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Double Bass New Evah Pirazzi slap strings from Pirastro!

#81
JLMast - Full disclosure; this is my first experience with gut strings. They're coming along nicely. The lower tension feels great. Arco is loud and lively on the guts and requires light touch, while the E/A need more pressure and produce a warmer tone. Inexpensive German bow with black hair. Mind you; my skill here is minimal.
Pizz tone very even across the board below the joint. Moving up above the A on the D string the tone just says thunk. I can hear a pitch, but no body, no sustenance. I have just learned that a thunky dead sounding D is not uncommon on guts. My teacher had me reverse the D string loop on the tailpiece adding a bit more break angle over the bridge and that may have helped a little. (he is a Pirastro endorser. Carlos H guts on his 1860's bass. Sweet ride that one is...) He thought my bass (Upton std ply) spoke very well and liked these strings, maybe enough to try a set on his Cleveland.
When he played my bass I could step back and had to agree, the sound is very warm and even across the whole range with some DUH on the front of the notes...(insert drummer joke here). Could still hear a difference in the quality of the high notes along the D string, but was not very noticeable 8 feet away.
Pirastro offered to have me send the D back but I will continue to play these in a bit longer. May try swapping an Obligato or Zyex Med D string just for giggles at some point.
Thanks!
=JR=
 
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#82
Excellent!! I'm a gut devotee, and have used the Henriquez strings for a while, (have a three+ year old set on the American Standard as we speak). I'm almost wondering if I may go with the Slaps on the bottom and some Gamuts up top? (I'm currently using some ancient Dluoglecki's D&G Olive A and Spiro Weich E on my 1800's German bass)
Thanks for the information!!!
J
(Also, I instinctually want to tell you to protect the sanctity of the all gut D&G up top, haha)
 
#84
So far the Evah slap A&E has worked well with plain gut G&Ds I haven't yet worked my regular gig which I plug in and play mod loud with them,, but I think they will be fine,I did some recording last week and they seem to record just as even as wound gut I do find they sound different on my carved bass vs the plywood Standard, they are well balanced on the carved bass ,but some what dark and thuddy on the Standard,,which can be a dark bass anyhow.,I personaly would like to try some with a round wrap like most other wrapped guts,,, that might brighten them up just a touch,,also I'd like to see how they would sound with the aluminum wrap like the Eudoxas,,I think that also might brighten them up just a touch,to me they are very similar in feel and sound to Olivs. but the tension is better.I think when perfected they might offer a complety wrapped set that would be a very good seller,sort of a alternative to Eudoxas and Olives, with out the pice of guts,,,although I'll stick with a plain G&D gut.I do feel good going into this winter knowing I might not have to sacrifice one of hoarded up vintage As or Es to the unwinding devil,,Kent
 
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#85
I just had my bass set up: new nut, sound post, dressed fingerboard and neck. I had the luthier put the EP Slaps on the E and A (instead of Garbo) along with same old Gamut D and Dlugolecki G. The tension and diameter difference is noticeable. I quite like the A but the E is hard to control, it wants to slap very easily on the fingerboard. Duh, they're slap strings, but I was hoping for a traditional jazz application. They bow surprisingly well. I'm going to spend more time shedding on them and see how they do on the few gigs I have coming up, maybe a jam session tomorrow night. For now they will do, and I think they make a great match. However I wish the E, or maybe both strings, were just a tiny bit tighter. They have settled in pitch faster than the guts, which is to be expected.
 
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#86
I decided to stay with my Eudoxa D and Oliv G, so I have a Slap set D which only was on my instrument for about 10 minutes,
and a Slap set G which is completely unused. Am contemplating putting both onto the Classifieds site. If anyone has any interest
in these, please respond. I needed to retain wound gut for these two strings because my high C is wound gut (Oliv), and I am
VERY pleased with the Slap set E and A.
 
#89
I've used many fine gut D strings, but nothing can really compare to the Pistoy. Most gut Ds sound really fantastic up to the first f#, and then become a lot more wonky until you hit thumb position. The Pistoy is a marked improvement in this regard due to their unique design. I'd be somewhat suprised if the D didn't sound a lot more like the Lyon/Chorda D strings; very high quality strings, but they can't be expected to match the evenness of Pistoys. If you play across the strings in the transition area a lot, this may be disappointed. If you stick the "money" position, you may be just as happy with the Slap D.
 
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#91
All this talk is definitely interesting. I have been using Evah Pirazzi weich E and A for a while, with both Oliv D and G or Gamut Lyon D and G.
I definitely want lower tension lower strings, so the EP slap E and A sound up my street, is the G comparable to a Gamut Lyon G?
Having had problems with the Lyon D (but loving the Lyon G) I'm thinking the Pistoy D might be a good match, in fact I'm surprised noone has mentioned using the Pistoy D with the EP slap E and A. I'm going for a Paul Chambers/Sam Jones/Richard Davis/Ron Carter in the 60s kind of sound.
 
#92
trounsontime said:
All this talk is definitely interesting. I have been using Evah Pirazzi weich E and A for a while, with both Oliv D and G or Gamut Lyon D and G.
I definitely want lower tension lower strings, so the EP slap E and A sound up my street, is the G comparable to a Gamut Lyon G?
Having had problems with the Lyon D (but loving the Lyon G) I'm thinking the Pistoy D might be a good match, in fact I'm surprised noone has mentioned using the Pistoy D with the EP slap E and A. I'm going for a Paul Chambers/Sam Jones/Richard Davis/Ron Carter in the 60s kind of sound.
Click to expand...

I'm currently running a Lyon G, Pistoy D and the Evah Slap E & A... This combo sounds great on my laminated Cleveland. Well balanced both tonally and tension wise. Very consistent slap/click between the Evahs and gut. Bonus, the Evahs bow really beautifully and easy.
I'm super happy with this set-up.
J
 
#94
OK update from me: Pirastro very kindly sent me a prototype Slap Set synthetic D which I installed on my bass (an 1880s German 3/4 flatback) this week. My first impressions are very positive. It is beautifully made (with no flaws in the windings), it matches the E and A perfectly in terms of volume, power and tone, and the gauge sits nicely next to the plain gut G (I had been using an Evah Pirazzi Solo down tuned to orchestral as my D string and it was slightly too tense and definitely a bit skinny next to the G). The intonation is a vast improvement on the plain gut D (which unfortunately just sounds muffled and Indistinct on my boomy old bass) and it plays well up in the thumb position. It works well for pizz and slap but I confess I don't do arco so I cannot comment in this regard. It doesn't sound like a plain gut D, of course, but it does a fairly good approximation of a wound gut D (e.g., Oliv) and does work when string-crossing up and down from the gut G. All in all, I am very happy so far.

Warning: These initial thoughts come from a few hours of playing at home and not from a gig (that won't be for a couple of weeks) but so far I like it a lot.
 
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#96
trounsontime said:
Glad to hear it!
I'm not a slap player, do you think the set is going to be a suitable setup for approximating the great gut jazz players, but with a more playable D?
Click to expand...

The short answer is yes... I don't slap a lot but I do strive for an older sound. I also do a fair bit of busking and play un-amped pretty much exclusively with this bass, gypsy jazz, old time, bluegrass, etc. The Evah Slaps are the best non-gut E & A I've found for that sound.
 
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#97
Jeff Kissell said:
I'm currently running a Lyon G, Pistoy D and the Evah Slap E & A... This combo sounds great on my laminated Cleveland. Well balanced both tonally and tension wise. Very consistent slap/click between the Evahs and gut. Bonus, the Evahs bow really beautifully and easy.
I'm super happy with this set-up.
J
Click to expand...
What Gamut lyon G and pistoy D gauge do you have?
I play lyon medium G and pistoy light D with Eudoxa A&E. I love the pizz sound, but I always feel that, at some scale points, the G string sounds just a little bit nasal for my taste. It's more audible when I slap and more when I play amplified.
I don't know if the solution would be a fatter string (heavy+ lyon = 2.26 mm), to move the soundpost a little bit, increase or low the height (now 0.8 mm)...
 
#98
XSterling said:
What Gamut lyon G and pistoy D gauge do you have?
I play lyon medium G and pistoy light D with Eudoxa A&E. I love the pizz sound, but I always feel that, at some scale points, the G string sounds just a little bit nasal for my taste. It's more audible when I slap and more when I play amplified.
I don't know if the solution would be a fatter string (heavy+ lyon = 2.26 mm), to move the soundpost a little bit, increase or low the height (now 0.8 mm)...
Click to expand...

G = medium (I think)
D = light. I got this string used on TB and it was varnished. I sanded off most of the varnish.
I've noticed a bit of nasal in the the G also.
FWIW, the Dlugolecki gut is sweeter sounding to my ears, but definitely pricier. I think the Dlugolecki plain gut strings bow better too.
J
 
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#100
VegasGutPlucker said:
+1 on the Dlugolecki. They are sweeter, smoother, and are works of art. Don't see them getting enough love round these parts. I'm 3 years into a size 44 G and I'm changing it soon just because I want to, it probably has a lot more life left.
Click to expand...
Well, I've seen that Dlugolecki makes G strings till size 46, it's 2.30mm. That's interesting!
But I don't know if it would match well with my Gamut Pistoy light D and Eudoxa A&E...

And returning to the Evah P. Slap strings questions, can anyone compare the A&E with the Eudoxa?
 

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