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Double Bass Gut-sounding, non-gut strings for that LaFaro sound

#21
When I still had my Kay I had it strung with ancient, crusty Spiro Mittel E&A and Red-O-Ray D&G. The guts were taken off when I got Lambert Gut Twin D&G and I liked the combination so much I sold the Red-O-Rays. A little later, after Ivan made me a plain A, I stuck a Supernil E on there and really enjoyed that too.

All of the above combinations worked well on that particular bass which I set up for that combination of strings, and the beveled fingerboard, with the higher strings fairly high off the board and the E fairly low, with a pronounced "hump" where the A crossed the bridge.
 
#25
Clarky:
To add to the suggestions......
for the past 6 months I have been using Zyex Mediums with a Jazzer E ...and now a Spiro Mittel E. On my Eberle (Musima) ply, the mixture of strings has a beefy, full sound which also sounds good in the PA.
I am a "veteran string experimenter" and I feel I am finally getting a close approximation of the sound (Bob Moore's all-guts on an old Italian bass) I have been looking for.
I never thought I would end up with synthetic strings but the Zyex have proved to be far better sounding on my bass than all the other major synthetic brands I have tried. I love guts but my present combo gets me close to that feel and sound at a very reasonable cost...and with no maintenance or weather related problems.
 
#26
Well Clarky, be careful what you ask for... As per always, any discussion of strings opens a Pandora's box of suggestions. I suppose rightly so.

In any case I'd be interested in knowing what you ultimately (hopefully happily) end up with.

Good luck and all the best!
 
#27
Actually, the strings on that recording were Kolstein Heritage, according to an interview Phil did, and corroborated by the wrappings in videos. Those might be something to try, as Phil did say he liked the sound he got, but I think Scott LaFaro's bass probably sounds like Scott LaFaro's bass regardless of string choice, so...

BHBassman said:
Phil Palombi used Evah Pirazzi strings on Scott LaFaro's Prescott Bass in 2010 for a recording w/Eliott Zigmund & Don Friedman ... if that helps.
I love EPs - have them on my Basses
Click to expand...
 
#28
Well folks, since you have been kind enough to offer up suggestions, I'd best update - one of the first replies suggested Velvets. So I have ordered a set of Velvet Animas - I did have a set of Garbos (not the light set) once but found them hard to play in the thumb position due to the large diameter and tension, so maybe the slimmer Animas will do it for me? I've seen clips on YouTube where the Animas sound really lovely and broadly in the tonal ballpark I was looking for. If not, expect yet another FS ad from me, haha!
 
#29
musicmaxbezanso said:
Actually, the strings on that recording were Kolstein Heritage(...)Those might be something to try, as Phil did say he liked the sound he got.
Click to expand...

No disrespect to the Kolsteins, but those strings were my least favorite of the Perlon-core hybrids. Very anemic sound.

Clarky, best of luck with the Animas. I love mine. Actually, it would be more accurate to say my bass loves Aminas, and I do what she tells me to do.

This is cliche, but if you like Spiros and you like gut, you may be into the Anima thing. Just watch the windings.
 
#30
Thanks for the advice KungFuSheriff, hopefully they will be with me in time to instal them at the weekend. I watched a bunch of YT vids with a player called Thomson Kneeland and liked the tone, eg, he plays a nice version of Blues for Alice on Animas
 
#31
KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
No disrespect to the Kolsteins, but those strings were my least favorite of the Perlon-core hybrids. Very anemic sound.

Clarky, best of luck with the Animas. I love mine. Actually, it would be more accurate to say my bass loves Aminas, and I do what she tells me to do.

This is cliche, but if you like Spiros and you like gut, you may be into the Anima thing. Just watch the windings.
Click to expand...

+1 I totally agree!

I use the Anima whit a Blue G, I love them!
But I have a friend who use the heritage on a small french 3/4 and on his bass they are amazing, I can't say nothing amazing growl and clear sounding! Both pizz and bow!

I think you could be surprised by both set!
 
#32
The Animas arrived yesterday and I put them on my old German bass. First impressions are that they are very nice under the fingers and a lot more manageable (to me) than the larger diameter Garbos. They are still stretching like crazy, though, so it will be a while before I can fully judge. But its looking optimistic. Question for Anima users - how long (roughly) do they take to settle in? I am assuming a couple of weeks
 
#33
Clarkybass said:
Well folks, since you have been kind enough to offer up suggestions, I'd best update - one of the first replies suggested Velvets. So I have ordered a set of Velvet Animas - I did have a set of Garbos (not the light set) once but found them hard to play in the thumb position due to the large diameter and tension, so maybe the slimmer Animas will do it for me? I've seen clips on YouTube where the Animas sound really lovely and broadly in the tonal ballpark I was looking for. If not, expect yet another FS ad from me, haha!
Click to expand...

There is a set, which I am currently using - which is Garbos with a gut G - this doesn't feel that much different to the Animas I had on previously. But I do prefer the sound! :D
 
#34
Clarkybass said:
Question for Anima users - how long (roughly) do they take to settle in? I am assuming a couple of weeks
Click to expand...

I'll have to get back to you! Mine came to me about a year old and well-played, and took a week or so to stretch.

This was several months ago, and they still tend to go significantly flat when left unattended for several days. I store the carved basses in my unfinished basement, which is cool and humid year-round. I'm not sure how much of that is due to the cores responding to temperature and humidity changes and how much is due to the bass doing the same thing.
 
#37
The Animas always projected well on whatever bass I had them on. And they always felt good on the hands. My other choice for gut like strings are the Evah Pirazzi meds. I probably give them the edge because they sound really good in a section and on a jazz gig.
 
#38
I've had very good luck with the Kolstein Heritage strings. I used them pretty much since the day they came out back in 2005/6 and though the formula has been 'adjusted' a bit over the years, they work well with my carved-top hybrid. They are twangy at first, but once they settle in they mellow out nicely and get a gut-like quality. It's hard for me to play basses with steel-core strings at this point because I'm so used to synthetic core strings. Steel just feels and sounds way too harsh
 
#39
If the Velvets don't work for you, I suggest getting touch with Gerold Genssler at [email protected]. His strings are pricy, to be sure, but after a few back and forth emails, he made a suggestion based on what I was looking for, and it was right on. I was on the verge of starting to look for another bass. Now I'm not.
 
#40
Zombie thread update: after several other iterations of strings I have ended up with Oliv D and G and Spiro Mittel E/A. Much the best combination I have tried yet for tension, tone and hand friendliness and the Oliv G is fantastic. Now I just have to give up the day job, practice for a zillion hours and I might get to play * slightly * like Scott LaFaro (or Phil Palombi)!
 

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