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Double Bass Most cello like strings?

Les Fret

Les Fret

Sep 9, 2009
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nextlevel-slapbass.com
#1
Which bass strings come closest to a cello sound you think? They need to sound clear and bright but not harsh arco. And also have a decent pizzicato sound with enough sustain and tension. I have had Spiricore weichs. But now I use Helicore hybrids on both my basses for some years. The Spirocores are too harsh for me when bowed and the Helicores are better bowable but sound a bit dull for my taste.

Curious what you come up with.
 
#6
Francois Blais said:
Corellis.
Pirastro Flat-Chromesteels.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I've used Corelli 370TX and Flat-Chromesteels and I think these both have quite a bit of cello sound in them. I think the FCS have an overall more clear and pure sound, both arco and pizz. The 370TX were a little more gritty sounding, but they still bowed easily. Both work for jazz pizz with good sustain. The Corellis are about half the price, so there's that.
 
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#8
FCS made my teeth hurt under the bow. Not as much as Spiros, but in the same ballpark. I had them on a nice German bass with a strong midrange so YMMV.

The Corellis might do, or solo gauge strings downtuned. The solo sets I’ve tried seem to expend their energy projecting, rather than exciting the corpus to produce a full-bodied rumble.
 
#10
Thanks for the replies. I had the Corelli 370 tungsten in my bass. Think those are the same as mentioned here? But I didn't like them at all. They don't have much volume or power and sounded dull for pizzicato. I also have tried Pirastro Permanent but they have too little tension for me. Liked the sound though and the G string is nice. But the the D and A are too loose.

How is the tension on the FCS's?
 
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#13
I came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to put the link in my signature and not posting it again and again.
Sorry I thought you might have seen at least one of my many postings with the link.

But anyway here it is a last time (but please check if the link in the signature works too):
Dropbox - Talkbass

BTW, that link is also in one of the string stickies.

So next time I (hopefully) can refer to the link in the signature and don't mix up people assuming a not existing knowledge.

Sorry for that.
 
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#14
Thanks for the charts. I see now that the FCS have an even smaller gauge than the Permanents. And I also already the Permanents too loose. Only the Permanent G string had enough tension for me.
That might be a risk for me. Especially since these FCS strings are really expensive (250 euro). Much more expensive than the Spirocores and the Helicore Hybrid mediums.
I am willing to take the risk if I can find a used set though.
 
#15
I got a used set with an extended E from a local colleague. They are extremely bright (more than Spiro Mittel) and the felt tension goes down towards the lower strings. That's quite the opposite of what I like (growing tension towards the lower strings). I even have a high C for that, but that is so much tension (at least on my 110cm scale) that I feel it unusable for me.
Would like to keep the extend E for testing when extending my string measurement device for extend E strings, but don't have the time (and need, I don't have an extension) to do that any time soon.
But I'm not around the corner for you (Western Germany).
 

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