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Double Bass innovation polychromes

#62
The problem with the high C strings is that they almost always need a thinner core, which means it would break earlier.
My 110 cm scale stresses he strings about 11% more than the regular 105 cm scales. The string broke because I got a new nut but had Spiros on it, then widened the nut slots but not enough. I also rounded the edge towards the pegbox, so that there is no hard angle at that side of the nut but the string lifts up from the rounded string groove.

The standard Braided high C was Aluminium wound and with too less tension compared to the set. I got a few steel wrapped Braided high C prototypes later of which one were a lot better but still with a bit too less tension. One of the New Braided prototype high Cs was good and this is the string I use now, together with a New Braided G and E prototypes and standard Braided D and A strings. (The New Braided D and A had much too less tension for my taste.) Sound differs a bit, but not too much and I still hope for a complete set one day.
 
#63
CAUTION! I bought a supposedly very lightly used Polychrome G & D in the classifieds - I believe it FWIW because they were fresh and lively. As noted somewhere previously, the windings are rough enough that they have caused damage to my fingerboard in maybe 12 hours of playing. I'm hoping this has been addressed by Innovation, because I think I found my Velvet replacement after quite a bit of trial and error. If not, stay away.
 
#66
So, TB/DB's @Jon Moody would be someone to talk with about whether this condition occurs normally with Polychromes... He's the manager over production at GHS for Innovation strings. I suspect your situation is not normal, and I also suspect the strings you have may be newer old stock from when they were made in the UK, but he can probably provide more definite answers. He's been very helpful about Innovation strings here.
 
#67
If they damage your board in such a short time, I think they had a production failure.

I once had a Velvet Compas 180 high C string that had a production failure with the windings where the edges of the flat winding wires layed on top of their neighbor in some parts of the string.
so the windings were too close together that they sometimes overwound their predecessors.
I was even afraid that I might hurt my fingers playing the string.
It was a free sample, but they couldn’t send me a better one as the whole batch of this string had the same problem. And Nuno told me that no new ones will be made (due to the order of the company owner) unless the damaged ones are sold.
That was a few years before the production was closed.

But since the Velvet strings were designed by Gerold Genssler, you can get similar ones from him, a bit more pricey, but with higher quality and better support than I got from the Velvet owner.
(But not for me, even new Velvets were a bit too pricey for me.)
 
#69
Ok, I just did a quick scroll through this thread and I'm not the only one. Posts 6, 18, 41 - I think, should have written them down - all mention this problem. Should have paid attention before buying. I did like the sound though, and if I get reassurance that this has been addressed I'll buy a set and report back. Like I said earlier my impression from the now in the garbage G and D was that they were the closest I've found to Animas except that they bow quite a bit better.
 
#71
lurk said:
if I get reassurance that this has been addressed I'll buy a set and report back. Like I said earlier my impression from the now in the garbage G and D was that they were the closest I've found to Animas except that they bow quite a bit better.
Click to expand...
Is it possible to buy a set? I ordered new GHS Super Silvers singles from Gollihur on July. On Nov 1st I got an announcement that the status of my order has changed to cancelled...?!:(
 
#72
elmer said:
Is it possible to buy a set? I ordered new GHS Super Silvers singles from Gollihur on July. On Nov 1st I got an announcement that the status of my order has changed to cancelled...?!:(
Click to expand...
The guys at both GHS and Gollihur have written me that this was an old problem that has been rectified, so I just pulled the trigger on a set. I'll see what's next. I'm hoping it's good news.
 
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#77
BAD news. I just bought a set of Polychromes and it had that issue with the G string windings AGAIN. Not just one but five separate spots with kinks (bunched up windings). I bought this through Gollihur who says this is not old stock. This is why I moved on from these strings even though I really like the strings. Dealing with quality issues again is souring me to these strings. I'm used to buying strings putting them on and gigging, not dealing with quality issues which then makes me question if the strings are going to fail during a concert and trying to get a hold of the manufacturer to see what they will do. I'm venting.

Hopefully GHS can figure this out once and for all. I've been used their Electric Bass strings going back to the 1990's and have always been confident in their products.

IMG_9303.jpg
 
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#78
uprightbass.com said:
BAD news. I just bought a set of Polychromes and it had that issue with the G string windings AGAIN. Not just one but five separate spots with kinks (bunched up windings). I bought this through Gollihur who says this is not old stock. This is why I moved on from these strings even though I really like the strings. Dealing with quality issues again is souring me to these strings. I'm used to buying strings putting them on and gigging, not dealing with quality issues which then makes me question if the strings are going to fail during a concert and trying to get a hold of the manufacturer to see what they will do. I'm venting.

Hopefully GHS can figure this out once and for all. I've been used their Electric Bass strings going back to the 1990's and have always been confident in their products.

View attachment 4943986
Click to expand...
Just wondering. Was it like this out of the package or did it happen after you put it on the bass? If you're not is not wide enough it can cause the windings to catch and bunch as you're tuning it up. But you probably know that already. I kind of had a similar issue with the golden slaps before I had my nut slots widened, now no issue.
 
#80
uprightbass.com said:
BAD news. I just bought a set of Polychromes and it had that issue with the G string windings AGAIN. Not just one but five separate spots with kinks (bunched up windings). I bought this through Gollihur who says this is not old stock. This is why I moved on from these strings even though I really like the strings. Dealing with quality issues again is souring me to these strings. I'm used to buying strings putting them on and gigging, not dealing with quality issues which then makes me question if the strings are going to fail during a concert and trying to get a hold of the manufacturer to see what they will do. I'm venting.

Hopefully GHS can figure this out once and for all. I've been used their Electric Bass strings going back to the 1990's and have always been confident in their products.

View attachment 4943986
Click to expand...
I had a problem like this with the winding on a 140H Honey G string.
 
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