Best bet is direct from Gold Tone. I *think* those strings are tweak from the regular UBass strings since it is a different scale.
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If you want to stay with the Thunderguts, maybe contact Gold Tone. I switched to pahoehoes that I got from Road Toad. They aren't as sticky as the Thunderguts. If you get the pahoehoes, don't do what I did. Get the black ones. I thought the red ones would look better on the Microbass. I'm having second thoughts.
After playing my solid body guitar conversion to 22" scale bass I did recently using Rotosound R88s Tru-Bass short scale flat tape wound strings, I'm finding the Thunderguts on my GT MicroBass too sticky now. I bought a set of Pahoehoe black for my MicroBass and Thunder Reds for when I receive the custom fretless 21" scale u-bass I'm having made in Vietnam that have Thunderguts. I thought the Thunder Reds came in 23" scale, but I'm not finding them.
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There are no Reds for the GT MBass at this time.
It's possible that others have successfully used existings Reds on the MBass, but I am speculating.
Have you considered using a billiards talc bag for the stickiness you are experiencing?
It's possible that others have successfully used existings Reds on the MBass, but I am speculating.
Have you considered using a billiards talc bag for the stickiness you are experiencing?
I'm not keen on the idea of having to constantly powder up to play. I'm going to use the smoother Pahoehoe blacks on the Gold Tone, the Reds on my forthcoming 21" custom u-bass.
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Good questions. If the company put some effort into marketing and customer service, we might know the answers to those questions.
Indeed. Well, here's [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] at least. It's longer scale and a bigger body than the regular MicroBass so apparently you can actually play it without amplification (no word on how loud it really gets).
I was emailing back and forth with a top Gold Tone guy for a while till he stopped responding. I told him about talkbass. I told him there's a group of people that are really into it. No communication with me and no presence here. What a waste of a potential resource. Personally, I've come to realize I'm not interested in sub shortscales. I just love rubber strings and would love a 34" scale bass strung with pahoehoes (some day I'll try to put something together), but there are obviously a bunch of people really interested in the 25" scale acoustic and the solid body. Why not make it available? Why not communicate directly with the people interested?
Wayne Rogers is the CEO at Goldtone and he seems like a nice enough fellow, but I am not thrilled by the overall lack of engagement with the company's customers.
I ended up ordering Road Toad Pahoehoe yellows for my MicroBass, received them yesterday and put them on. In my opinion they're much better than the Aquila Thunderguts; very smooth, sound good, very easy to play, and don't seem to take time out of the ordinary to hold tune. I also received a set of Aquila Thunder Reds, which are supposed to be less sticky than the Thunderguts, but in feeling them out of the package, they were still very sticky, so I ordered a set of Pahoehoe reds instead.
The yellow and red colors are very neon, though I can live with them, but I did just email Owen at Road Toad, asking if he might consider more traditional colors like bronze, brass or silver.
The yellow and red colors are very neon, though I can live with them, but I did just email Owen at Road Toad, asking if he might consider more traditional colors like bronze, brass or silver.
I have the red pahoehoes and agree with everything you say here including that the color is "neon". However, I imagine that the price for more subdued colors might raise the prices. Just go through the Home Depot or whatever and see what color the weedwacker lines are. They are the same as the pahoehoes. The only exception would be the black. I wonder if it would be possible to make pahoehoes in different colors. I'd love burgundy.
I did a quick search and found weed whacker strings in many different colors made of kevlar core with nylon coating. Sent an email to one of the makers here in Pasadena asking how they compare to Pahoehoe. They sell on eBay for about $35-$40. Might have to give them a try.
Kohanmike, I just looked at Ebay and did a search for "weed wahacker strings for bass" but came up with nada. What did you search for to find what you did?
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Just did a quick check with my calipers on the pahoehoe strings on my ubass. Mind you I am measuring rubber but the Estring on my ubass was approximately .190 diameter and the Estring listed on eBay the Weedwhacker string was around .155. Tha other strings were around .010 or so different. They will probably work ok.
I don't know about this weed wacker talk.
I tested weed wackers on a UBass last year, and it flat out didn't work.
Very different material, very different tension.
It was a No Go, in my book.
I tested weed wackers on a UBass last year, and it flat out didn't work.
Very different material, very different tension.
It was a No Go, in my book.
He said that he has no knowledge of the Pahoehoe so he can't make a comparison.
