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

[Mark Perna]

Continuing with the Great Pistoy Experiment...

Played a gig this afternoon. Plugged in with the Pistoys for the first time. Warming up, it was AMAZING. Then the band started playing and it was just ok. I think I like the Lyon G a bit better for the way it sits in the mix and, particularly for soloing. When I got going soloing, the Pistoy G sounded kind of like a Helicore through the amp. It was a little too direct sounding with my rig. Now maybe I could revise my pickup/amp system and dial some of that out but going back to a Lyon G would be easier.

The D on the other hand might be a keeper. More direct than the Lyon but not sounding like a hybrid string through the amp. I'm either going to give the G another shot on Wednesday (my next gig) or I'm going to swap the G out for a Lyon and try the Lyon G/Pistoy D combo. I'll probably decide tomorrow (because I'd like to let the G settle for a couple days before the gig).

mark

 

[AndreasH]

Link Removed

i figured i upload a recording that i just did last week. after experimenting with around 5 or 6 different types and gauges of strings and a quick soundpost tweak the week before, i've finally been able to get a recorded bass sound that i'm actually happy with. Unknown guts and Velvet Garbos

the track is "Triplin Awhile" a great blues by Harold Land.

check it out

Nice playing Kevin, as usual. Killer solo! You sound great with those unknown guts Can you post any pictures of them?

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Nice playing Kevin, as usual. Killer solo! You sound great with those unknown guts Can you post any pictures of them?

attached. let's get an ID on them!

also uploaded another track on Myspace
Question and Answer

 

[Mark Perna]

Absolutely killer stuff Kevin. Your time is better than mine. I'm jealous.

mark

 

[Mark Perna]

They look like Gamut Lyons.

mark

 

[AndreasH]

Yes, maybe Lyons. But it could be just about anything.

Kevin, do you have a micrometer or know someone who has one? Getting the diameters would probably narrow down the choices a bit.

 

[MT Spaces]

Like I Said Earlier .... Kevin Is A Good Kid !

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Yes, maybe Lyons. But it could be just about anything.

Kevin, do you have a micrometer or know someone who has one? Getting the diameters would probably narrow down the choices a bit.

I'll see if i can pick something up.

Like I Said Earlier .... Kevin Is A Good Kid !

haha thanks bob. appreciate it. i have to thank ALL OF YOU GUYS on TB for helping me get such a healthy start on this instrument. if it wasn't for me i would have been easily misguided

 

[Mark Perna]

I haven't read it in a while, but in the Gamut Guts thread, I think that someone spoke to Dan Larson about the differences between the two. If I remember this right, the person who asked Dan was told that Pistoy was more flexible and that he recommended Lyon for jazz pizz because of the stiffness. I could remember it all wrong. Does this ring a bell for someone?

The qualities you are describing sounds absolutely amazing for a gut D, making me frustrated that my wallet is so thin at the moment Maybe the new trend will be Pistoy D, Lyon G...

I seem to be having the opposite experience to what Dan Larson said would happen. I find the Pistoys less flexible not more. They are definitely easier to play fast on. They take MUCH less energy to get going. In many ways they play like a steel string although with much less tension (and without the sizzly midrange). The Pistoy is a lot easier to play in tune like a steel string too. I think I miss the the guttiness of the Lyon G though. The Pistoy G was kind of plastic-y sounding through the amp without the bloom that the Lyon has. And acoustically, it is smaller sounding and quieter than the Lyon.

Through the amp, I liked the Pistoy D. It sounded a bit like a deep, lower pitched Lyon G string. I think it would match with the Lyon G nicely. I think I'm talking myself into switching the Pistoy G out for the Lyon tonight.

Y'know everything is a compromise. If you want the fat traditional gut sound, you lose a lot of flexibility with soloing and playing melodically. If you thin it out or go to steel strings so you have more soloing options, you lose that fat sound for comping which is, of course, what we do 90% of the time.

mark

 

[Marcus Johnson]

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the track is "Triplin Awhile" a great blues by Harold Land.

That was killin'. Great tune, and the you and the bass sound unbelievable.

Shee-it (can I say that? it's a complement ) between you and Calivox, my next set of strings is going to already have a whole bunch of mofo mojo built in.... I hope I can do them justice!

 

[Mark Perna]

Question and Answer sounds great Kevin. You sound great. How long have you been playing?

mark

 

[Mark Perna]

About that Marcus. The D will probably be a little thumpy at first. It takes a week or maybe longer to really stretch out. It will get less thumpy and more defined over time. Since it's been stretched out, it probably won't take too long to get there.

mark

 

[Mark Perna]

Yes, maybe Lyons. But it could be just about anything.
.

Yeah, you're right. The only thing I can say with certainty is they aren't Gamut Pistoys.

mark

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Question and Answer sounds great Kevin. You sound great. How long have you been playing?

mark

thanks mark. you sound great as well! i've been playing for about three years now. played quite a bit of violin and piano before that

 

[AndreasH]

Y'know everything is a compromise. If you want the fat traditional gut sound, you lose a lot of flexibility with soloing and playing melodically. If you thin it out or go to steel strings so you have more soloing options, you lose that fat sound for comping which is, of course, what we do 90% of the time.

mark

Exactly.

But for me, I couldn't really play those thin, midrange, "mwaah"-strings anyway so I'm left with no choice

 

[AndreasH]

thanks mark. you sound great as well! i've been playing for about three years now

... ...

 

[Marcus Johnson]

About that Marcus. The D will probably be a little thumpy at first. It takes a week or maybe longer to really stretch out. It will get less thumpy and more defined over time. Since it's been stretched out, it probably won't take too long to get there.

mark

Cool, I'll watch for that. Remember, my reference point is La Bella Guts (at best) on extremely questionable ply basses. So I think I'll be okay.

I wonder how long I'll be able to wait to install them... I really should stick with the Evahs until after my Big Deal Gig at the end of August. Maybe I could just put the Gamuts on top, and then jump into the deep end after my live/recorded commitments are out of the way. But I can't guarantee that! That's probably another thread....

 

[Mark Perna]

thanks mark. you sound great as well! i've been playing for about three years now. played quite a bit of violin and piano before that

Yeah. That's what I thought. I wasn't fishing for a compliment. I was pretty sure you started just a short time ago. I got my first bass in 1980 so I'm coming up on 30 years (and I'm a baby compared some on here). If I played as well in 1983 as you do now, I'd be a full time bassist now instead of "supplementing" my income as a medical physicist. You've really got something. Remember us when you're touring with Wynton.

mark

 

[Mark Perna]

I wonder how long I'll be able to wait to install them... I really should stick with the Evahs until after my Big Deal Gig at the end of August. Maybe I could just put the Gamuts on top, and then jump into the deep end after my live/recorded commitments are out of the way. But I can't guarantee that! That's probably another thread....

You can always put the Evahs back on.

My prediction is once you put the top ones on, you'll last a day with the Evahs on the bottom before you switch them out too.

One thing you need to worry about is temperature and humidity changes WILL change the tuning. Drastically depending on the change. It is nothing you can't get used to. I'm pretty used to it now. But you need time to learn how to deal with it. Trying to deal with it on a TV feed playing very consonant music might not be the best time to learn. If you do switch out before the big gig, do it right away so you can get as much experience as possible before the big gig. Actually, keeping the Evah bottoms on would certainly lessen this effect as they would be fairly stable under temperature and humidity change.

I keep a tuner plugged into the effects out of my amp and for the first 3 months as a full time gut player would check my tuning against the tuner between every tune and, if I could sneak a long open string in, during tunes. I only check it periodically now but I still keep it on and ready.

mark

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Yeah. That's what I thought. I wasn't fishing for a compliment. I was pretty sure you started just a short time ago. I got my first bass in 1980 so I'm coming up on 30 years (and I'm a baby compared some on here). If I played as well in 1983 as you do now, I'd be a full time bassist now instead of "supplementing" my income as a medical physicist. You've really got something.

mark

Aw thanks Mark. I mean it about your playing though, really.

We pretty much have had the usual suspects of the gut thread all together for the past hour or so.