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

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#781
You probably won't have too much trouble with humidity since you're using the EV's for the E and A. The D and G might drift a little but E and A will keep things mostly stable. If you were using wrapped gut for the E and A, you'd notice it a lot more. I have to really work the '74 with all gut to stay in tune. The '28 with 2 Garbos is almost as stable as Spiros.

As for the video, Jimmy Garrison has a HUGE sound. HUUUGGE.

Can you imagine being Joe Farrell playing with that group? You're pretty much doing your white boy imitation of 1962-63 era Coltrane with 2/3rds of Coltrane's actual rhythm section. It HAD to be incredibly intimidating. And now imagine you're Elvin or Jimmy. Three years earlier, they were on the cutting edge playing with one of the true visionary geniuses of the music. Now they're on their own with a guy, and I say this acknowledging that Joe Farrell turned into one of the all time greats, largely doing a pale imitation of their former boss. That had to be seriously frustrating.

mark
 
#782
Treyzer said:
Marc, Marcus and Mark,

You guys have hit all my buttons. Scott La Faro has always been my go to guy for the whole trip. For me, His sound, soloing and time keeping have always been the Gold Standard. John Patitucci is one of my favorite modern players and Drew Gress is a savant with time (someone to truly study). Dave Holland is and always will be a classic. One thing about them all is that they all sound like themselves regardless of their strings IMHO.

Regardless of strings I have so much work to do to get even close to where I want to be as a player that I'm not sure a string fetish will solve many of the secrets of double bass. On the other hand, Christmas and my Birthday are just around the corner, a Gamut G & D for just under 2 bills and I'm not playing my old Czech/German bass too much these days.........:hiding:

Thanks all for the great input.
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You should check out Charlie Mingus, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Doug Watkins, Steve Brown, Slam Stewart etc... This lead you in the path of knowing how Scotty figured out his playing!!! Good Luck
 
#784
BAJO said:
You should check out Charlie Mingus, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Doug Watkins, Steve Brown, Slam Stewart etc... This lead you in the path of knowing how Scotty figured out his playing!!! Good Luck
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Uhhh....Thanks so much....I'm nearing 60 and have had the good fortune to listen to this music since almost before I can remember; maybe about 5, my dad was a big jazz lover and had an extensive collection of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson to name but a few. I also lived and worked in the music biz in L.A, during the 1970's through the early 1990's. I actually got to meet Ray Brown and even got to see him play up close and personal at Dantes in North Hollywood a number of times. I was a memeber of local 47 for years and years and look forward to my retirement checks in about 5 years but again....Thanks
 
#785
Marcus Johnson said:
...I do have baby powder in the gig bag....
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just for emergencies, hehe... :D

calivox said:
You probably won't have too much trouble with humidity since you're using the EV's for the E and A. The D and G might drift a little but E and A will keep things mostly stable. If you were using wrapped gut for the E and A, you'd notice it a lot more. I have to really work the '74 with all gut to stay in tune. The '28 with 2 Garbos is almost as stable as Spiros.

As for the video, Jimmy Garrison has a HUGE sound. HUUUGGE.

Can you imagine being Joe Farrell playing with that group? You're pretty much doing your white boy imitation of 1962-63 era Coltrane with 2/3rds of Coltrane's actual rhythm section. It HAD to be incredibly intimidating. And now imagine you're Elvin or Jimmy. Three years earlier, they were on the cutting edge playing with one of the true visionary geniuses of the music. Now they're on their own with a guy, and I say this acknowledging that Joe Farrell turned into one of the all time greats, largely doing a pale imitation of their former boss. That had to be seriously frustrating.

mark
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insightful comment mark. i was sort of thinking the same thing. Joe Farrell played brilliantly on that video, but it is very clearly a Coltrane imitation and as with all things that are imitation... it just isn't the real thing and just reminds you of how great the real thing was.

maybe this belongs over in the old "Gamut Guts" thread... but i took off my Gamut wound E for a few hours yesterday. first time in almost a year. I guess I was just getting itchy to experiment. wanted to see how a used Anima E would sound. Jeez, it confirmed to me how good the Gamut wound E is. the Anima has good fundamental and a metallic bright overtones, but in between those two extremes it lacks what gut gives imo. the Gamut E has fundamental, less bright overtones, but the mid-tone frequencies just fill it all in. and with that soft breathlike sound only gut can give. needless to say, I strung the Gamut E back on and am going to leave it there for at least a while. the tuning thing is not that much of a hassle...
 
#786
Yeah. You can't beat that gut sound. I'm about 10 seconds away from pulling the trigger on set of Carlos' Chordas. I e-mailed Pirastro and the set costs $400. That's right with a "4". They don't take credit cards so I have to go to the bank and do a bank transfer if I want them. I'd probably put them on the '28 and, at least temporarily, retire the Garbos. We'll see.

mark
 
#787
calivox said:
Yeah. You can't beat that gut sound. I'm about 10 seconds away from pulling the trigger on set of Carlos' Chordas...
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The gut sound is astoundingly un-copyable, I mean, for all the attempts. So many stringmakers say a string is "gut-like". They may sound good, but they certainly don't beat gut. Imitations are just, well, imitations.

I see Chordas are not available from the main bass string suppliers. Lemur in California is the only one I saw that carries them. but you can put a "97" after your "4". If Pirastro sells them for USD 400, that may well be a deal. Or is that Euros?
 
#790
I am not a very prolific contributer, so I rarely post. When I do, most folks ignore my rambling, and rightly so.

That aside, I really dug 'em. I just took them off to do a little compare/contrast to a full set of Damian Dlugolecki's strings. The Chorda's were much more broken in, so it's a little tough to compare at the moment. Here's my opinion as it stands now:

They are very stable in pitch, like Pirastro says. Once they got used to the Seattle climate and my bass (about 1-2 weeks), they held pitch very well. Like any gut string, they have to acclimate to the room, which takes about 15 minutes, but after that, they only needed to be tuned once a set. They had a very pleasant tension, not too soft and not too stiff. They are very easy on the hands. As far as sound goes, they are beautiful. Completely old-school sound. I spend most of my time trying to emulate Sam Jones, Ray Brown and Percy Heath so they were right up my alley. Definitely the best I have heard. The D can get a little dead as you go up in register, but I have come to believe that is the nature of my set up and playing style. I am excited to see how the Dlugolecki's age and compare with the Chorda's. Gut strings seem a little bit like wine to me, in that they don't really get old as much as they mature in sound.

So, there you go. I'm not as good at writin' as some of the other folks around here, but that's my opinion. If you need to know more, PM me and maybe we can talk on the phone, which I am much better at.
 
#793
Also, it's worth pointing out that the Dlugolecki strings I have on are the same size/gauge as the Henriquez (dunno if I spelled that right) Chorda's. I had D-money wind 'em up special so I could really do a fair comparison.

Which ever one I end up chosing, the DD's or the C.h. Chorda's, I think I'll stick with 'em for quite some time. I am very happy with the sound.
 
#794
What are your initial impressions? Does the Dlugolecki have the same deadish D that the Chordas have on your bass?

We all realize that every bass is different. I have gut on both basses ('28 and '74 Juzeks). The Gamut Lyon D was kind of thunky sounding on the '74 and it sounds like a lower pitched version of the G on the '28. I had to try a Pistoy D on the '74 to get a G Lyon like timbre on the D.

mark
 
#795
If the DD strings are similar to the Pirastro C.H. Chordas, I'll put my money on the USA made DD strings. I live in the USA, and I'd rather keep my hard earned cash circulating in our economic pool.

And if D'Addario ever gets back to making Golden Spirals here on the continent, I'm going to give those a try too.

So thanks for making the effort of comparison with the two sets, I've been wondering about this myself.
 
#796
I have yet to try DD strings. In my limited experience with Chordas I preferred the Gamut strings myself. I didn't play any gigs on them however as I did with Gamuts.
 
#797
Initially, the Dlugolecki D has a little more sustain in the upper register than the Chorda does, but it is still pretty thunky. I think that has a lot to do with my setup and playstyle. My strings are pretty high off the fingerboard, and I pull as hard as is physically possible with only my index finger at all times. I have a tendency to blunt even the liveliest of strings.

As with MR PC, if they end up being comparable in sound to the Chorda's, I will stick with them. Damien is a really nice guy, and a fellow Pacific Northwesterner ( I think. I am not good at geography ) so I will stay with him. But, the C.H. Chorda's sounded pretty damn good.
 
#798
Marcus Johnson said:
Man.... that was my background music when I was in diapers.... thanks, Mom & Dad! :cool:
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Hey Mark,

Sorry about misunderstanding your response!! I'm so embarrassed about this!! Thank you Calivox, for helping me out!! I hope you guys understand!!
Treyzer, thank you so much for your response and also explaining your history!! 47 years in the union!! wow! Man, that's some good time! Didn't want to sound like a teacher! just wanted to add some knowledge to Scotty's playing .. Anyway, hope to hook up one day!!:)
 
#799
BAJO said:
Hey Mark,

I can take the Dad part however, I'm sure you know that I'm not a b--ch! So, i would take the Mom out when you get a chance :)
Excuse me if I offended your origins just wanted to clarify some history and maybe have you explain to us the contributions of those great bass players whom were your "background" music when you were in diapers:)
Obviously you have a certain style and sound you like but it really shows us on talk bass that you really haven't studied the background music you so called!
Treyzer, thank you so much for your response and also explaining your history!! 47 years in the union!! wow! Man, that's some good time! Didn't want to sound like a teacher! just wanted to add some knowledge to Scotty's playing and what not.. Anyway, hope to hook up one day!!:)
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Should I get the popcorn ready?:hiding:
 
#800
BAJO said:
Hey Mark,

I can take the Dad part however, I'm sure you know that I'm not a b--ch! So, i would take the Mom out when you get a chance :)
Excuse me if I offended your origins just wanted to clarify some history and maybe have you explain to us the contributions of those great bass players whom were your "background" music when you were in diapers:)
Obviously you have a certain style and sound you like but it really shows us on talk bass that you really haven't studied the background music you so called!
Treyzer, thank you so much for your response and also explaining your history!! 47 years in the union!! wow! Man, that's some good time! Didn't want to sound like a teacher! just wanted to add some knowledge to Scotty's playing and what not.. Anyway, hope to hook up one day!!:)
Click to expand...

Not that Marcus needs anyone to defend him but I think some of what he wrote was lost in translation. Carlos, I think Marcus just wrote he was exposed to the people that you suggested we listen to by his mother and father and he publicly thanked them for it. There was no offense meant to you in any way.

mark
 
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