• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass New Gamut Gut strings

#21
Yes - Thanks again-

This leads me to another question, regarding adjusting the hight of the bridge !
How long will it take for the bass itself ( neck) to adjust to the new kind of string tension -which will obviously be a lot less with gut strings -?
I mean should i wait a while before i start string hight adjustment ?
Thanks -

Niels Dahl
 
#22
When I first made the switch from EPs to the Clef mixed set (good strings for the money,BTW), I raised the adjusters one turn during the changeover, and have probably given them another half since. It's a learning process to figure out the sweet spot, just like with non gut strings.
 
#24
NielsDale said:
...How long will it take for the bass itself ( neck) to adjust to the new kind of string tension -which will obviously be a lot less with gut strings -?
I mean should i wait a while before i start string hight adjustment?...
Click to expand...

if my own experience were representative, i'd say it will take some time but the more you play of course the sooner that will happen. i don't know if it's just the neck, probably the whole bass -- especially the top -- will open up a bit. my bass had a bigger boomier fuller sound after maybe a month or so...

but i wouldn't wait on the string height adjustment. guts don't have enough room to really vibrate if you set the height as low as you might like to play steel strings, like with the G at 5mm. just to give an example, my Pistoy G is now set at 8mm, the E at about 11mm. of course that may not be right for you and your bass, but what i'm saying is getting the bass itself up open up more on the lower tension will be enhanced by the guts really vibrating. that's just my $.02.
 
#28
Initial impressions Gamuts replacing Clefs: Clefs are a great set of strings for the money. The wound strings in particular have held up to several removal and reinstalls with no sign of unwinding and the plain strings are just barely creased at the bridge crossing. If you're a mostly pizz player, you'll like'em. Arco presents the usual issues, especially above the octave on G and D, but I played them in orchestra and got compliments on my sound. The wound strings bow well.
The Gamuts (Light+) are obviously a premium string, as they should be, at nearly twice the price of the Clefs. The finish on the plain strings is smoother, and the overall attention to detail in finishing is there to see.
It'll take a few days for them to settle down and stay in tune, of course. The G and D are pretty scratchy right now-I expect that to calm down with break in, just as I expect the A and E to be easier to get started with the bow after some play in time.
I can tell already that thumb position is better with the Gamuts, which I figure is due to very high quality raw material and tight quality control.
Bottom line: if you want to check out gut and not spend a fortune, Clefs will do the job; if you get really serious, you'll want to move up to a premium string.
 
#29
I think you'll find the arco sound and response will settle in nicely. I enjoy bowing the Gamuts. I was like a duck to water when it came to pizz, but the arco took a little while. Since you already have experience bowing gut, you should be getting good stuff happening pretty quickly.

I played the Clefs on a student's bass, and I was pretty surprised at the arco response, especially the wound ones. Even with my crappy self-taught chops, they sounded pretty good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fat bob
#30
Yeah, the arco's coming along (I have crappy self-taught chops, too), the D is opening up pizzwise, and the stretching phase is pretty much over.
I was (and remain) impressed with the Clefs considering quality vs. price. The Gamuts are just in a different ballpark.
 
#31
I have been playing and adjusting these strings since thursday last week and i must say they are getting better and better. I used to play spirocore,but these are different and very fine. The bass seem to have no problem adjusting to this kind of string and the sound of gut is so nice.
Thanks -:bassist:
Niels Dale
 
#32
William Hoffman said:
there i go again, bein' way too logical about things ... there was Montana Bob who needed nut therapy in the bass spa after playin' on a Pistoy A ...
Click to expand...

DAMN ..... I missed this one William :D . I will keep this short ..... You sure-are way too logical ;) . However .... Here is a suck-cess story for Your Gratification. I am happy to report that my nuttzz have relaxed a lot after playing my Palin Pistoy A String while sitting in The Spa :p !!
 
#38
Two weeks+ on the Gamuts now. Lots of tuning the last few days with temp fluctuating between 40-75 degrees and humidity 25-55%.
G&D are still pretty scratchy with the bow, and the timbre change between (wound) A&E and D&G is something to be reckoned with. Still looking for the right rosin. Pizz is coming along-D is opening up as they settle in and the bass is projecting well. One colleague said to me that it doesn't sound at all like I'm playing a new bass.
I have some gigs coming up in the next two weeks that will test the strings (and me) pretty well; a noamp jazz gig, an amped gig with an 8 piece Western Swing band, an orchestra concert, and a performance of two movements of the Saint-Saens Septet in Eb.
 
#40
BassGreaser said:
I just wished they made a plain E and A straights:help:
Click to expand...

No you don't!

J/k. I did play a plain gut A string on one of my student's basses, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was as thick as a drum stick and sounded like "thnk, thnk, thnk" when plucked, but it was there in the mix when the whole band was playing.

I just put my Dlugolecki D and G back on after being a content Spirocore user for the past year (I played a Mingus tribute show and thought it would be appropriate). I'm not going back to steel anytime soon. ESPECIALLY after one of my students, a doctoral classical bass student here at IU, picked up the bass and his bow and whipped through some orchestra excerpts and cello suite movements without a problem. No more arco excuses with gut strings!
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back