Double Bass Gut Strings: Are They Worth It To Try? (part I)

[Uncletoad]

EDIT: I actually have some Walnut Oil in the kitchen...this is the Pacific NW after all.

I knew you did.

Pinko.

Don't use that **** on your strings. Baby oil is what I used.

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

I knew you did.

Pinko.

Don't use that **** on your strings. Baby oil is what I used.

Interesting. I've been using a touch of hand cream (mineral oil) on the recommendation of Taal Ronen. He plays Guts and Oblis which is a terrible mix IMO.

 

[davidAaronCarte]

Should I be oiling them regularly? Or just if they dry out?
I know pretty much nothin' about these bad boys

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Interesting. I've been using a touch of hand cream (mineral oil) on the recommendation of Taal Ronen. He plays Guts and Oblis which is a terrible mix IMO.

Due to the fact that I have a gut G of unknown origin and ancient Obligati on my old ply I must agree. Sounds like cat poop, but I'm too lazy to change 'em.

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Due to the fact that I have a gut G of unknown origin and ancient Obligati on my old ply I must agree. Sounds like cat poop, but I'm too lazy to change 'em.

Go all the way or suffer from hatred of a weird mix imo. Too many factors at play that could hinder your experience on gut strings. Mismatched guages, tensions, and sounds...

So far the only reasonable mix I've played on with steel strings was a G gut with E D A mittels

 

[D McCartney]

Hey Troy,
Will the aries ileum still be tight on Memorial weekend? I'm curious to know how they play.

 

[TroyK]

I don't know man, that's a few weeks away. Who knows what strings I will have gone through by then?

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

I don't know man, that's a few weeks away. Who knows what strings I will have gone through by then?

i'm sorry for tempting you, Troy.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Troy, Troy, Troy...

You should have called your sponsor, man - its not that far to come. We could have walked and talked and you'd still be clean - now its all guts and walnut oil and who KNOWS what's next? And only 3 weeks until Memorial Day.

 

[TroyK]

Troy, Troy, Troy...

You should have called your sponsor, man - its not that far to come.

I had spiders crawling on me, man. I just needed a little taste.

I've actually be swapping G strings on that weich set pretty regularly for a while now. I just haven't been mentioning it. Wasn't really worth it until I went gut WHICH, let the record show, I BORROWED.

Sonically, the Superflexible was the ticket, but the tension was way off and I had uncool pains on the first gig. reminded of the bad old days. Flex '92 was pretty damn good with them. The Weich G was actually fine or better, but it just felt thin. I had a 9 month old Obligato on there for a few weeks and it actually far exceeded my expectations. Felt great, sounded great, matched the weichs freakishly well, until the band and room got loud and then it's sonic character changed significantly. Weird really. A new one might be interesting, but I'm mooching right now.

So, I'm playing with folk twice this week and I'll see how I feel about a plain gut G.

Troy

 

[davidAaronCarte]

Day three report
Spent most of yesterday playing the hell out of the bass and just about all of today
A lot of fun and a great pleasure to walk on and they're really starting to warm up
I'm finding the Belcanto A is a pretty good tonal match, which is a relief because it was the best sounding of the Belcanto set on my bass
I'm still not sold on the tone of the gut
It's really clear but there's still a lot more noise than from my Belcantos - could they just be dry? They've also started to fray a little bit from all the playing (I sweat a lot more than average which might have something to do with it too)
Bowing is nightmarish at best - after much work I've finally been able to get some good long tones going on them but the tone is abrasive and anemic
Are wrapped guts easier to bow?
I'm going to try and get a mic set-up tomorrow sometime for some sound clips

 

[Mark Perna]

There's a lot of things going on so don't rush to judgement. Your bass has to adjust to the tension, the strings have to stretch out and you have to adjust your touch. All of those things take time. It took about 6 weeks before my strings stabilized and I started to get the hang of the touch. But even more important, gut doesn't sound or play like steel so don't expect it to. If you do, you're going to be really disappointed. It plays and sounds like gut. Immerse yourself in it and find the things that work with gut and you'll be a really happy guy. Try to play like you have steel strings and you'll probably take them off soon. For me, switching to gut was the best move I've made in a long time.

mark

 

[MT Spaces]

.... only 3 weeks until Memorial Day

Howdy Jake / Troy / Dwight . Yours Truly is still planning on motoring into Seattle sometime Fri/Sat .... Probably take in some cajun / bluegrass / old-timey at The ForkLift Festival. Meeting up on Sunday ??

Folks can try-out the Epi with Pistoy G & D / Anima A & E (assuming Jake will give it back to me after all this time ). I'll also have the low-life '40 Kay with Pistoy G/D/plain A/Garbo E for Jake to assess. The Kay loves to take long rides in the back of the pick-up and gets lonely if I leave her home . See y'all soon (That's a Warning).

 

[Mark Perna]

Hey Bob, I see you're using the Pistoy gut. Have you tried the Lyon and if so what is the difference between them. I've only tried the Lyon.

mark

 

[Marcus Johnson]

I'm curious, too...... and, I was always curious to find out why Gamut's prepackaged set includes a Lyon G and a Pistoy D.

 

[MT Spaces]

Greetings Mark & Marcus .... If I had 10 bucks for everytime I've been asked about Lyon vs Pistoy, I might be able to afford 1/2 of a new G-string .

FWIW .... Here's some of my quacking about Pistoys in the massive Gamut thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5536650&postcount=720

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5666316&postcount=754

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6430781&postcount=808

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6451551&postcount=826

I'm no jazzmonstermofo .... Just a grasshead so the gut-sounds I hear in my head are Roy Sr. & Roy Jr. Huskey, Joe Zinkan, Tater Tate, Cedric Rainwater, Cousin Jake Tullock, Kent Blanton, and Mike Ramsey . Who knows .... Maybe the string sets I have on the Epi and Kay basses are worth more than the basses . The bottom line for me .... Pistoys are just so darn-pretty to look at that I just can't resist them .

 

[Marcus Johnson]

The bottom line for me .... Pistoys are just so darn-pretty to look at that I just can't resist them .

Boy, that's the truth. I've always thought that the hi-res string pics on the Gamut website are some of the finest DB pr0n on the web... and the pics of the Pistoys are probably the money shot.

That, friends, is some fine workmanship. Yes, I know it says cello. I don't care.

 

[chris dammann]

I just put the pistoy D and G on my bass today. The bass sounds and feels great. Pitch is clear on the D and G top to bottom of the bass. I imagine I'll be doing a lot of tuning tonight at my gig.
I've been surprised how easy these strings are to bow. they have a great attack with the bow, a good "piff" sound at the start of the note. The strings just seem to grab the bow. Bowing gut in the high positions is going to take me some getting used to though.
No one seems to agree with me but I think gut or wound gut are the best "hybrid" strings out there. I loved playing spiro mittells but trying to slap those strings just about killed my wrists. You can slap/pizz/bow the guys anyway you want and not wish for anything but more practice time.

 

[AndreasH]

No one seems to agree with me but I think gut or wound gut are the best "hybrid" strings out there. I loved playing spiro mittells but trying to slap those strings just about killed my wrists. You can slap/pizz/bow the guys anyway you want and not wish for anything but more practice time.

+1

I agree.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

STOP IT!!! ALLL OF YOU JUST STOP IT!!!!

Signed, Marcus Johnson's wallet.