" -mid oriented I guess might be accurate too .So I am probably not going with the Perpetual G.

I´ve had the oldest UK version of Supersilvers (with Spiro S42W E) on for two years now and they are still doing great. Quality is good! Especially the G is great. Gut like but still good sustain, no mwah no metallic ring, nice touch with bouncy and flexible feel. With the newer UK version and GHS US version the G still works great. The others have noticeably less sustain and the E is still too thick so it chokes.
I´ve tried all Gs on your list and after the Super silver G I would choose EPW G which could be a better match with Spiros and is easy to find and bows great. Zyex light is endeed very bright and I didn´t like Polychromes. They were somehow lifeless and dull on my bass. Perpetual Stark is close to Evah W. Darker and a bit thicker than regular Perp. As a steel core string it may have the whine on some basses. On mine just a little.
Braided was too stiff. These are of course IMO and only on my bass

 

[Endlesssolo]

I found the zyex to be way brighter than Evahs, using weichs for both. I also liked the Kolstein heritage set I tried but they were very old when I bought them, so I don’t know what new ones would be like.

I experimented with a few Gs to use with the Evah weichs in place of the Evah g. I tried D’addario Helicore light, zyex light, Olive, plain gut, and the heritage. I ended up back with the Evah weich. But if I was playing only pizz, I’d probably want to try some newer guts or at least some string that emulated them better. But the Evah is the darkest string I’ve tried that I can bow.

Every bass is different and every player is looking for different things. Unfortunately there’s no substitute for trying. But based on what you said, you won’t like the zyex.

 

[elmer]

The others have noticeably less sustain

Sorry, I meant to say "the others have much less tension"
Too little for my bass. They feel like another string - eg Silver Slap or something.

 

[Jason Sypher]

Just play it out. That spiro will eventually settle.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

…
Braided was too stiff. These are of course IMO and only on my bass

The Braided and Polychromes A and E are stiff out of the sleeve, but I have explained elsewhere here, that bending them lengthwise over the thumb in all directions make them a lot more flexible and enhance the sustain. One string took me two hours and I had a sore thumb for the rest of the day, but it was worth it.

 

[stefaniw80401]

The Braided and Polychromes A and E are stiff out of the sleeve, but I have explained elsewhere here, that bending them lengthwise over the thumb in all directions make them a lot more flexible and enhance the sustain. One string took me two hours and I had a sore thumb for the rest of the day, but it was worth it.

I've seen your bending procedure in those threads, can't you do that over a broomstick, or some such, rather than your thumbnail?

 

[Trivolis]

Just play it out. That spiro will eventually settle.

You are right,but that's not my only issue. It feels too thin for the right hand.That's not gonna change.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I've seen your bending procedure in those threads, can't you do that over a broomstick, or some such, rather than your thumbnail?

Over a nut wheel with a certain diameter, but I think I tried it and the string rotated through it axis to a more flexible position, which is what should be avoided to get it equally flexible in all directions.
I only did it with three strings over the last five or six years.

 

[Trivolis]

I found the zyex to be way brighter than Evahs, using weichs for both. I also liked the Kolstein heritage set I tried but they were very old when I bought them, so I don’t know what new ones would be like.

I experimented with a few Gs to use with the Evah weichs in place of the Evah g. I tried D’addario Helicore light, zyex light, Olive, plain gut, and the heritage. I ended up back with the Evah weich. But if I was playing only pizz, I’d probably want to try some newer guts or at least some string that emulated them better. But the Evah is the darkest string I’ve tried that I can bow.

Every bass is different and every player is looking for different things. Unfortunately there’s no substitute for trying. But based on what you said, you won’t like the zyex.

What was it that made you want to change the Evah G string for something else in the first place? What was it that you didn't like?

 

[Jason Sypher]

I remember those innovation strings were quite fat under the fingers

 

[Caro]

Maybe Belcanto, Flat-Chromesteell or one of the Flexocors. Thomastik-Infeld and Pirastro have good descriptions of these strings on their websites. They have varying degrees of brightness. They all come in orchestra or solo tuning. The plain Flexocor has 3 different gauges. All of them are metal strings which may match up well with the Spirocore Weich. I've used Flexocor G for many years with Spirocore A and E. I also don't like the whining and excessive brightness of the Spirocore G. I play both pizzicato and arco. These are all high quality stings that will last a long time.