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Double Bass Had it w/ steels

Whit Townsend

Whit Townsend

Jan 24, 2006
435
68
Hartselle Alabama
#1
Thats it. over a month w/these darn steel strings on this new bass, and I'm fed up. They're killin me. I don't play every day and they're shreddin my fingers. Changing the whole way I play. I'm going back to the tried and tru.
Supernils.
Don't care what other people say about um, thats my string.
Never really cared for guts. Would love to try some Olives, Garbos, or Animas, but I I'm not gonna spend 300 to do it. I've played nils for 15 yrs and thats what I'm putting on. Get my old technique back and save my fingers. If my acoustic volume or tone suffers, so be it, I play thu pu & pa on 90% of gigs anyway. I want my old familiar feel back.

Apologize for the rant. Just decided I gotta do what works for me.
 
#4
The string change came as the result of a bass change. My old 51 Kay C1 has big problems and I've had to retire it for the time being anyway. Got a new Romanian ply for now. Its a decent enough bass but it ain't a 55 yr old worderful sounding Kay. Was just trying to give these steels that came on it a go cause I thought the tone would prob. be better. If it is, to bad. I'm gonna set this thing up with nils and play it like I've always played my old Kay. Who knows it may sound just fine. Know for sure I'll be a lot more comfortable.
 
#5
Just so you know before your completely biased against steel strings or whatever, the shipping strings or the strings that come on basses when bought new are known to be kinda crappy strings uesually. You may have a whole different opinion if you put on some decent strings. You could always keep an eye on classified and pick up a set cheap. Just so you could have a better gauge to compare. If you like supernils fine, but you may find something else you like as well.

Kevinlee
 
#7
Those helicores are tough. I bought a bass from steve loeb and changed the helicores to weichs and the difference was pronounced. One thing- did you have this bass setup? That setup from ideal usually doesnt get it done. You got a good enough deal to spend a few sheckles on a setup. Going from soft, low tension strings to helicores with a marginal setup would bum most people out. The thing about steel strings is that they let you bring the string height to a very manageable with a good setup.
 
#9
I've brought the action down at the nut some, but it needs to go a little lower if I keep steels on it. Hesitant to go any further at this pt cause I wanna just go ahead and set it up with nils, and I don't want them to rattle. Overall bridge ht is about right for me. Its really the right hand that bugs me. I could keep tweaking the nut till I got these, or some Weichs, perfect at the nut, but I'm sure I'd still hate um. I don't play bass every day. Just pound out the 1 and 5s for a bluegrass band about once a week. I've developed my style and way of playing over the past 15 yrs and I tend to dig in pretty hard. Can't play over an hr w/out RH fingers killin me. I dont have the time or inclination to play every day to toughen up RH fingers and keep um that way. Don't wanna go on the enless search for a better softer string. Nils served me well, and there cheap. I need to get on with life.
 
#10
whit,

Unfortunately the nut height is only one small portion of the set up. You need to get this thing setup, bro. Maybe $200-300 or so, just guessing. But you"ll never spend better money. If you're trusting the guy at ideal to have set it up real nice I'd think again.
Nothing against those guys, theyre very nice people and I got a great deal on my bass, and would buy from them again, but the luthiery leaves something to be desired.
 
#11
<<<Unfortunately the nut height is only one small portion of the set up>>>
True, but its the only part that I've really got a problem with, and I can handle it.
If I had 200-300 bucks, I'd be saving it to purchase another broken down C1 that had a sound top to swap out with the delaminated one on mine.

I've worked on my own bass for 13 years, and every other instrument I've ever owned for the last 30 ys or so. One of these days, maybe, if I got some extra cash and happen to be in a big city with a good bass shop and my bass along for the ride. Nothing against a pro job. Just not practical for me at the moment.
 
#13
<<<<If you're only playing once a week, and the Nils are working for you, then just play the Nils. Once a week isn't enough face-time with the fiddle to keep you fingers hard enough for steel.>>>>>>

Exactly. I'm sure there is a better sounding string out there just as soft, but right now, the quest just isn't worth it to me. Velvets, Olives, etc are 300+ and I might not even like them. Guts are 50/str. Even Euros and S. Silvers are almost double the cost of nils. Besides the expense, you got the set up issues to contend with every time.
If I was playing every other day, I might continue to tweak my set up and try some Spiros, etc. and get tough enough for steel. The sound qulities have some things I like about it.
But right now, a perfect string quest is just not worth it to me. My plans are to set this thing up like I'm used to wth my old Kay and just play it.
I may loose some acoustic tone and volume, maybe not, but I'm sure I can get an acceptable sound thru my pu, pre, and the PA for gigs just like I've always done.
 
#14
Whit, I agree that you should use Nils if you like them, but I have one question...how do you stand the roundwound strings? I have a roundwound gut LaBella E here that I can't stand.
 
#16
I was thinking Oblis as well....nice feel, great sound, good price, good volume, really nice arco if you do that. Since you aren't playing that much, you'll probably even get a decent lifespan out of them.

I get tempted to throw the Obligatos back on every now and then. I can fly around on those strings better than just about any other string.
 
#18
Well, I got the nils on, and theyv'e streched in. I played um tonight with the band.
Its like I've got my old bass back, not as much sound comming out of it as the old kay, but basically the same tone, just less of it.
But still ok. Nice round thump, quick decay.
Lost some volume, some cut-thru the mix punch, and lost a bunch of sustain. But I got my old feel and touch back. Still plenty loud acoustically and I think a better, rounder, tone for bluegrass, for me anyway.
Best of all, I played for 3 hrs and my fingers arn't sore.
 
#19
Whit:

Glad to see you have landed somewhere that makes you happy.
If you start to wonder again about changing strings, stay away from this part of the forum until the urge passes! Mulling over these posts on different strings can get you right back into trouble.
I have also given up after several years of experimenting with different strings. Some days I feel like a recovering alcoholic :eek: .
 

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