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

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#381
Kev,
I've got this mix: Anima E, Garbo A and D and Gamut Lyon G on my ply. It's an old German or Czech with a 41" length. Full Circle pup. The bass is pretty dark, but a bit nasal with a little midrange honk. I've tried a bunch of strings on it and it sounds pretty good with everything I tried. Arco was good with mittels so you get some background on the bass itself.
I hesitated trying these strings, but I'm glad I did. The combination works very well, sounding warm and punchy with a strong fundamental. The gut G has a little snap to it to give a bright attack.

I finally got some new Animas that were backordered for weeks from LNR and I don't know whether to put them on the carved bass or go a different direction. I love Animas on that bass, but am digging the other bass right now. The big girl will just have to keep her nose in the corner while this plays out.
 
#382
clink said:
Kev,
I've got this mix: Anima E, Garbo A and D and Gamut Lyon G on my ply. It's an old German or Czech with a 41" length. Full Circle pup. The bass is pretty dark, but a bit nasal with a little midrange honk. I've tried a bunch of strings on it and it sounds pretty good with everything I tried. Arco was good with mittels so you get some background on the bass itself.
I hesitated trying these strings, but I'm glad I did. The combination works very well, sounding warm and punchy with a strong fundamental. The gut G has a little snap to it to give a bright attack.
Click to expand...

I too used this setup, but with a Garbo E, and soundwise I liked it very much. But I couldn't really get along with the jump in tension between Garbo D and Gamut medium G. I have plans on trying this in the future but with an Anima E, Garbo light D and a thicker Gamut. The quality of the Gamut was just amazing and probably the best overall sounding string I've ever played.
 
#383
I agree that the D and G don't perfectly match up. How spoiled we are to think going from maybe 25lbs on the D to 20lbs or so is a stretch, but they feel different. Both great for sure. On this bass, the D is fabulous so I can't complain about that. Is there a heavy Gamut?
 
#384
clink said:
I agree that the D and G don't perfectly match up. How spoiled we are to think going from maybe 25lbs on the D to 20lbs or so is a stretch, but they feel different. Both great for sure. On this bass, the D is fabulous so I can't complain about that. Is there a heavy Gamut?
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Dan makes everything from light to heavy+ gauges. He'll make whatever you want. You can order them directly through his website (gamutstrings.com) or you can just call him up. I talked to him on Friday. He's a nice guy. Makes great strings.

I use a medium G, A and E and a light D (A and E wrapped). I love all four strings.

mark
 
#385
calivox said:
I use a medium G, A and E and a light D (A and E wrapped). I love all four strings.

mark
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Is that Lyon or Pistoy you're using?

Playing today was a joy. It was THE sound I was hearing from myself! My wrapped Artone A is really great, I love it more each time I play. Gut makes the difference. I can't wait to put that Chorda E on! :hyper:
 
#388
calivox said:
So far I've only used Lyon strings but I have a medium Pistoy G and light Pistoy D on order from Dan Larson. So far I haven't run into anyone who has tried both.

Mark
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You'll probably be the second one here trying it, it seems like Bob Knebel is the only one playing pistoys. Yes, it's going to be great to hear a report on their differences. Looking forward to it! :D
 
#389
AndreasH said:
You'll probably be the second one here trying it, it seems like Bob Knebel is the only one playing pistoys. Yes, it's going to be great to hear a report on their differences. Looking forward to it! :D
Click to expand...

Bob was my hope of not having to try it but since he has ONLY tried Pistoys, someone else HAS to step up. And it looks like it is going to be me. I'm not sure when I'm going to put them on though. I just put a new medium Lyon G and light D on my '28 Juzek (and it already sounds amazing). They're starting to stabilize now. I'm going to put the E and A on soon although the Mittels that are on there now sound pretty good with the gut D and G (the Mittels sounded lousy with gut on the '74 bass).

I will report as soon as I know something.

mark
 
#390
calivox said:
Bob was my hope of not having to try it but since he has ONLY tried Pistoys, someone else HAS to step up. And it looks like it is going to be me. I'm not sure when I'm going to put them on though. I just put a new medium Lyon G and light D on my '28 Juzek (and it already sounds amazing). They're starting to stabilize now. I'm going to put the E and A on soon although the Mittels that are on there now sound pretty good with the gut D and G (the Mittels sounded lousy with gut on the '74 bass).

I will report as soon as I know something.

mark
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Credit to you Mark. ;)
 
#393
calivox said:
So far I've only used Lyon strings but I have a medium Pistoy G and light Pistoy D on order from Dan Larson. So far I haven't run into anyone who has tried both.

Mark
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T-Bal said:
You might PM Adrian Cho - he was heavy into the gamuts for a minute.
Click to expand...

Mark, I've been following your comments here with interest. I agree completely that guts are a different musical experience. The interaction of the bass with the band is not so much pushing through but supporting from below, like I think you've said. Some bands want the bass "cutting through"...

Interestingly maybe for some, I find that other band members can often actually hear the bass better with gut. The guts project extremely well in all positions and produce mid-range frequencies in addition to fundamental that Oblis or Evahs or even Spiros do not even approach. My trio drummer complained he couldn't hear amped Evahs (albeit on a pretty dark sounding bass), but he could hear the Gamuts well.

I'm now 8 months and going strong with a full set of Gamut Lyons on the gut bass and lovin it. I do have three new Pistoys on the shelf but am enjoying the Lyons too much at the moment to be bothered. Maybe there is a new thread in the making: Lyons v Pistoys. I can't say for sure, but from what Dan Larson has told me, the Pistoys a somewhat less focused sound, maybe not your jazz pizz string... I'll post a comment when I get around to trying them.

Bob Knebel is the only bassist I know of who has been playing the Pistoys as a regular string. Adrian Cho wrote some time back that he only played Lyons. UT said ditto.
 
#394
calivox said:
Bob was my hope of not having to try it but since he has ONLY tried Pistoys, someone else HAS to step up. And it looks like it is going to be me ...
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Oh Mark .... Step Right Up .... I tried a Pistoy G with a Lyon D .... Along with Garbo A & E and my new favorites ;) Anima A & E .... On plywoodys Kay'n'Epi. The Pistoy D is way-better IMO (medium D is good but I think the light speaks clearer .... heavy G is good) but I only play bone-head stuff.

Other locals way-better-than-me that have played my Pistoys really like "the bounce" and the feel. I think you real players will majorly-like the Pistoys once you have the hang. They are so-smooth. I firmly believe they are worth the extra-bucks.
 
#396
bonaventura said:
Bob, thanks for that. The Pistoy D light is what I got too. But I noticed you're playing an Anima A. So pa-leeze tell us about the Pistoy A again and how that all happened... :cool:
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The Pistoy A is better than all other plain A's that i've tried (Efrano, Fisoma, LaBella, Lenzner and whatever no name brands that i collected over the years) but still is pretty muddy for jazz pizz in my opinion. i like the sound on the very 1st positions because its really a fat sound, but after the E you get in muddland.
However if you slap a lot and dont go high on the fingerboard, this string will give you the fattest slap sound i have ever heard

Nuno
 
#398
Wow. Lot's of responses!

Ok. I'm a little concerned that the Pistoys are less focused than the Lyons. They probably won't last long on the bass if that's true with my basses as well. On the other hand, Bob just said he HAS tried both the Lyon and Pistoy D and likes the Pistoy better. I'll give them a go and see what happens. I've got gut on both basses now. The '74 is full gut and the '28 has gut on the D and G. I haven't swapped out the E and A yet (still Mittels). I haven't used the '28 on a gig yet either. The basses sound very different and I'm not sure which one I like better. The '28 has much more focused sound. The '74 has a hefty blooming body sound with a nice string punch that I've come to really like. Right now, the '74 amplifies much better but I haven't really worked with the '28 yet. On the other hand, all I did with the '74 was put the pickup on. No messing around. It sounded great immediately. The '28 is going to take some work based on the little I've worked with it so far.

I love the sound of the Gamut wrapped A. I can play it up through in thumb position without any problems at all. I doubt I'd like an unwrapped A. Of course, the benefits of the unwrapped A are: no wrappings that are drastically affected by heat and humidity.

Mark, I've been following your comments here with interest. I agree completely that guts are a different musical experience. The interaction of the bass with the band is not so much pushing through but supporting from below, like I think you've said. Some bands want the bass "cutting through"...
Click to expand...

Yeah. There have been a couple of gigs where cutting through would have been nice but, on the whole, I'm way happier with gut. In my ideal world, I'd have a team of technicians, all wearing white jumpsuits and baseball caps, following me around with a truck load of basses both gut and steel string. The appropriate bass for each tune would be handed to me, already tuned and ready to play, by a trusted tech. At the end of the gig, my team would break everything down, Indy 500 style, and load everything into the truck for a quick getaway. Of course, I'd have my personal team of attorneys remain behind to take care of getting the bar owner to pay up for the night. Alas, I don't live in my ideal world so I have to choose a bass to play and I choose gut.

My playing has gotten better playing on gut too. Once I got the touch down, technical things that would be difficult to pull off with steel strings are just a breeze with gut. Plus I think there is a more vocal quality to gut particularly when soloing. The hardest thing and the thing I struggle with daily is intonation. The notes just aren't in the same place on the fingerboard from minute to minute. I've kind of gotten used to it and it is worth the extra work for the ease of playing and THE SOUND.

mark
 
#399
bonaventura said:
..... I noticed you're playing an Anima A. So pa-leeze tell us about the Pistoy A again and how that all happened... :cool:
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BV .... It is a twisted tale right about now. I just got back my Epiphone from "Witch Doctor" Jake deVilliers and it has Pistoy G & D / Anima A & E. For almost a year my '40 Kay has had Pistoy G & D / Plain Pistoy A / Garbo E. I've had no major beefs with that group of strings for the music I play ... I like the monster A :D .

However .... When I got the Epi back from Jake in Seattle 3 weeks ago, I decided to leave him the Kay and perform his bag of set-up tricks and tweeks. I decided to ditch the whole set of strings and try a full-set of strings for a change :eek: .... Innov 140H "Honeys" ... Not steel but way-closer to steel than what was on it.

With two basses I decided it would be nice to have options. I especially want to have one bass for rough-duty indoor / outdoor playing in various conditions with more tune-stable / less-floppy / clear-note strings that other players can operate more easily when I loan it out. Who knows .... Maybe some Pistoys will be up-for-sale soon ;) .
 
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