You should do this just in case anyway. Might get more time out of it since it’s not on the playing part
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Double Bass New Gamut Red Diamond Gut Strings
- Thread starter Earl
- Start date
You should do this just in case anyway. Might get more time out of it since it’s not on the playing part
Those strings have a 6 month warranty. Contact Dan ASAP and he'll hook you up with a new one and/or a rewind. I had one unwind after about a month and Dan was very cooperative.
Good idea as long as the break is not in the vibrating part.
I would rewind until the break, fix with some thread (like the silk), put some elastic glue over it and put some shrink wrap tube over that part.
Nothing I’ve read on this thread makes me want to ever try these strings on my bass.
- Steve
- Steve
...Except the chance to try some amazing sounding (and feeling) strings.
These are great hand-made gut strings at a cheaper than normal price. They come with all the advantages and disadvantages of gut.
On my Cleveland ply, the volume and tone are truly thunderous. They amplify well, and are playable arco.
They are not for everyone, but no string is.
Well until the durability issue, I would respectfully disagree. It's a different gut product for sure, and not everyone's cup.
Queue the love/hate thing I have with gut.....
I think for gut players these are a good string. I meant more specificly to Steve cuz we seem to have similar tastes. These would be the set I go back to because I like the gut sound and like high tension. I’m just not into it now. Perhaps a good transition set from like spiros to plain gut
They're going to take it back and rewind it. Looks like I'll be putting plain gut on the D and G for a bit.
A nice way to have most of the gut goodness is gut G and D with spiro E and A.
Tuning stability is much improved, tension still low, sounds like gut!
Tuning stability is much improved, tension still low, sounds like gut!
So I got my rewound G back a bit ago......some surgery and other problems...finally got it out to install. Gotta say, I'm baffled. It doesn't look like the same winding as the original, and nothing like the D. It almost looks like plain gut. Hard to tell with feel. I sent Gamut another email asking if they changed processes or material. If this isn't plain gut, the windings are polished/ground or something else is different. Pic below for reference. I play them tomorrow and see what I really got.
What gut/spiro combo do you think is best? Gamut lyon med+ G/D over Spiro S42 weich A/E?
Gamut answered back quickly. Turns out my suspicions were correct. They are in fact different windings on the D and G. They are sending me a new D to compensate. Good news because I put about 3 hours on today, and the newly wound G is very nice. Looking forward to the same on the D.
Here’s an interesting photo from a few months back at rehearsal:
When I saw your photo, it was the D string that looked odd to me, not the G, as both of mine are dark red.
When I saw your photo, it was the D string that looked odd to me, not the G, as both of mine are dark red.
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Yeah I'm guessing something happened with my original set, QC, materials, or otherwise. They are making good though. If the D feels like the G I'll be very happy. They've been very responsive.
I’ve had the Red Diamonds on and off my bass several times now from last December when I bought the set. I do many styles of playing and I have to say I have been very pleased with these strings. As I mentioned before I played a Messiah performance with them and after adjusting my bowing technique, the strings sounded fantastic! I used them with a Realist pickup in a jazz band doing swing and Latin music - I dropped out the mid-range entirely, boosted the treble and ran the low-range flat - the sound was excellent (through a SWR Workingmans 12). Recently I performed a few Bluegrass-Folk shows and I used a cheap Beringer mic suspended at the bridge with rubber bands and had the sound guys do the mix. Everybody loved the sound and fullness of tone that was coming out of my bass. As a comparison - I had to do a more modern show at the same venue a week later and I switched to Spirocore (medium gauge) - same bass and microphone setup - sound was not as rich and full as with the Red Diamonds. My only challenges with the RD strings was at two performances (these were all at Big Top Chautauqua - tent venue) it was raining outside and the pitch was really unstable, but on the good weather nights, the pitch was extremely stable.
I’ve never played on a plain gut strings, but these were an affordable alternative for me and I love them for the times when I need that sound. I don’t find them that difficult to bow, in fact I actually enjoyed playing through some Vivaldi and Marcello sonatas with them and experiencing that sound. It gave me a whole new insight to performing early music. They are a bit challenging when bowing above the octave, but possible - just lots of bow speed.
They’ve held up to me putting them on and taking them off my bass, but yes I have to adjust the bridge more often as they do pull the bridge forward a bit. Maybe I need to have the grooves adjusted on the bridge to alleviate that, or find something that can go under the string at the bridge that would be smoother than the wood grooves. Maybe next time I’ll try some wax in the grooves before I install them. Anyway, long post but my experience with these strings has been really positive. To each his/her own.
I’ve never played on a plain gut strings, but these were an affordable alternative for me and I love them for the times when I need that sound. I don’t find them that difficult to bow, in fact I actually enjoyed playing through some Vivaldi and Marcello sonatas with them and experiencing that sound. It gave me a whole new insight to performing early music. They are a bit challenging when bowing above the octave, but possible - just lots of bow speed.
They’ve held up to me putting them on and taking them off my bass, but yes I have to adjust the bridge more often as they do pull the bridge forward a bit. Maybe I need to have the grooves adjusted on the bridge to alleviate that, or find something that can go under the string at the bridge that would be smoother than the wood grooves. Maybe next time I’ll try some wax in the grooves before I install them. Anyway, long post but my experience with these strings has been really positive. To each his/her own.
Aren't the black tape Labella strings that Ron Carter plays on difficult/impossible to bow? Isn't that nylon wrapping? Is the RD nylon wrapped G&D somehow different/better/bowable compared to the Labella black tapes? Does anyone have experience with both can comment?
