Tension wise I think Zyex lights would work, only a bit higher tension than Spiro solos.
Where did you score the golden spirals?
Where did you score the golden spirals?
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Double Bass GUTS ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!
- Thread starter Marc Piane
- Start date
I messaged someone here who sold them a few years ago on the classifieds. Asked who he sold them too and he said "someone in England. They were returned due to a customs issue". They feel very similar to the Artones I had before which is good. Now I just gotta get the bass playing nicely
Zyex lights sound really good! Only got to throw them on and pluck a few notes but the tension is almost what I want. The A is just as much tension as the D which I like. The E slightly more which isn't a bad thing. I'll stick with them for a bit
Ok so now that the tension is pretty even on my plywood i've been playing it all day. I love it. But i get really tight while playing the bass and i am over playing the strings. Interesting....
Yeah. There's a reason that older German bows were war clubs -- mass seems to make bowing gut easier. Try Oak rosin.
I actually feel the opposite and use less pressure to start the string. Practice placing the bow on the string, very light weighting, then try to start the string with the goal of creating a distinct "ping" at the beginning. It's more of a "grab and then release" the string. I was a gut guy for years and I studied with an early music specialist to learn to play gut. Bowing gut can be counterintuitive. But whatever you do, don't squash the sound....
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I'm off the Gut train. I couldn't deal with the tension difference going from my gut string bass (plywood) to my carved bass. I threw the set of zyex lights on my plywood and they'll stay there till I get a set of innovations or a new bridge.
Side note, I found out when stringing up the full set of zyex (I had zyex lights on the low 2 strings) I found out I had been using the D string as an A string. Amazingly the tension worked great on my plywood. Using the D string tuned to A and the E string tuned normal. Gotta pay attention to the color codes haha.
Side note, I found out when stringing up the full set of zyex (I had zyex lights on the low 2 strings) I found out I had been using the D string as an A string. Amazingly the tension worked great on my plywood. Using the D string tuned to A and the E string tuned normal. Gotta pay attention to the color codes haha.
That's the problem I found when I had one bass strung with guts and the other with "modern" strings. It was hard making that transition.
What flavor Innovations are you planning to try?
- Steve
I`ve been happy with Spiro solo EA / plain gut DG combo, but have had the need to try out a plain gut A. So I tried a monster gauge ( looked more like plain E ) plain A that came with the anonymous DG I got cheap from a buddy, for some two weeks. Turned out that the string is prolly defective as it had bent on couple of spots. Even the open string produced weird overtone series when plucked and for most time it was a rattling nightmare. But, when it was good it was just so really good, in a mix with banjos and resonator guitars and such. Weirdly loud plucked and with wonderful bow response, never mind the slap. I loved the overall tension of my bass too. When there was gigs coming I switched back to spiro solo, but this trial perioid left an itch to scratch, and so I ordered a Lenzner supersolo 3,45mm plain A. It arrived and was installed yesterday, and I switched the 2,5mm G to 2,1mm string, and raised the strings a half turn. G is now exactly at 10mm`s.
Yeah, I realize that this beast needs to be played in for a couple of months, but after my trial with the anonymous monster this Lenzner is doing well, very similar to any plain gut D. Huge fundamental, enough sustain when plucked to sustain, plays ( pizz ) like my plain D on higher positions, produces a recognizable note at least to octave harmonic, no weird overtones, sounds very much like a old doghouse on an old recording, which is what I love and seek for. My concern is the rattling against fingerboard. I`ve gone through 3 E strings, the 4/4 solo spiro, E.P slap and a medium wound Gamut Pistoy, just to try if the tension difference between E and A has something to do with the issue. I`d like to use the spiro as it is the thumpiest spiro E existing, but gives the guts some clarity, intonates like a spiro does and has all the wonderful zero bs qualities, lasts forever and gets better with age, like the plain guts do.
So, those of you who are brave enough to use a plain A string, or have given one a serious try, how`s the playing in perioid with these, how does the sound and touch change during time? Did / do you have rattling issues, B flat is the worst on mine ( under the nut nut that is, I have my A stringed to reqular A peg and from the front of tailpiece, for added break angle )? @HateyMcAmp , @sevenyearsdown , if you don`t mind?
And yes, I realize too that 3 plain guts require even more whispering and general gentleness than DG only. That`s what I like about plain guts, you really have to adjust your technique and you absolutely can`t muscle the sound out.
Many thanks in advance, Reiska
Yeah, I realize that this beast needs to be played in for a couple of months, but after my trial with the anonymous monster this Lenzner is doing well, very similar to any plain gut D. Huge fundamental, enough sustain when plucked to sustain, plays ( pizz ) like my plain D on higher positions, produces a recognizable note at least to octave harmonic, no weird overtones, sounds very much like a old doghouse on an old recording, which is what I love and seek for. My concern is the rattling against fingerboard. I`ve gone through 3 E strings, the 4/4 solo spiro, E.P slap and a medium wound Gamut Pistoy, just to try if the tension difference between E and A has something to do with the issue. I`d like to use the spiro as it is the thumpiest spiro E existing, but gives the guts some clarity, intonates like a spiro does and has all the wonderful zero bs qualities, lasts forever and gets better with age, like the plain guts do.
So, those of you who are brave enough to use a plain A string, or have given one a serious try, how`s the playing in perioid with these, how does the sound and touch change during time? Did / do you have rattling issues, B flat is the worst on mine ( under the nut nut that is, I have my A stringed to reqular A peg and from the front of tailpiece, for added break angle )? @HateyMcAmp , @sevenyearsdown , if you don`t mind?
And yes, I realize too that 3 plain guts require even more whispering and general gentleness than DG only. That`s what I like about plain guts, you really have to adjust your technique and you absolutely can`t muscle the sound out.
Many thanks in advance, Reiska
I love my plain A and it's only gotten better after the first few weeks of constant tuning. I have no rattle on my A but I do on my E up to G# if I don't pull it more towards me rather than straight out. I might go back to a wound E to avoid this but I'm not ready to give up on it yet.
Thanks @jasonrp, definently have to check my pizz technique. Has your plain A been rattle-free from the start? My buddy who is a great player used a plain A for over a year and said that it didn`t rattle at any stage but was very sensitive to the E string used. He tried some generic gauge steel E after his wound E fell apart and that didn`t work out, made the A behave weirdly.
@Reiska I gave up on gut after last summer. Our weather was bonkers, from drought to oppressive humidity. I was spending more time maintaining and tuning then I was playing.
But to answer your question, plain A was a love/hate thing for me. It sounded great, but was always a bit to flubby for me to play anything fast/clean. It would turn into spaghetti in outdoor summer gigs. That much never really changed with it. There came a point for me that I felt it was holding me back from being able to progress with my playing. I moved on to Innovation Slaps.
I did go back to gut briefly for a couple of gigs last winter, but in the end the same challenges I had before were still there. So I've been riding with the Innovations for quite a while now.
But to answer your question, plain A was a love/hate thing for me. It sounded great, but was always a bit to flubby for me to play anything fast/clean. It would turn into spaghetti in outdoor summer gigs. That much never really changed with it. There came a point for me that I felt it was holding me back from being able to progress with my playing. I moved on to Innovation Slaps.
I did go back to gut briefly for a couple of gigs last winter, but in the end the same challenges I had before were still there. So I've been riding with the Innovations for quite a while now.
Fingerboard scoop is so important for a gut strung bass. You have to make room for the string 'excursion'. The lower strings are going to be most susceptible to rattling. But it's a commitment so make sure you want to keep those guts on for a long period of time as that exaggerated scoop won't feel too great if you return to steels.
Thank you @sevenyearsdown and @jasonrp ! That flubbiness doesn`t bother me, or not yet at least. Of course the tension is very low, but now it`s pretty even across the guts with a little added tension on the spiro E ( app. same than Anima or Garbo E on my bass ). I played a couple of rehearsals with aforementioned unknown super fat gauge A, and what I liked about it was the power it had in that extremely low tension. That`s one of reasons why I have this gut thing going on so heavily, I don`t think they`re loud like Garbos or Evah requlars are, but they are extremely audible ( if my english serves me ). Many gut players speak of how guts sort of live in their own frequency in the mix. I have a pretty heavy case of hearing loss happening, and hearing / feeling my bass acousticly is absolutely a must for that reason. No other string is as easy for me to hear while playing with others, amped or acoustic, but with smooth feel and without hand fatique. I did straight 4 hours of loud playing without even getting tired during my last trial, haven`t ever experienced anything like that. So far, it`s a love / hate thing here too.
Thanks @Jason Sypher, this really might be a setup issue. I`ll have a talk with my luthier if the rattling doesn`t settle in couple of weeks. My fingerboard is dressed with fat low tension strings and gut string heights in mind, but a plain A is still pretty extreme.
Thanks @Jason Sypher, this really might be a setup issue. I`ll have a talk with my luthier if the rattling doesn`t settle in couple of weeks. My fingerboard is dressed with fat low tension strings and gut string heights in mind, but a plain A is still pretty extreme.
Gut most definitely speaks differently in the room as compared to steel or hybrids. The volume you hear standing next to the bass is not what others hear out in front. I know that can be said for basses in general, but it's more pronounced using gut. Try recording with a decent condenser/room mic and you'll what I mean. As oppose to something like Garbos that sounded like roaring thunder standing there playing them.
IME gut also amplifies much nicer through a piezo than steels or hybrids, but then again I was a gut enthusiast for around 4 years.
I'm almost convincing myself to go back.....almost!
IME gut also amplifies much nicer through a piezo than steels or hybrids, but then again I was a gut enthusiast for around 4 years.
I'm almost convincing myself to go back.....almost!
Very right you are, just as Jason Sypher was up there. This turned out to be a setup issue and as much as I love the tone it`s too much. Had a talk with my luthier and turned out that my fingerboard has enough scoop for plain gut D, but not plain A. If I wanted to use plain A the scoop would propably be too deep for smooth feeling solo spiro E, and then I would be in need for a suitable E string, which leaves options like wrapped gut or gut-likes. I was originally looking for least possible amount of hassle and bs, not more of it. I can see myself in a endless limbo of string trials, money wasting, frustration and you know how it goes. And I really, really don`t want to go in that place again where I`m changing strings more than actually playing the bass. This was a 110€ trial, and it feels like ingnorance really is bliss.
So, back to 4/4 solo spiro EA, 2,5mm G instead of 2,1mm and 9mm-12mm string height. Spiro A sounds waaaaay metallic after plain A, but I want to keep this setup as long as it lasts and hopefully I`m writing next spring on this thread how that metallic quality has calmed down nicely. However, the bass sounds great allready and plays like butter, and will get better with age. So, plain guts on top of solo spiros is it for me, hopefully for years to come, these very strings on my bass now.
Anyway, thank you all for sharing your experiences!!!
So, back to 4/4 solo spiro EA, 2,5mm G instead of 2,1mm and 9mm-12mm string height. Spiro A sounds waaaaay metallic after plain A, but I want to keep this setup as long as it lasts and hopefully I`m writing next spring on this thread how that metallic quality has calmed down nicely. However, the bass sounds great allready and plays like butter, and will get better with age. So, plain guts on top of solo spiros is it for me, hopefully for years to come, these very strings on my bass now.
Anyway, thank you all for sharing your experiences!!!
