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Double Bass Gut Strings: Are They Worth It To Try? (part I)
- Thread starter Kevin Hsieh
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Don't read TOO much into it. I played the gut bass after that and it sounded REALLY good, too and it didn't make my left hand cramp up after 15 minutes.
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I switchd out my Olive G and put the unknown yellow wrapped gut back on and enjoyed the increase in pizz volume.
But then (down the slope) I became unhappy with the volume discrepency and put my Spiro mittle E and A on to replace the semi worn Eudoxa's.
So now Ive been digging the Spiro E A, Velvet D, and wrapped gut G for a few gigs but am really just waiting a minute while I work to allocate the bucks for some new Evah Weichs.
The mish mash, of strings is if nothing else, matched in vollume (loud) which will have to do for now.
But then (down the slope) I became unhappy with the volume discrepency and put my Spiro mittle E and A on to replace the semi worn Eudoxa's.
So now Ive been digging the Spiro E A, Velvet D, and wrapped gut G for a few gigs but am really just waiting a minute while I work to allocate the bucks for some new Evah Weichs.
The mish mash, of strings is if nothing else, matched in vollume (loud) which will have to do for now.
An Oliv G now sits with my well-used Spiros
I have to say it warmed up the whole bass, both the G and D sound nice and chunky
Actually a lot like what the guts sounded like, but more in tune, and less fingerboard noise
I have to say it warmed up the whole bass, both the G and D sound nice and chunky
Actually a lot like what the guts sounded like, but more in tune, and less fingerboard noise
Have your tried Garbos as a set? I found them to be very loud when used as a whole set.
Thanks, I mean to at some point but (like I said) am leaning towards the Evah Weich's as my next big Bass purchase. Maybe not as loud but prolly (from reports) a bit nicer under bow.
The wrapped Gut G and Velvet D are fun together. The G is percussive and loud, the Velvet D is warm and loud. Some might cringe but like I said, as long as they are all loud I can cope.
Probably easier under the bow for almost everyone. But boy.... Velvets were ****in' LOUD on my bass. Animas in my case, but I've played Garbos too, same deal.
Meanwhile; I was musing on the gut string thing, thinking of jazz guys who use all or part guts... and I was trying to think of a current well-known jazz player who uses plain guts on top. Haden, Carlos, Ben Wolfe... don't they all use wound guts? Not trying to start something; just curious.
PS.... I always thought, in my mind's ear
, that Animas on the E & A would be a good match for quality unwound guts on the top. The tension seems about right, they're stable, they're growly but not "Spiro" growly, with just the right level of focus versus "grain". I hope that makes sense. You could probably learn to deal with the arco issues. Probably someone here has done that one already, pardon me if I missed it.Meanwhile; I was musing on the gut string thing, thinking of jazz guys who use all or part guts... and I was trying to think of a current well-known jazz player who uses plain guts on top. Haden, Carlos, Ben Wolfe... don't they all use wound guts? Not trying to start something; just curious.
PS.... I always thought, in my mind's ear
Carlos and Ben both play Chordas, that means plain guts on top. Charlie plays Golden Spiral D and G.
I've used Garbos E+A Plain guts D+G which sounds and feels great. Garbos have the same tension (25kg/string) as Animas eventhough they're thicker.
Ahh, that's right! Sorry.... brain fart! For some reason, I had Olivs on the brain.
I would imagine that Garbos/guts thing would be great.
Ahh, that's right! Sorry.... brain fart! For some reason, I had Olivs on the brain.
I would imagine that Garbos/guts thing would be great.
Ben not only plays plain gut, he likes them almost worn out. He figured out that the "buzzy" sound that Paul Chambers got was from frayed, worn strings so, being a SERIOUS Paul Chambers guy, he's doing the same thing.
I just bought a Garbo E and A. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with them yet. I'm still in love with the Gamut E and A but I do have tuning problems with them when the heat goes up and down. During the Spring, they were a dream. They're still great most of the time but they're a handful when the conditions get nasty. I'm either going to swap out the Gamut E/A with the Garbos for the summer OR I'm going to convert my steel string bass (which is a WAY better bass than the one that currently has gut on it) to a gut bass and put the Garbos on it with the new Pistoy G and D I have on order from Gamut. I also have a Lyon G and D on the shelf so if I don't like the Pistoys, they'd get swapped out for the Lyons.
To top it off, I have an order of EP Weichs coming from Gollihur that will probably end up on the steel string bass if I put the Garbos on the gut bass (and then I'll probably try the pistoys down the road). Of course, the other option would be to put the Gamuts on the better bass and put the EP Weichs on what is currently the gut bass.
This is really like starting over with a new instrument.
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PS.... I always thought, in my mind's ear
I have this string combination. its nice--but the Animas work best as a set for some reason. The equal tension thing really made the difference in volume on my instrument for some reason. The guts on top are noticeably louder than the animas on the bottom but they work reasonably well as a set and are cheaper than the gamut E and A I may eventually end up with if I ever get the money.
I loved the animas-- sadly, the D and G string bothered my bow hand. they took too much downward pressure. I think they were the best pizz string I've used as a set. however, I've been much happier with the gamut G and D because they are so much easier to bow.
Does he actually PLAY them until they wear out or does he have a shortcut? Like drummers putting their cymbals in some fluid to make them sound and look older.
Does he actually PLAY them until they wear out or does he have a shortcut? Like drummers putting their cymbals in some fluid to make them sound and look older.
No shortcuts. He just discovered the "secret" to that buzzy sound that PC got by never changing his strings. I haven't talked to him for a while but the last I heard he changes strings only when he absolutely has to and then only reluctantly.
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Guts are great, they have a tone you can only get from Gut.
Dont be fooled by commently like, these sound like gut... only gut sounds like gut.
All that said, it depends on what you want to do.
As for bowing... They didnt have steel strings when bassess were invented and they were bowing them then... Its a very lovely warm tone.
Dont be fooled by commently like, these sound like gut... only gut sounds like gut.
All that said, it depends on what you want to do.
As for bowing... They didnt have steel strings when bassess were invented and they were bowing them then... Its a very lovely warm tone.
Does he actually PLAY them until they wear out or does he have a shortcut? Like drummers putting their cymbals in some fluid to make them sound and look older.
Someone should try burying Spiros underground for a few weeks...
Whatever he's doing, it sure sounds great. I was just checking out that most recent recording yesterday.... really nice.
He sure seems like a good guy.... I talked to him a coupla times via Email.
I met Ben back in the days of AOL's jazz message boards (around 1996-7). He was violently anti-amp back then. He still is but it was a shock to my tender system back then that someone would WANT to play without an amp. Little did I know...
I've since hooked up with him in NYC a couple of times and I loaned him some dough to finance one of his albums (he paid me back). He really is a good guy.
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I've since hooked up with him in NYC a couple of times and I loaned him some dough to finance one of his albums (he paid me back). He really is a good guy.
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I'm pretty anti-amp myself at the moment. What did Ben have to say on the subject?
I'm gutless for about a month and a half. Left the bass in New York and doing some travelling. Played on a Christopher bass strung with Helicores for a couple gigs in Beijing and it killed me. Just didn't sound right. I don't know what the bass in LA is going to be strung with, Andy Allen's kind of crazy about strings as well. I miss my bass. :[
It was on the double bass section of the old AOL jazz message boards which were not unlike TB. A bunch of us would try to convince him that amps were necessary to be heard and his comment to us was something like "Ray Brown and Ron Carter couldn't convince me to use an amp, why do you think YOU guys will?" Most of us on the board at that time couldn't conceive of anyone NOT using an amp. Remember this was the mid-90's. This idea of never using an amp was pretty radical. We made our arguments to Ben and he made his back. It was because of his influence from those boards that I 1) tried gut strings for the first time (in 1999 or so for about 2 weeks) and also started to occasionally give up the amp. Obviously, I never totally gave up the amp.
We had some fun conversations. Just like here, I met a lot of great people on there. The biggest difference between the AOL boards and TB is more than bassists posted. It was just as likely that a guitarist or a composer or a drummer as a bassist would chime in even on matters pertaining to bass. Jason Marsalis used to post there quite a bit and it was great getting a drummer's perspective, particularly one as great as he is, on matters of bass.
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