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Double Bass My string journey documented (to be Continued)

#161
I did know that. Dominants are stiff strings. I am a fan of tension. I'm liking Spiro mediums at about 6-7mm on the G. haven't measured in a bit but its tense. High enough to pull with the right hand but not high enough to fit my hand under the strings.

I read some things about the dominants and I know you @Chris Fitzgerald use a stark E with the dominant ADG. I'd like to keep my spiro medium E. Is the tension going to match up with a medium E spiro, ADG Dominant or is the stark the same tension. Wasn't a fan of the stark at my string height.

Maybe I'd like a set of starks set low....
 
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#162
My school bass had dominant G-D-A with a Spiro Medium E and likes it just fine. It doesn't quite have that gorgeous growl on the low major third that the stark does, but it's close and sounds very good. Certainly it's easier to get going. Understand, though, that I'm not the person to speak to about "bow friendliness", since at the moment that's not a priority.
 
#165
bassfiddlesteve said:
Perhaps, but I thought you need something more bowable.

- Steve
Click to expand...

I was speaking just in terms of liking the tension. I may try dominants with the bow to see if I can get a more mellow tone through the amp. The spiros are good for me arco right now. They make me practice and focus on technique, but I'm having an issue through the amp. If the amp thing wasn't an issue I'd stick to spiros
 
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#166
Ok so I jumped on a new Dominant D/G I found on Ebay for cheep. threw them on last night and have played 2 hours today. I really enjoy the feel. I have them paired with 4/4 spiro mittle E/A and the tension seems higher on the D and G if I really think about it but I think that might just be the stiffness. I wonder (though probably won't try it) if 3/4 mittle E and A strings would be a better match.

I threw the G on with the mediums and wasn't impressed but I threw the D on and that made a much better match. The D is much brighter than the other 3 strings but that will hopefully tame. The G is very tight but not too tight and produces a great pop when playing pizz.

I would love to try an A but I string my bass like it has a C extension and don't want to risk breaking an A often. I'm hoping the D and G hold up.

Arco is very easy and actually the dark strings on top make the A spiro sound a little smoother under the bow. I'll report back.
 
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#167
I use SF now, I don't really like the bowed sound, maybe I need to break them in more. They sound similar to EP to me now then they did new(ish). I will use spiros mainly, but my bass needs setup so I won't change until then. Any experiences with Labella Black Nylon anyone? (I have a set laying around :) )
 
#170
Played a 2.5 hour gig last night with a half hour break. I can't judge if I like the sound yet because the amp at the gig was horrible. I've never been able to get a warm sound out of it. I'll say that it was very equal across the two spiros and two dominants.

That tension though. Maybe not tension but stiffness. My right hand loved it and was fine but my left arm hurt. We played take five and it was hard playing all that in half position. Defidnty some tense strings.

Are these more tense than Evah regulars or spiro starks. I've heard people compare Evah regulars to starks and don't know if anyone has compared dominant with both.
 
#171
Sam Dingle said:
That tension though. Maybe not tension but stiffness. My right hand loved it and was fine but my left arm hurt. We played take five and it was hard playing all that in half position. Defidnty some tense strings.

Are these more tense than Evah regulars or spiro starks. I've heard people compare Evah regulars to starks and don't know if anyone has compared dominant with both.
Click to expand...

I've played all three sets. My impressions are:

Evah regulars start off feeling great but seem to get stiffer and less forgiving as the set ages. Likely culprit is the strings become duller and I dig in more/harder trying to get them to project like they did when they were newer. Either way, I experienced some RH pain with these strings.

Spiro Starks are tense on both hands, but you know that going in and set the height accordingly. I didn't have real pain with them but felt that I was always wrestling with them when playing, and it was telling on long gigs.

Dominants are stiff but not tense. They are also very smooth, which helps the RH glide across them. LH wise, they don't bother me but I have to have them at exactly the right height - too high and they fight too much, too low and I can't get under them enough. It can be a challenge with the Full Circle, but it's worth it IME.

In the long view, I believe that playing these types of tense strings has encouraged me to develop a certain kind of "core technique" in both hands, but especially in the mechanism chain on the left. When I do my 12 key warmups, I definitely have this feeling in the first couple of keys that my leverage is still at the ends of my arms, and later the clutch pops and it's more in the center where I want it. When this happens, there's a sense of flow to the left hand part of the lines. It's not that it becomes "easy to play", but more like the feeling of the weight being connected to the board on and between every single note.

With this type of string, I think this must be part of the journey. Some people don't feel it's worth it. I understand that, but... that SOUND, tho!
 
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#172
Chris Fitzgerald said:
I've played all three sets. My impressions are:

Evah regulars start off feeling great but seem to get stiffer and less forgiving as the set ages. Likely culprit is the strings become duller and I dig in more/harder trying to get them to project like they did when they were newer. Either way, I experienced some RH pain with these strings.

Spiro Starks are tense on both hands, but you know that going in and set the height accordingly. I didn't have real pain with them but felt that I was always wrestling with them when playing, and it was telling on long gigs.

Dominants are stiff but not tense. They are also very smooth, which helps the RH glide across them. LH wise, they don't bother me but I have to have them at exactly the right height - too high and they fight too much, too low and I can't get under them enough. It can be a challenge with the Full Circle, but it's worth it IME.

In the long view, I believe that playing these types of tense strings has encouraged me to develop a certain kind of "core technique" in both hands, but especially in the mechanism chain on the left. When I do my 12 key warmups, I definitely have this feeling in the first couple of keys that my leverage is still at the ends of my arms, and later the clutch pops and it's more in the center where I want it. When this happens, there's a sense of flow to the left hand part of the lines. It's not that it becomes "easy to play", but more like the feeling of the weight being connected to the board on and between every single note.

With this type of string, I think this must be part of the journey. Some people don't feel it's worth it. I understand that, but... that SOUND, tho!
Click to expand...
“Never mind all that other stuff. How does it SOUND?”
- Ray Charles
 
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#175
I don't get the point of hard tension aka stark (am I right? someone please explain if I'm wrong) strings. I don't go higher than mediums. Just too much tension for
me. I would like to know why someone uses heavier strings than mediums. Cheers, Simon
 

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