have you tried heavily cleaning them with rubbing alcohol. with spiros id get a few more months out of them by doing that
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Double Bass New! Pirastro Perpetual Double Bass strings
- Thread starter luisraulmunoz
- Start date
have you tried heavily cleaning them with rubbing alcohol. with spiros id get a few more months out of them by doing that
I think Adam King is using Perpetuals in this video, so all of us who use these strings should be able to play this:
- Steve
- Steve
@Steve Boisen of course you are right! Mine seem to be defective from the first moment I put them on. Do you think, I should contact Pirastro?
Okay, it turns out he’s using Thomastik Belcantos. Everything I know is a lie!
- Steve
- Steve
And the strings are not the answer...
He gets great ring out of the belcantos on the harmonics. Also, interesting to note that his realist pickup is on the G string side of the bridge. Maybe there's something particularly unique about that bass. The player is surely unique.
And people have called me crazy for liking the sound of Belcanto's for jazz pizz playing*. I've had a couple sets but recall liking the 1st set better than the 2nd. Not sure why they sounded different. The 2 main reasons I don't think I've used them regularly is that they don't seem to last very long and the well known fact they're extremely expensive.
*I am crazy, mind you, just for different reasons.
*I am crazy, mind you, just for different reasons.
There are some players, who liked Belcantos for pizz, they looking for a kind of "old school" thump in the sound, Belcantos has not as much sustain, but has a strong transient attack...If you like that, maybe worth a try, Gut Alike and similar strings too....
I recently bought a set of NEW Perps with extended-E from @Sam Dingle (thanks Sam). My bass currently has Dominant A/D/G and a Helicore Hybrid E+
The HH E+ is NOT a great match for the Dominants because it is tonally darker, but has some growl. It is not as articulate as the Dominant. Arco, the HH does not have the same sizzle as the Dominants.
FYI: Before I put any strings on my bass, I always clean them with alcohol, and man-o-man, this Perp E+ string had a lot of black oil come off from the manufacturing process.
Here is a video clip of how this Perp E+ sounds against the Dominant A/D/G strings. I think that it is a GREAT match pizz, and bows way better than the Dominants, which tend to be scratchy.
- Mark
The HH E+ is NOT a great match for the Dominants because it is tonally darker, but has some growl. It is not as articulate as the Dominant. Arco, the HH does not have the same sizzle as the Dominants.
FYI: Before I put any strings on my bass, I always clean them with alcohol, and man-o-man, this Perp E+ string had a lot of black oil come off from the manufacturing process.
Here is a video clip of how this Perp E+ sounds against the Dominant A/D/G strings. I think that it is a GREAT match pizz, and bows way better than the Dominants, which tend to be scratchy.
- Mark
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Fixed. Not only was it private, it was the wrong video!
I just replaced my strings (some older Evahs ADG, Spirocore mittel E) with a new set of Perpetuals (recommended by my trustworthy luthier along with many here). After a week, my initial impressions are very positive. They have a great sound (and lots of it) on my LaScala, plenty of growl, and good clarity. And they feel good on my fingers. I really like the G compared to the Spirocore G, which I have on another bass. The only thing I'm not quite sure about is maybe they're just a little more metallic-sounding than I'd like on the open A and E. I'm wondering whether that might be more of a "new string thing" that fades with more use. Or maybe I'll just get used to it.
I haven't noticed that on E and A. They are certainly less metallic than corresponding Pirastro Jazzers, but EPs are very dark and dull down low.
They will certainly lose some edge as they break in, but I don't think they will ever sound like Evah Pirazzis, if that's what you're going for.
They will certainly lose some edge as they break in, but I don't think they will ever sound like Evah Pirazzis, if that's what you're going for.
No, definitely not shooting for an Evah sound at the low end, especially from an open E (previously I had a newish Spiro mittel E). I probably should also add that my luthier did some fingerboard and string height work at the same time the new strings were put on. So everything sounds quite different compared to before. Not complaining really; I remember how lively the spiros sounded when they were brand new.
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After much contemplation I'm back on the team. I've been working through some personal trauma/grief/covid stuff and have made the decision to commit to steel core strings again long term. Started with the Kaplan solos then a used set of Spiro S42 weich and ended up back with the Perpetuals... famous last words indeed!
-J
