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Double Bass GUTS ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!

#121
MollyKay said:
that set of Gamut’s I purchased lightly used (I think from Bobby King) and they have been on that bass for four years.
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Wish I had those darn things back! ;) (Hi Wendy)

I have Gamut Pistoys now on my G&D that are terrific. I've been using Sensicores on the E&A and I like them quite well, but I have this new (old) bass, a blonde Jacobus Hornsteiner bass made in Germany in the 30's, and it sounds so good with the guts that I've been tempted to try wound gut on the bottom again.
 
#122
Well, I had to do it :rollno: Dustin Williams had Gamut medium silver wound E&As in stock and I bought them! (I sold a little amp head to pay for the damn things) I have to say it's great to have all gut on my bass again. It's interesting to compare after using Sensicores for a while now. The guts produce a more defined fundamental note with more attack. I love the feel of them, more snap, less spring. They are much better for slapping on my bass, the Sensicores got sort of a "sproingy" sound (but slapmaster Dave Roe swears by Sensicores).

There are a few disadvantages: the Sensicores get a clearer pitch going up the neck, particularly on the E string. They sustain more (when you want that sort of thing :D) The notes start getting a little thuddy around Ab with the Gamut. It's better on my Jacobus Horsteiner bass than on previous basses, but you still have to coax the notes out a little on the E. I'll see if it improves as the string breaks in.

All in all, the timbre and feel match the plain gut uppers better than Sensicore. I have Pistoy Light+ on my D&A and the tension is very well balanced, I wouldn't want lighter on the bottom. Somehow the fun factor increases with all gut!
 
#123
Bobby King said:
Wish I had those darn things back! ;) (Hi Wendy)
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Howdy Bobby…welcome back to the dark side. :D

Your description of the Gamut A&E gut is perfect and I too find myself slapping (snapping) for an extra percussive sound with the guts…it is too much fun. I went to take a bass break (on a familiar song) on my other Epi strung with the full set of Spiros’ and my hands did the same moves, but the bass said “no way”. I play with more drive when I have guts on a bass and the sound is bigger, more full with less sustain…more thump. And yes they are pricey but we both know it is worth it. I’ll be standing in line, with cash in hand when you tire of them. ;)

Lightly used strings are a good savings when you have a lot of basses to string up. I have one partial set of Gamuts in reserve that I bought from Jason Sypher two years ago…I need a medium light D string to finish that set. I really want to get the full set of Red-O-Rays on my back up Epi B-1 bass (named Milton). These string are NOS and as bright red as red licorice string candy. The bright red gut strings will look cool against the dark chocolate color of the bass…I can feel the mojo. :cool:
 
#124
Got my Dlugolecki D and G in the mail today. I have the G on and it's very nice already. Bright and plenty of sustain but with that gut immediacy of response. With the bow, I've made some scratchy sounds but i think the gut string starts more easily than the Animas do.

Unfortunately the D won't fit in my pegbox right now. If I wrap it around the tuning peg all on the right side of where it sticks through, I run out of room badly. To get some coils on the left side, the string would have to overlap somewhere, but there isn't enough space under the tuning peg to accommodate an overlap. And I think taking my Anima D off and putting it back on may have killed it, though it was already near the end. Plus my E string machine is suddenly rattling like crazy... Time for a luthier visit.

Putting the Anima D back on did make me appreciate once again how user-friendly Velvet's installation system is.
 
#125
Aaron Cohn said:
Got my Dlugolecki D and G in the mail today. I have the G on and it's very nice already. Bright and plenty of sustain but with that gut immediacy of response. With the bow, I've made some scratchy sounds but i think the gut string starts more easily than the Animas do.

Unfortunately the D won't fit in my pegbox right now. If I wrap it around the tuning peg all on the right side of where it sticks through, I run out of room badly. To get some coils on the left side, the string would have to overlap somewhere, but there isn't enough space under the tuning peg to accommodate an overlap. And I think taking my Anima D off and putting it back on may have killed it, though it was already near the end. Plus my E string machine is suddenly rattling like crazy... Time for a luthier visit.

Putting the Anima D back on did make me appreciate once again how user-friendly Velvet's installation system is.
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You can just trim some of string. The string makers will often give more length than you need due to the varying string scales on basses.
 
#126
Thanks. I thought of that and I'll probably trim a little off, but I think I'll take the bass in anyway as right now even one layer of string rubs a bit more than I'm comfortable with.

I'm digging the G. It's a pretty nice match with the Animas on the other 3 strings. I'm looking forward to breaking the D in along with it.
 
#128
progis report

So I've been practicing hard on the guts for a few days now and I am really noticing they (especially the G) are quite a bit less forgiving when it comes to sloppy technique. I never noticed I do it but sometimes, when I do a quicker run across the strings, I pull on the G. This was fine with steel but actually physically pull the G off the fingerboard with gut.

I also seem to be finding some really benefit in playing closer to the tip rather than the pads of my fingers of my left (fingering) hand. I found with steel it got more growl with more meat on the strings but with guts seem to just get more buzz and thud.

Lastly, I have found that a plucking motion that is more horizontal to the top of the bass seems in the right hand to produce the most sound without choking. Just some observations.

end progris report
 
#129
Aaron Cohn said:
"Got my Dlugolecki D and G in the mail today. I have the G on and it's very nice already. Bright and plenty of sustain but with that gut immediacy of response. With the bow, I've made some scratchy sounds but i think the gut string starts more easily than the Animas do.

Unfortunately the D won't fit in my pegbox right now. If I wrap it around the tuning peg all on the right side of where it sticks through, I run out of room badly. To get some coils on the left side, the string would have to overlap somewhere, but there isn't enough space under the tuning peg to accommodate an overlap. And I think taking my Anima D off and putting it back on may have killed it, though it was already near the end. Plus my E string machine is suddenly rattling like crazy... Time for a luthier visit."


Per the instructions from Gamut, I cut off the excess, leaving enough for 3-4 turns around the peg at initial installation; stretching while the string settles is usually good for another half turn minimum.
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#131
Thanks. There just wasn't enough room around the D tuner, clipped string or not, so I took the bass by the luthier last week. I have both the strings on right now -- new Dlugolecki D and G with year-old Anima A and E.

I'm liking the strings a lot. When I first got them on I found I liked them better on the gig than I did at home. At home, my bass seemed a little quieter and I missed the defined, somewhat brash, clear sound of the Animas. But on the gig it seemed more like the guts created their own tonal space which, combined with their percussive qualities, made them feel powerful. Playing without an amp, I didn't feel as though I had to compete with the drummer

They're sounding better by the day. The D especially sounds clearer every time I pick up the bass. I dig them under the bow -- they're unforgiving of mistakes but the sound is very nice.
 
#134
The gamuts on mine were really long. With guts there isn't much room for overlap and I was reluctant to cut them.

It took several tries but I got them on the tuner peg with no overlap (and not jammed against the pegbox). The excess I pulled through (with a hook) and made into loops that are hangin outside the pegbox.

If I were to cut them now would be the time but...

If the strings were rubbing the pegbox with no overlap, I'd say the luthier visit was needed.
 
#136
Gabor[];10193476 said:
I heard the gut sound, and I wan't to try it. :hyper:
I know a shop where I can, but I have to wait until next year.

I heard, that playing arco is a pain in the ass. Is it because of the bigger diameter/length ratio?

This is the best arco sound I heard on gut:
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Hogy vagy, Gabor!

Arco on gut can be a pain for several reasons. The tone can sound very scratchy and "whiney", like a cat :). The surface of plain gut strings is more difficult for the bow to grab, and you must play with less pressure but more speed with the bow. However, steel wound gut strings, especially flatwound like Pirastro Olive, are very nice to bow on. Some people are able to get a very good arco sound with plain gut, but it has always been difficult for me. I would say that primarily it's the surface of the string though, metal reponds to the bow and rosin much more easily than gut.
 
#137
Szia Bobby King! :D
Hi everyone!

Thanks for the respose. This is the sound I'm in love with.


I switched from guitar to double bass because I like the feeling of playing arco, so I don't wan't to lose this option, but this pizz sound is awesome. :D

My carved bass got cracked in the back... so I was thinking about getting a new old laminated bass, which I can carry everywhere, so i should consider nicely projecting guts. :)

If I have the guts to try them out. :D
Pirastro Olives are expensive as hell. :o
 
#138
Szia Gabor! My mother's family was from Hungary, their name was Hanak. It is a very difficult and unusual language, I heard a lot of it growing up :)

The pizz bass on the old Kay sounded great! He was using all four plain gut. If you notice, that E string does not get a great response, pretty thuddy, but better than expected, and the A was quite good. It is more common to see the E&A as roundwound metal-wrapped gut, and they will get more sustain and definition.

The guy on the Lawrence Welk show was a very good player (his comedy routine was pretty dumb -- the things we have to do to make a dollar...) He was obviously experienced at bowing on gut and his sound was nice. Notice that his bow is moving fairly quickly. Still, IMO the sound is not as complex and versatile as what you hear from a comtemporary arco player using steel strings.

You may want to consider a hybrid string like Evah Pirazzi, which has a terrific arco tone, and a somewhat gut-like pizz sound. Many seem to like the weich gauge.
 
#139
NYE came and went with guts and Animas. Fun was had by all. I did jack up my strings a bit. It did good things for the tone but made the bass a little less playable. Right now they are at 12mm on the E and 9mm on the G.

Where do you other gutsters have yours?

The fun thing was after a four hour gig I felt zero fatigue even with higher strings.
 
#140
Most of the time I keep them pretty low probably around 7 on the G. I just cranked them up a bit the other day and love the sound but they are harder to get around on. Not from the tension, though. It's either because of the added time needed to push the string down or because I just haven't calibrated my fingers and brain to the new height. I'm going to leave them up for a while and see how it goes.

They sure do sound good higher.

The no fatigue thing is a major bonus.

mark
 

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