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Double Bass Low tension/stiffness strings

Sam Dingle

Sam Dingle

Aug 16, 2011
6,786
5,561
Nashville TN
#1
Hey guys. First thread post here. I've gone through a few different sets of strings and I'm looking for something…but I'm not sure what . I play on a "large 3/4" german upright bass that I bought a few years ago from upton. A few times now I have been injured playing, and although this could be (and probably is) in part technique, I've had fellow bassists and my teachers say that my bass feels "tight" (even after multiple different set ups and even a new bridge). I'm looking for a low tension string to hopefully help. On this bass I have had (in order)

D'Addario Hybrid
Spirocore Medium
Evah Weich
Innovaiton Supersilver
Evah Medium
Spiro Medium/Oliv mix (currently)

I love the Oliv/Spiro sound but shortly after putting them on I became injured again. I'm not gonna jump to any big conclusions until I have more playing time with them, but if this continues I'd like some options on string choice. Any recommendations are welcome. I play primarily jazz so need something that is pizzicato oriented, but want something that can be bowed (reason I switched out the super silvers). Strings I've thought about are:

Evah Weich: Simply because of low tension. I played them for 2 months and felt they were too weak on my bass, and didn't move the top. Maybe I could try them again :confused:
Spiro Weich: Havent tied them yet. Not too thrilled about the thin gauge though
Velvet Anima: I've heard things about tuning stability problems and durability issues. Any info on this?

Any help is appreciated. Cost isn't an issue at the moment but I'm not gonna get a full set of Eudoxas anytime soon.
 
#3
I restarted playing after a 20-year lapse and hand surgery, and one of my former classmates (now a symphony bassist and university prof) recommended D'Addario's Helicore low-tension strings. I'm glad I took her advice. They're easy on the hands, affordable, and sound really good on my bass. Their Zyex strings might also be worth looking at.

In addition, you might also want to explore the use of an elevated saddle and maybe a low-mass tailpiece (e.g. a Marvin) to lighten the tension.

Hope this helps.
 
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#5
I haven't had any Zyex myself yet, but I like Innovation Braided. They have the same core as the SuperSilvers, similar tension and are a bit better in their dynamic range than Evah Weich.
The E and A are a bit stiff and first I combined them with Spiro Weich 4/4, but then I carefully bended the E and A across the whole length over my thumb (a slotted wheel is much nicer to use for this), repolished them with fine steel wool and preferred them over the Spiros afterwards. You might want to try this with your Zyex strings.
Playing pizz on synthetic core strings is more grabbing the string and moving it to the side than touching it with Spiros. Also going down to the very end of the fingerboard gives more punch.
 
#6
IME Animas are fragile if you take them on and off the bass a lot. You have to be extra careful with them while stringing. They doesn`t stay in tune like Spirocores but there`s nothing you don`t learn to live with. They sound awesome, are loud and very easy on the left hand. Your propably need to adjust your right hand technique for their tension and feel. Can`t recommend them enough, I have mine with a Garbo gut G.
 
#10
If you have a tight bass, chances are strings won't help. I owned one for a while and finally sold it as nothing, including raised saddle, Marvin tailpiece, solo strings tuned down, and perfect setup, would consistently help the bass pizz easily for me.

Zyex Lights might be helpful to you, or Velvet Blues. But, as I said, it may just be your bass. Since you're getting injured, I would start shopping around for easy playing instruments.
 
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#12
Eric Hochberg said:
If you have a tight bass, chances are strings won't help. I owned one for a while and finally sold it as nothing, including raised saddle, Marvin tailpiece, solo strings tuned down, and perfect setup, would consistently help the bass pizz easily for me.

Zyex Lights might be helpful to you, or Velvet Blues. But, as I said, it may just be your bass. Since you're getting injured, I would start shopping around for easy playing instruments.
Click to expand...

Sadly thats my next step. Luckily I scored a deal on spiro weich last night so I'll try those, and I've got a set of Zyex lights to try out, but I could see shopping around for a different bass once I get out of school. If thats the case then I'll have a bunch of strings to try on it. Thanks for all the responses!
 
#13
Sam Dingle said:
I've had fellow bassists and my teachers say that my bass feels "tight" (even after multiple different set ups and even a new bridge). I'm looking for a low tension string to hopefully help.
Click to expand...

Sam Dingle said:
Evah Weich: Simply because of low tension. I played them for 2 months and felt they were too weak on my bass, and didn't move the top. Maybe I could try them again :confused:
Click to expand...

First of all, you say you need a lower tension string to prevent injury, but then you say you don't like a light gauge string because it doesn't move the top of your instrument. Are you just looking for that golden compromise of half-injured, half-crappy sound? Unless you can change your technique in some way so you don't strain yourself, it sounds like your body really needs you to use a low tension string, and figure out how to make that work for your bass.

I think a sound post adjustment is in order in addition to lower gauge strings. If the sound post is moved more south of the bridge foot, you bass may not feel as tight, and lighter gauge strings may have a better chance of moving the top. Any other setup adjustment may help as well, but only marginally in comparison to a sound post adjustment or fitting a new sound post.

I use a Marvin tailpiece and raised saddle. The former made a reasonable difference in pizz feel on all strings, and arco on the bottom strings (some say you lose a little projection though--but who cares if you play amplified?); the latter didn't have a significant effect other than making all strings have less tension. Both were net positive changes for me, but I think a sound post adjustment will do the most to fix "tightness" without taking tension off of the top.

My vote for jazz strings goes for entire sets of either Spiro solos tuned down, Sprio weichs, or Corelli 370M (my favorite).
 
#14
Daniel Baskin said:
I use a Marvin tailpiece and raised saddle. The former made a reasonable difference in pizz feel on all strings, and arco on the bottom strings (some say you lose a little projection though--but who cares if you play amplified?); the latter didn't have a significant effect other than making all strings have less tension.

My vote for jazz strings goes for entire sets of either Spiro solos tuned down, Sprio weichs, or Corelli 370M (my favorite).
Click to expand...

A raised saddle only removes pressure to the top but not tension of the strings.
I agree that repositioning the soundpost more away from the bridge leg might be the biggest help and relatively cheap compared to the other possible option.

Regarding strings, lower tension strings reduce pressure to the top. But you might need them because of your hands. I would check out the Innovation Braided (140B). I have them on my 110 cm scale bass with a thick top and can play them the whole day through without any problems whereas with the 4/4 Spiro Mittel I had on this instrument I couldn't finish the second set without problems. The Braided are also quicker in tune than other synthetic core strings (but not as quickly as steel core strings). But your Zyex light are worth checking out before buying another set of strings. Together with the soundpost repositioning they might sound good and still have some volume. My bass was tight too and repositioning the soundpost really opened it up. It took some time for me to adjust to the new sound, but it was clearly better than before.
I had the Corelli 380M (traditionally made strings, not the tungsten wounds) on this instrument, but didn't liked the decreasing tension towards the lower strings. Put them on my Stagg EUB (solid body EUB, bad bridge, no moving top, so very tight) and they are OK there, but not neccessarily good.
 
#16
I'll look into the sound post! Thanks again. I wasn't saying I was against light gauge strings, but the only light strings I tried were the Evahs and I didn't know if there was something about those that wouldn't work vs say zyex or spiro. The real problem with the Evah weich was the E string for me. I have the zyex on the way and a friend letting me borrow a used set of spiro weich so I'm gonna try that, because its something I can do and experiment with on my own. The sound post is my next thing to look at. I'll call my luthier soon and ask about how that would/should affect my bass. I will say if I didn't before, I do believe that it is for the most part technique on my end, but with "professionals" in town telling me my bqww is tight, and having played their basses without noticing the "resistance" I know's on mine, I wanted to look into the possibility that it was my setup or my bass. Thanks again for the help.
 
#18
So I just did an experiment with my bass. I'm trying to not play it till my arms are healed more but I took it out and tuned the strings down a whole step and it felt great. Little loss in definition on the E but nothing too bad that I don't think I'll be able to live with so I'm hoping the spiro or zyex light come close to that.
 

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