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Double Bass GUTS ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!

#162
fingers said:
I'm kinda there with you. I have the same setup and am liking the Animas pretty well. They feel great tension-wise. They still have a little too much zing to match perfectly with the guts tone-wise but hopefully that'll continue to die down.
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They will calm down as they break in but if they still bother you then try Garbos next time. They are closer to gut tone-wise than Animas but, from what I hear, don't bow very well. Same tension.

mark
 
#164
fingers said:
Does anyone have experience with heavy or heavy+ Gamut G strings? I have a medium on now and love the way it sounds but I could use a little more tension and size for my freakishly large mitts.
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Yea I wrote a million page thread on that. In a nutshell the higher the gage the less bounce but the more resistance and volume you have.

I have Heavy on my Cleveland right now (D/G) and they sound pretty good. D is a little thunky and thick. If I was gonna buy another pair I'd probably get a Heavy G and Medium+ D or a Medium D and Medium+ G, I'm not sure.

I had a set of Heavy+ I used for awhile. Really great sounding strings but not as "Gutish" as the ligher ones. And stupid fat, the D was like a .120 or something.

Medium sounds great, they just aren't heavy enough for my touch and even after quite some time on them I never got used to that. Medium+ G has pretty much the same tone as the Medium but stiffer a touch.

Going heavy on the D doesn't help much, it gets to thunky to fast.

Depends on the E/A too. With Animas that heavy pair is on the tighter side, with Evah Weichs it's just about right.

I did try my dead Animas on there. Might be good if they were new but with the stuff I have the Evah Weichs kick their butt.
 
#166
fingers said:
I have a Med D and G right now. I dig the D. The G is a little light for my tastes. Gotta go heavier on the G. So Heavy or Heavy +?

Also curious. What's the advantage/disadvantage of varnished vs unvarnished?
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Well if you like the Med D then I'd use a Medium+ G. You could maybe use a Heavy but not a Heavy +. I think the distance between the Med+ and the Heavy isn't much, but enough compared to the Medium D.

If I have some xtra time today I'll put the Med D back on and see how it feels next to the Heavy G. It may be to wide a difference, it may not.

They say Varnished strings stay together better, less stray hairs and are less moody with pitch in different humidity. They also say that the Varnish can make the string somewhat "false" sounding even when it is put on expertly. It can also get kinda stick in the heat.

My next gut strings will be unvarnished.

When I have an extra $500 I'll put the whole Gamut set on the Cleveland, Medium + or Heavy, I'm not so certain but I'll be leaving the varnish off this time and living with the hairy thing, see how that plays out.
 
#168
fingers said:
Interestingly I just emailed Dan Larson. He is suggesting pairing that Med D with a Heavy+ G if I want to increase tension.
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He certainly knows his strings but he doesn't play the bass like we do.

There is a big difference in tone and feel between those two. That Heavy + G is a great string but it's way far away from what you have now. Not as much bounce, longer notes, significantly tighter but not like a steel G. I think the slightly lighter ones sound more "right". The distance in tension between the Med D and Heavy+ G is pretty huge and I'm sure weird. I don't have a heavy + G anymore as I kinda knew I'd never go back to it. Just not as "Gut" sounding as I wanted.
 
#169
I've got Medium varnished G and D-once they settled in, they've stayed in tune very well in NYC weather. I'm keeping the humidity a little lower than most luthiers recommend;35-40% tops; I think this helps when I take the bass out in the dry cold and into a dry warm club.
 
#171
#173
And one more thing.

String Tensions and Diameters Gamut Guts

G strings

Medium .083" 32.62lb
Medium + .085 34.61
Heavy .087 35.71
Heavy + .089 37.91

D strings

Medium .114 34.83
Medium+ .1165 36.37
Heavy .118 37.26
Heavy+ .120 37.91

Not much difference between Heavy and Heavy+ but a good size difference between Medium and Heavy+

EDIT: Fwiw, the tensions are at A=415 not A=440. I have no earthly idea why you'd do that in this century but what do I know.
 
#174
So using Dlugolecki's gauge calculator and that last post it looks like my G (44) is between heavy and heavy+ in Gamut's system and my D (56) is a little lighter than medium. The D still feels huge to me but I'm new to gut... The two strings don't feel too different in terms of resistance to the fingers, but the G is brighter and a little more immediate and the D is a little more susceptible to being overplayed with the right hand. All in all I think it's a good match though I'll admit I'm still learning how to play 'em.

I'm liking the strings a lot. Like a bunch of you I'm using Animas for the A and E -- they were already on my bass so it made it an easy choice. I notice the tension difference but it's no big deal. I think a gut G in the gauge I have or heavier would make a great match with Animas on the other 3, though the set would have more in common with Animas than with guts. For me, having the gut D on there makes it feel like a gut set though the D is the more challenging one to work with.

It's been a few weeks, and the strings are still sounding better by the day. I'm glad I took the plunge. I just have to keep myself from being tempted by the wound gut E and A...
 
#175
Uncletoad said:
Going heavy on the D doesn't help much, it gets to thunky to fast.
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I agree with this, in fact, the best sounding plain gut Ds I've had have been lighter. But then the tension on those can feel too floppy, so you have to split the difference between the sound and feel. The ideal would be if a plain gut D could be made with higher tension and a smaller diameter. (and if a chicken had balls it would be a rooster) I really like the Gamut Pistoy gut D, the one I bought was light+ and it suits me just fine. I have Pistoy D&G in light+, and silver wound E&A in medium, very happy with the set. Sometimes just raising up the action a little bit can give you added tension without killing your left hand.
 
#178
My Evahs were starting to show their age (after almost two years!) so I went through my string drawer to take inventory and decide what to buy.

The biggest package of strings in the drawer was a bunch of Animas, Garbo A and D and Gamut Lyon G (medium I think). Many of these I got from Bobby at a great price but I also picked up some Animas along the way.
I first put the whole Anima set on and really liked them but find the G to feel a little weird. Naturally, the Lyon G went on and I was hooked. I've had that G on two other basses but never on the old flatback. D**n, that IS the sound I want. As much as I have loved the Olive, it doesn't speak well up in thumb like the Gamut. It's going on a year old so maybe it's losing something.
I switched out the A and D for Garbos finding them to be much more gutlike. The A is loud, warm and fat with a fundamental that demands attention.
The D I'm not so sure about so a Gamut is probably coming in the near future. I am leaning towards a Lyon medium but don't know and am open to suggestions.
The Anima E is a good match and I dig the growl. I have a couple of spares so that's good.

The gut thing is something I've been drawn into over the last couple of years. I have moved to darker strings and still EQ the amp to eliminate as much of the steel sound as possible. My approach has been to seek a tone that supports from underneath rather than cut through so gut just seems like the way to go. I love the sound of Sam Jones, PC and Haden.

So, which D? :confused:
 
#179
KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
Is there enough steel in those strings to tickle a magnetic pickup? I had Evahs on my MVB and liked them other than the fact that they were non-ferrous so the Bartolini didn't know they were there.
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According to D'Addario, only the D string is steel wound. The others are either tungsten (E & A) or titanium (G).

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#180
clink said:
The D I'm not so sure about so a Gamut is probably coming in the near future. I am leaning towards a Lyon medium but don't know and am open to suggestions.
So, which D? :confused:
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If you want to go plain gut, I highly recommend the Gamut Pistoy gut D. I find it to be clearer than the Lyon. I have a Pistoy D in light+ and I really like it. Really frigging expensive though :rollno:
 

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