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

#201
Invalid Link Removed makes a plain gut E and A. I can't really comment on the quality of them, but i can say the quality of their G is very good and works perfect with the lyon D on my bass.
 
#203
True!!!!! They all gut if they gut!!! Silly technicality about the wrapping or what ever is totally irrelevant. Chorda is a brilliant set either way!! I only tried to explain that poor dude seemed a bit puzzled about the strings getting thiner or something. Anyway wound gut or plan gut are both gut!
thebassbass said:
sorry i just thought that when a string is made out of gut it is gut i mean that is what gut is, right? If it is wound or not,why else would they need so say if it is wound or not if it has to be plan gut to be called gut . For that matter why call it plan gut why not just gut? You know why because you have both wound and plan gut both are equally called gut. so they have to make the distinction. so if i am wrong what would you call the E & A out of the set? not wound gut we all know that string is not gut, but yet is would not fall into the steel string category mabe a synthetic string i don't know.
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#206
I used to have to change Spiros out every 6-8 months. They would just die on me--hard to play, loss of volume and hard to intonate. I've been on a set of Gamuts (Pistoy D/G) since last August and they aren't even approaching death yet. I'm curious to see how much longer they'll last. I have a Garbo E that has likewise been on since August and it is still going strong too. I've swapped As a couple of times. I need to get the set to last more than 18 months to be cheaper than Spiros for me. So far it looks like I'm going to make it. We'll see.

mark
 
#211
Don Higdon said:
A propos of nothing - The other day I was talking to a bassist who mentioned that her gut strings were about 20 years old. If that's to be believed, guts are inexpensive.
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I've had the same set Dlugolecki's on for a year and a half. This summer I've been playing outside quite a bit and the foggy ocean air and/or dry hot wind definitely is a challenge to manage. Last night was two+ hours outside in the fog. The unwound strings ended up pretty hairy and sticky feeling. This morning I clipped the hairs and then oiled with mineral oil and "sanded" with a green scrubber (the kind for pots & pans). This took all the gunk and crud off and smoothed out the surface. I expect at least a few more years out of this set maybe more.

Also of note, when it's really dry the windings on the E & A can get loose. So far it's not very buzzy but I've come up with two tricks to minimize the buzz when it happens.

First- realize that when the gut core gets it's moisture back the windings will tighten back up so don't panic. (Noted on the first day of recording!) Relax and don't over obsess about it because, honestly, no one but you and a very expensive mic will hear it. The string is just fine!

Second- sometimes the core is actually twisted on the playing length. Carefully loosen the string until you can remove the knot from the tail piece without removing the other end from the peg, let it untwist. Replace the knot and bring the string most of the way back to tension. Carefully lift the string out of the bridge groove to ease any "bunching" of the windings on the tail piece side then bring the string back to full tension.This last thing is good to do regularly with gut strings as it helps keep the bridge from tilting.

-Jeff
 
#212
After reading through as many of these threads as I could and asking Marcus a bunch of questions, I ordered a Gamut Lyon D and G. I'm going to try them with the Garbo E and A that I have on my NS Cleveland. I have a feeling it's going to sound huge. :)

I had Animas on it for about 3 yrs but changed to Spiro Weichs last year. Just put the old set of Garbos that I've had on the shelf (bought used a few years back and never used them).
 
#216
Wound gut strings are a nightmare in fluctuating humidity. The plains are less so. I've just given up on a set of Gamuts due to this issue. I love these strings when conditions are optimum, but when the weather gets wacky, as it does in NYC during the summer, they're just not practical for someone making a living with the bass. I go from a non-AC apartment to an AC subway to a halfway AC gig and back several times a week. I've grown accustomed to the lower tension of gut, so I'm gonna give Obligatos a whirl. We'll see what transpires.
 
#217
zeytoun said:
I know you gut players hate hot/humid weather, but how to guts fair in cool, damp weather (like Portland and Pac NW winters)?
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As a Seattle gut string player, I think I can chime in here. I think our climate is pretty ideal for gut strings. We don't seem to have the extremes that other areas have. What really seems to affect this strings is stark changes in temperature and humidity, and since it's rarely very cold or very hot and our humidity is about the same year round, the strings seem to settle pretty well.

The exception is during the summer, but since our summer is only about 6 weeks, it's not an issue. The worst experience I ever had was in July when the temperature was in the 90's and I was playing a gig in a busy bar, and we were right by the door/windows. The hot air outside was clashing with the air conditioned inside, and my strings were not happy.
 
#218
bassbuddie said:
I do not know about Portland, but here in Montreal right now, it's about 65% humidity.
I have a lot of trouble with my A string (my E string is a garbo) but the Gamut Pistoy D ang G are not that bad with humidity. I think the worst is with the A and E string. You can ask Calivox about that.

Francois
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Since you asked...

I gave up on wrapped gut for this very reason. I'm using Gamut Pistoy D/G and Garbo A/E and this setup is ROCK SOLID even in dramatically fluctuating temperature and humidity changes (and we've had some doozies this year). I generally have to tune once at the beginning of the night and I'm in and it stays in. When I used a Gamut wrapped A with the Garbo E, the A would sometimes go sharp or flat as much as 2 steps during a gig. Outside of the drag of constantly having to tune throughout a performance, constantly tuning changed the tension on the top of the bass which resulted in tremendous inconsistency in the bass's sound. If it was hot, tuning up wasn't so bad as more tension went onto the top but when it was cold/low humidity, dropping the A string 2 steps made the whole bass sound like a washtub bass.

I thought I'd miss the sound of the wrapped gut A but I haven't at all. I'm totally digging the sound of the Garbo A with the Garbo E and Pistoy D/G. And the consistency of sound from night to night and throughout the night is a MAJOR bonus.

mark
 
#219
I'm having a set of Chorda CH's put on my bass as we speak, I've chickened for 2 years but I now finally biting the bullet

I'm a little concerned after reading this that I'm going to have trouble with the wrapped A and E. Now I live in the UK and don't the same humidity issues and temperature fluctuations most of you guys do. However I'm playing a couple of festivals (August 1st being the first) and have a very exacting band leader with huge ears what any advice would be much appreciated.

Regards

Laurence
 

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