I had my Lenzner all plain gut set for about fives years ( E string is about to break in the peg box) but other than that they are still going strong (I'm saving for a set of Gamuts!!)
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Double Bass GUTS ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!
- Thread starter Marc Piane
- Start date
MK
... Even though I live a damn-dry climate, I have also seen Some Hairyness on my pistoys after 3 years. Just a suggestion .... After you rub-down with worn-out sandpaper (or burned-off the stray hairs with a 7-Eleven Bic fat-joint-lighter as Marcus has done in Hawaii 
) .... Try to wipe them down clean with wipe'n'clear alcohol lens wipes and apply several coats of Formby's tung oil varnish to seal them up again. Moisture won't so-easily make them hairy again. Works for me but I don't know if that is officially Gamut-Dan approved or not 
.
Hi All,
I'm hoping someone can help me out with this - I'm an absolute Noob when it comes to Gut strings, but am looking for some help with string ID.
I sat in on a guy's bass last night who was using an all Gut set up - The D & G were plain gut and the E & A were wrapped, but not like guts that I've tried previously. They were metal wrapped, but were almost flat wound - much smoother than any guts that I had tried before (although my gut experience is pretty limited!). Dark blue windings on the tailpiece end (and I think in the pegbox as well). I asked, but he wasn't sure what they were...
Strings felt great - getting me thinking...
I'm hoping someone can help me out with this - I'm an absolute Noob when it comes to Gut strings, but am looking for some help with string ID.
I sat in on a guy's bass last night who was using an all Gut set up - The D & G were plain gut and the E & A were wrapped, but not like guts that I've tried previously. They were metal wrapped, but were almost flat wound - much smoother than any guts that I had tried before (although my gut experience is pretty limited!). Dark blue windings on the tailpiece end (and I think in the pegbox as well). I asked, but he wasn't sure what they were...
Strings felt great - getting me thinking...
OMG. I'm really loving these. It takes so little effort and feels like you can really coax a nuanced sound out. The zen/effortless playing really rings true. Pull them hard and your playing slows down while the string doesn't feel like it fires off efficiently. Play with a softer feel and you can really get them to fly and express all sorts of stuff.
I'm thinking that the advantage we have over the older generations is now we don't have to focus so much on pull out a gigantic sound. Focus on a relaxed and quality sound and let the amp do the volume work.
Going back to spiros? Fuggetaboutit!
OMG. I'm really loving these. It takes so little effort and feels like you can really coax a nuanced sound out. The zen/effortless playing really rings true. Pull them hard and your playing slows down while the string doesn't feel like it fires off efficiently. Play with a softer feel and you can really get them to fly and express all sorts of stuff.
I'm thinking that the advantage we have over the older generations is now we don't have to focus so much on pull out a gigantic sound. Focus on a relaxed and quality sound and let the amp do the volume work.
Going back to spiros? Fuggetaboutit!
No amp with these 3 guts:
Gut 3-stringer clip
George
I'm tellin' ya man. Some people laugh at me like I'm going backwards playing guts. I don't see it like that. They've opened the whole thing up for me.
I'm glad you're digging them but this statement hurts my soul. The goal should still be to get as huge of a sound as possible acoustically and let the amp support that if needed.
Sorry Marc, maybe we're saying the same thing but IMO, bigger doesn't necessarily mean louder. Pulling hard and digging harder in on the strings doesn't sound as good in terms of tone. I want quality not quantity. If I have to play softer to get a better sound - so be it. That probably puts me in the Ron Carter side of things. That said, I don't neccessarily like Mr. Carter's sound at times, but he seems to blame that on the recording engineers. Anyways, that's for a separate topic.
Fortunately for everybody, there's more than one way to get a pleasing sound as there are plenty of different pleasing sounds.
Fortunately for everybody, there's more than one way to get a pleasing sound as there are plenty of different pleasing sounds.
The touch is different to pull the sound out of the guts vs. steels. I play with a relaxed touch but I get more volume out of the bass with guts than with steels. It took me many months of practice and gigs post switch to guts to get to this point. The amp does less work now than before though and, in many cases (many more than I ever could get away with with steels), I don't bother with an amp.
mark
mark
I think I pull as hard but have had to adjust my finger attack angle. The cool thing is the hard attack seems to have more effect on the punch at the attack but not necessarily the volume. There are more sounds at my fingertips. I have also found that I can be much more dynamically expressive with guts.
I'm with Mark though. I do way more ampless or mic/PA gigs than I ever did with steel. Even when I use an amp it has become much more of an afterthought than it ever was. Part of that might be that guts amplify really well but part of it is also how my playing and listening has changed. That was the hardest thing for me. You really have to learn to hear yourself in a different way. I've got stories for days but you really just need to play and let your brain and hands adjust.
I'm with Mark though. I do way more ampless or mic/PA gigs than I ever did with steel. Even when I use an amp it has become much more of an afterthought than it ever was. Part of that might be that guts amplify really well but part of it is also how my playing and listening has changed. That was the hardest thing for me. You really have to learn to hear yourself in a different way. I've got stories for days but you really just need to play and let your brain and hands adjust.
I don't know if I'm imagining this or not, because it's been awhile since I've played anything other than guts... but it feels to me as though my bass is just responding more at its lower volumes. It feels as though the bass is still shaking and moving some air even when it's whisper quiet. I don't remember that feeling with steels or hybrids. But again, player's perception is a funny thing, so maybe it's just a quirk in how I'm hearing the bass. I do enjoy playing a large percentage of my gigs without an amp now.
I've been steel-less for quite a few months now.
Marcus, I find the same thing. Sometimes, it feels like I'm barely playing at all, but I can still feel and hear the bass. I'm finding this a lot in the wind band that I play with. Also, I noticed that even though my bass isn't nearly as good as other basses in my section, I can also hear my distinct wrapped-gut sound (everyone else has steels). The gut sound is like a sick obsession now - I can't get enough, and I don't like basses without guts. I'm thinking of having a bass made for me soon, and I told them (Upton) specifically - "This bass will be strung with Eudoxa's". I just can't give it up.
Marcus, I find the same thing. Sometimes, it feels like I'm barely playing at all, but I can still feel and hear the bass. I'm finding this a lot in the wind band that I play with. Also, I noticed that even though my bass isn't nearly as good as other basses in my section, I can also hear my distinct wrapped-gut sound (everyone else has steels). The gut sound is like a sick obsession now - I can't get enough, and I don't like basses without guts. I'm thinking of having a bass made for me soon, and I told them (Upton) specifically - "This bass will be strung with Eudoxa's". I just can't give it up.
Good Stuff George
. I live in Montana USA and our state just finished hosting a 3-year stint of The National Folk Festival .... Now it is onto Nashville TN ... The National Folk Festival - Nashville, TN September 2-4, 2011 . Nashvegas seems to get everything ... Sooner or later. Before you know it .... Toby Keith, Diercks Bentley, and Carrie Underwood will be playing watered-down Django Reinhardt gypsy-jazz music and calling it "Country" .Our Montana 3-year "acquisition" of the NFF in Butte USA was Huge for our State
. I saw so-many wonderful bands and a lot of good upright bass players playing gut strings .Our state is continuing The Festival into 2011 and Beyond .... A Montana Music & Arts Festival. The Montana Folk Festival in Butte, Montana July 8-10, 2011. FREE ADMISSION. - HOME .
Please sign-up your Romanian folk-band "stuff" and come and visit sometime. We love "ethnic" music. Butte USA is a melting-pot of folks and music.
"They" (serbs, croats, micks, hunkys, finlanders, italians, germans, welsh, chinese ... others too-numerous to mention ... I am one of those) .... They all came over 100 years ago to escape European poverty only to step into a big-pile of copper mining corporate and health-endangering Crap ... The Richest Hill On Earth ..... Butte, Montana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
!I wonder if this is just flogging the subject to death... but the Gamut full set just seems to improve from week to week. Maybe it's worth mentioning , just for anyone who might be on the fence about dropping close to five bills on a set of strings.
I'm used to other strings holding their own for a certain period, and then beginning that little creep towards deadness, which is when I used to start budgeting for the next set. These are just getting better. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall, and it's just not happening. I'm starting to wonder if it's possible for a 54 year old bassist, who works pretty much every night, to play one set of strings for the rest of his career. If that were to happen, I would be more than fine with this set of Gamuts.
I'm used to other strings holding their own for a certain period, and then beginning that little creep towards deadness, which is when I used to start budgeting for the next set. These are just getting better. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall, and it's just not happening. I'm starting to wonder if it's possible for a 54 year old bassist, who works pretty much every night, to play one set of strings for the rest of his career. If that were to happen, I would be more than fine with this set of Gamuts.
I'm not sure about longevity. I haven't had mine for two weeks and a bunch of hairs have already cropped up - they're varnished. Went with the lighter and light sanding approach.
Did my gig in the park yesterday, it was great. My drummer
loves the guts, says its just more 'clear and distinct'.
Tomorrow night is a tribute concert in honor of Alvin Hall, a
life long percussionist and sometime drummer for our band.
I had the privilege of playing with Alvin for a couple years, he
was in his 80s and had roots back to the Basie band. He will
be missed and always in my music!
After 2 weeks on the bass I've seen no 'hairs', the most odd
thing about these strings is the way the E string actually goes
sharp when the other 3 strings go flat.
I love the strings more with every day I play them!
loves the guts, says its just more 'clear and distinct'.
Tomorrow night is a tribute concert in honor of Alvin Hall, a
life long percussionist and sometime drummer for our band.
I had the privilege of playing with Alvin for a couple years, he
was in his 80s and had roots back to the Basie band. He will
be missed and always in my music!
After 2 weeks on the bass I've seen no 'hairs', the most odd
thing about these strings is the way the E string actually goes
sharp when the other 3 strings go flat.
I love the strings more with every day I play them!
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