Constant retuning? Green hands? Unusable arco?
Thanks for the review. I think I'll pass on these.
- Steve
Thanks for the review. I think I'll pass on these.
- Steve
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Double Bass New Gamut Red Diamond Gut Strings
- Thread starter Earl
- Start date
I think your gonna end up disappointed with them in terms of arco. You're probably looking at a more paul chambers like sound.
chris merrill
Supporting Member
- Dec 14, 2012
- 675
- 506
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist for: GHS Strings, Lakland Basses
I'm currently using a red diamond D with a pistoy G. The D is a bit easier on Arco than the plain G, in my experience. Of course leagues away from my spiro E&A
wondering if anyone has tried the regular lyon wrapped in nylon and can compare to the red diamond ?.
I tried Gamut Lyon D & G nylon wrapped .... they are truly amazing gut strings, and the quality is exceptional. However, they do not bow any better ( I'm mainly pizz, but 'shed arco daily) than the the Red diamond's on my friends bass or Kaplan Golden Spirals I was using. I now am about to pull the trigger on some Innovation 140B's hoping for the happy medium - I'm temporarily using a set of Zyex my luthier insisted I try ... I actually like the feel of a lot, and they are very forgiving under the bow, but I can't live without some front end thump.
Just had to give my initial impressions of the Red Diamond strings from Gamut. I live in Duluth so I went over to Dan’s shop and talked with him about my concerns from what I have read here. That was Monday and my intention was to put the strings on and play a Messiah sing along the next evening (last night). I bought the set and put them on my 150yo bass and tuned them to 415 because that is the pitch we use for the sing along. Played on them a bit Monday night and then more during the day on Tuesday. The G was a little difficult to bow with a ‘gentle’ sound, but after trying some different rosin, tightening the bow more and using less pressure with more speed - wonderful! I’m a novice at gut and I realized quickly that with a modern bow I needed to use a harder rosin, tighter tension, more bow speed and less pressure. Tuesday night - in a word - Awesome! I loved the sound these strings gave my bass, the fundamentals were incredible and my colleagues had some wonderful comments about the sound I was making. The pitch was quite stable for the strings being on for such a short time - after an hour of straight playing the pitch dropped less than a quarter tone. No green fingers! They felt good under the fingers, though I had to raise the bridge a bit to give the strings more room to move. Great volume, much more than the Bel Cantos I had on that bass. Great sustain - nice ring. I’m playing with a couple of choirs the next few days and I’m thinking of using this bass for that as well - some jazz, classical and a rock tune that they want upright on, we’ll see how it goes...
Update on last post: I used the same bass with the Red Diamond strings for two choral performances in a large cathedral and one performance in a small, very live hall. I was concerned that the bass would be heard, unamplified, over the choirs, especially in the cathedral. After the second performance a colleague of mine came up and asked if I was using an amp. I told her I wasn’t and she said she was sitting at the back of the cathedral and she could hear every note I played!
I am very pleased with these strings and I talked with Dan earlier this week and told him as much. Obviously each bass will react differently - it’s hard to say how these strings will sound on a plywood bass or a lower quality instrument. The bass I put the Red Diamond strings on is a fantastic instrument that sounds great with every type of string I’ve had on it and these strings elevated the sound quality that much more. I also have 35+ years of professional jazz and classical playing experience that i believe helped me to adjust my bowing style to bring out the best sounds from these strings. I highly recommend them for those players out there looking for gut strings that are reasonably priced (about the same as a set of Flexocores).
I am very pleased with these strings and I talked with Dan earlier this week and told him as much. Obviously each bass will react differently - it’s hard to say how these strings will sound on a plywood bass or a lower quality instrument. The bass I put the Red Diamond strings on is a fantastic instrument that sounds great with every type of string I’ve had on it and these strings elevated the sound quality that much more. I also have 35+ years of professional jazz and classical playing experience that i believe helped me to adjust my bowing style to bring out the best sounds from these strings. I highly recommend them for those players out there looking for gut strings that are reasonably priced (about the same as a set of Flexocores).
I’ve just ordered a set of the Red Diamonds. I normally play with just a gut G or G and D, looking forward to the whole set!
I gave into my urge and sprung for a set during their holiday sale. My initial impressions are much like the others here, so not much to add. The D in particular will take some getting used to. I played plain gut for years on G-D-A, and this D feels as fat as a plain A. The E and A feel great though. I'll play the snot over them in the coming month to see where I end up at. Here's some bass p0rn.
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It's higher than plain gut for sure, but whether it's going to be an issue I don't know. I would say that they are stiffer in general, but the pull didn't feel bad. Not really what I expected having played plain gut for a long time though. Time will tell with some playing in.
In case any one was wondering:
I had a a chance to try the regular gamut Lyon nylon wound g in both light+ and heavy+ gauges.
While not a side by side comparison with the red diamond I’d say the nylon wound Lyons are also very stiff. I had the light+ next to Spiro mitt e/a and Oliv d and the gamut seemed way higher tension.
I had a a chance to try the regular gamut Lyon nylon wound g in both light+ and heavy+ gauges.
While not a side by side comparison with the red diamond I’d say the nylon wound Lyons are also very stiff. I had the light+ next to Spiro mitt e/a and Oliv d and the gamut seemed way higher tension.
Interesting. The E and A were too floppy on my bass, unless the bridge was uncomfortably high. I kept the D and G and use Evah Weichs for E and A.
Anyone want the Red Diamond E and A?
Anyone want the Red Diamond E and A?
did the same as shwashwa. the tension figures that they give for the d and g don't add up, unless this is some kinda perceived tension/stiffness situation. the g is possibly the highest tension/stiff g string that i've ever tried.
I have a gig Friday night, so I'll find out if the tension really bothers me. The E and A in this set feel like they would be a perfect match for plain G and D though. The band is excited that I put gut back on the bass.
So I played my first gig on them last night. It was a house concert. The band had minimal PA support. I played acoustically. I have to say that I was impressed. They aren't a home run yet, but here is what I found.
They are pretty loud. I had Golden Slaps on prior, and these sound much louder. It's been over a year since I ran plain gut so I can't really compare them in that respect. Obviously they blow the Slaps out the water in tone, bottom, complexity...etc. Tonally they are a nice gut string.
The tension thing with the D and G that we all noticed.....it didn't really bother me at all during about an hour and half set. In fact once I was playing a bit, they just felt like gut strings to me.
The E and A are really great but for one thing. Shifting and sliding on the round wound copper is going to take some practice. I know my shifting was bad last night. I'm just not used to that much friction/resistance. I was arriving late, and losing hand shape to correct. Hoping I can build up some gunk on them to help overcome this and make them slicker.
They balance very well out in front. I saw some cell phone video, and I could here everything loud and clear. That made me happy because I couldn't hear certain notes where I was standing. No complaints on the acoustic tone.
The tuning was obnoxious, but I was expecting this being a long time gut player prior to switching to synthetics. The strings went on Wednesday, and didn't get much playing before Saturday night. I tuned them as much as I could in the interim, but obviously they are going to take time to stretch in. If the tuning thing turns into normal gut tuning issues, then I think I'll really like these. The idea of having a gut string that I don't have to maintain is very appealing.
So the jury is still out. I have a busy March coming up, and a couple of different recording things on deck. I'll report back as I get more hours on them. My hope is that they settle in the way I'm used to plain gut operating.
They are pretty loud. I had Golden Slaps on prior, and these sound much louder. It's been over a year since I ran plain gut so I can't really compare them in that respect. Obviously they blow the Slaps out the water in tone, bottom, complexity...etc. Tonally they are a nice gut string.
The tension thing with the D and G that we all noticed.....it didn't really bother me at all during about an hour and half set. In fact once I was playing a bit, they just felt like gut strings to me.
The E and A are really great but for one thing. Shifting and sliding on the round wound copper is going to take some practice. I know my shifting was bad last night. I'm just not used to that much friction/resistance. I was arriving late, and losing hand shape to correct. Hoping I can build up some gunk on them to help overcome this and make them slicker.
They balance very well out in front. I saw some cell phone video, and I could here everything loud and clear. That made me happy because I couldn't hear certain notes where I was standing. No complaints on the acoustic tone.
The tuning was obnoxious, but I was expecting this being a long time gut player prior to switching to synthetics. The strings went on Wednesday, and didn't get much playing before Saturday night. I tuned them as much as I could in the interim, but obviously they are going to take time to stretch in. If the tuning thing turns into normal gut tuning issues, then I think I'll really like these. The idea of having a gut string that I don't have to maintain is very appealing.
So the jury is still out. I have a busy March coming up, and a couple of different recording things on deck. I'll report back as I get more hours on them. My hope is that they settle in the way I'm used to plain gut operating.
