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Double Bass GUTS ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!

#221
Here's a better shot of the strings.
5383959501_b184e01a27.jpg

I fell absolutely in love last night. Such a big, full, warm sound. It was the first time that I really heard myself in a different part of the tonal spectrum. I credit the Gamut G I just put on. It really balanced out the whole set.
 
#222
fingers said:
........ It was the first time that I really heard myself in a different part of the tonal spectrum............
Click to expand...

I have experimented with Velvet/guts before but until I had them on THIS bass I didn't really understand it. The notes are solid, bouncy and clear all at once. There is the solid fundamental but with so much character and snap that makes you take notice.



Nice pics and I dig the beard.:)
 
#224
I'm pretty new to double bass, I played about 8 years through high school and college, but I could never afford my own bass. I'll probably get an Ergo EUB, just so I have something to work on technique and play the occasional jazz gig. Has anyone put guts on an EUB with pleasing results. It seems like the characteristics of gut would balance the inherent brightness of piezo pickups.
 
#225
fingers said:
Get a Gamut Lyon G. I fell in love with Heavy. ... That G also has almost steel-like sustain.
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I've tried, and still have a Lyon Medium. It has a nice bloom compared to the Pistoy (D). However, the scratchiness of the Arco sound was a put off.

The Pistoy D I had on handled Arco a little smoother. Not that I play much Arco outside of practice, but I still feel I need to enjoy it. That is why I at least want to experiment with a Pistoy G. I have the option of throwing the other string on if and when I want.

I'm not yet at a professional level in my jazz studies/career like you and others in this thread. So I figure I should try many string experiments as my budget allows while still an undergrad student.
 
#226
I bought a Eudoxa A a while ago. I fell in love with it, and then bought a whole set off of a guy here on TB.

They're really achieving the tone I've had in my head for a while, and they're great orchestra strings. I can't imagine not playing gut now.
 
#227
MK1 said:
I'm pretty new to double bass, I played about 8 years through high school and college, but I could never afford my own bass. I'll probably get an Ergo EUB, just so I have something to work on technique and play the occasional jazz gig. Has anyone put guts on an EUB with pleasing results. It seems like the characteristics of gut would balance the inherent brightness of piezo pickups.
Click to expand...

Seems almost like sacrilege. Plus guts are very expensive if all you are hoping to do balance out the pickup. I'd suggest you try some dark steels or hybrids like Evahs, Bel Cantos, Helicore Orchestras...

Eudoxas are amazing sounding strings. I had issues with tuning stability that put me over the edge.
 
#228
Bowing bassists who use guts...what's the preferred set? I've done guts mixed with steel but I'm open to new ideas. Seems like the Anima/gut mix has become popular. I bow quite a bit and I bow in the upper registers. I never really found it that tough with my old set up of Chorda G, Lyon varn. Med D and Spiros...but i was happy to move on from the mixed set feeling to all steels. If my bass prefers gut, I'm open to the change but I'd like to remedy that mix problem I used to have. Any thoughts?
 
#229
I play a lot with the bow, and also a lot in the upper register! I have a full set of Gamut-guts on my bass, Medium+ Pistoy G, Light Pistoy D, and copper wound Heavy E & A, and they feel and sound amazing in all registers. I have had these strings on my bass since october last year, and I have never looked back!
I have previously used Spirocore medium and weich, Heliocore Hybrids, Obligatos, Evah's Medium and Weich, and most recently before the full set of guts I was using regular Evah's on E & A, and Olive's on D & G! Also a very nice mix for arco! But your question was about a full set of guts, and I think that the Pistoy's are super for bowing! And the wound guts on the bottom are also fantastic!
It is worth mentioning raised my action considerably (from about 6,5 mm on the G to about 11).
 
#230
Jason Sypher said:
Bowing bassists who use guts...what's the preferred set? I've done guts mixed with steel but I'm open to new ideas. Seems like the Anima/gut mix has become popular. I bow quite a bit and I bow in the upper registers. I never really found it that tough with my old set up of Chorda G, Lyon varn. Med D and Spiros...but i was happy to move on from the mixed set feeling to all steels. If my bass prefers gut, I'm open to the change but I'd like to remedy that mix problem I used to have. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

It depends, Jason. On my bass I prefer a full set of Eudoxa's. I might experiment switching out the G for an oliv, but I haven't been tempted to at all yet. I bow about 95%, and it's often repertoire like Brahms, Bach, etc,.

My teacher also uses full guts. He subs for OSM and National Ballet of Canada and such. He has an Oliv E, but I don't know the A and D. He uses an unwound G. Sounds like heaven.
 
#231
The Pistoy light + D arrived and it is a beautiful string. The quality of workmanship is really amazing.
So, I put it on a few hours ago, widening the bridge and nut slots slightly. The sound and feel at first were like a giant rubber band. Really nothing there. Gradually, as it began to hold pitch it tightened up and is beginning to sound quite good. It feels absolutely great.
I am really digging the bow on these gamuts. Although there is some of the PC sound, it is not as scratchy as I expected. Bowing this setup is much easier than my experience with mittels although I wouldn't recommend it for arco only.

More after the D and bass get to know each other some.
 
#232
Nice. The Lyon Medium D I have on my bass has taken a month to really come to life. When I first put it on I had the same experience as you. Even after it settled into pitch it was still kinda thumpy and undefined. Really annoying when playing a line that came from the Anima A. Enough so that I was doubting it. I hung in there though as I knew it takes time to break in. Now it has really started to find it's roar. Hang in there.
 
#234
Jason Sypher said:
I dig that. I think they bow well as long as you like that sound...
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Right. That's the thing for me. I think Guts sound like poop bowed when compared to Oliv or Flexocor or Original Flatchrome or frankly even Spirocores. When I had them on my old bass it became a swampy mess that was only tightened up with steel wrapped strings.

The newer ply bass sounds decent arco with gut strings. It still has some definition being a brighter instrument overall than the old carved bass. That being said from strictly arco perspective I was never in love with Paul Chambers sound. Gary Karr is what I'm after there. Gut can't do that.

And so, two basses....
 
#235
I really dug the bowed guts for what they were. I mainly began listening to more Edgar Meyer stuff and wanting to go up the fingerboard and decided that steel would make that easier. Here's me on the guts...


You can hear the gut quality but they're manageable for my style. Everytime I get a new bass I always want to hear how it sounds with guts...it's just instinct... I have picked up basses with guts in my hunt for a new instrument and just immediately said "well, these would have to come off"... But then I played Carlos' bass with the set and thought "man, these are so fun and sound so damn good"...

I almost can't believe I'm back at guts door looking at the gamut site and adding up costs....
 
#236
In my upright bass playing history (about 25 years now) I've had 3 Kays, 2 Strunals, 1 King, 1 Shen and my current Jacobus Hornsteiner. Some of these basses sounded better with steel than with gut. A louder bass that has some boom seems to lend itself to gut, and my current bass is the loudest and boomiest I've owned. I love the full set of Gamuts on it, and I can even bow on them without wincing (Pistoys are an improvement IMO) Other basses, like the Shen, had a very nice sound, but not real loud, and Spiro Weichs were my favorite on that one. The King, believe it or not, did not project all that well with guts. Billy Linneman told me that the King was the more expensive of the H.N. White basses, with more bracing and detailing, but the American Standard with it's big body became more popular. The King sounded awesome with Corelli 370s, and they were good for the long string scale. Both Strunals were pretty good with guts, OK with Spiros, best with Velvets. The Kays were a mixed bag, they sounded equally crappy with Spiros or guts ;).

So I guess my main point is that I've found that it takes the right bass to make guts really shine.

These days I bow on the Gamuts mostly for intonation practice. I bought a cello some time back, and when I'm looking to make a real arco tone, I play on the cello. My goal is to be able to play well enough to do a little simple live and studio work on the cello. It has Evah Pirazzi strings and they are a total pleasure to bow. I have to agree that plain and roundwound guts are not the best choice for arco playing, although bassists made do with them very well for many years.
There were a few times that I had 2 basses, one would always be set up arco-friendly. But I came to realize that I was really trying to emulate cello most of the time, and I've been too lazy to develop much thumb-position facility. So for now it's all gut pizzicato, and arco cello, and I've been pretty happy :D
 
#237
What you say makes a lot of sense. I had the Velvets with Lyon G on my big Romanian bass for a bit. That bass had thick plates and just didn't resonate. Although the strings felt great on it the bass didn't sound all that good.
My current bass is lightweight and has a thin top and crazy thin back which makes it easy to get moving. High tension strings can choke it so the Velvet/Gamuts are really nice. It will take some time for the bass and I to adjust but it's very likely I won't be going back to steel, at least on this bass.
 

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