Double Bass New! Pirastro Perpetual Double Bass strings

[DoubleMIDI]

No high C string in the perpetual lineup. If I were to select a high C string that would compliment a set of perpetuals, what would the hive mind suggest?

The Perpetual G is thin enough that I won‘t want a Perpetual high C.

If you want to play a high C string I recommend to find an existing high C first that you like to play. Then you can think about the lower strings to add to that high C.

Personally I don’t like any existing steel core high C string because they are thin and need a lot of force to press them down on the board.

The steel core strings that worked for me are no longer manufactured.

 

[Francois Blais]

What's wrong about the Perpetual G?

My Perp G was damaged and I had to replace it, and I don't have any string money at the moment.
I put on a Belcanto G but was wondering about an Obligato one, which I also have at hand.
I'll probably try it anyway.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I think the Belcanto will fit better than the Obligato, specially in thumb position.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I disagree with DoubleMIDI (which is surprising to me.) I think of all strings to mix with the perpetuals with an Obligato would be one of the better options as they are pretty popular on top of spirocores (at least they were). Personally I'm not a huge fan of them but I'd choose that over a dark and thuddy belcanto especially for pizz. Arco on the other hand throw the perpetual set away and go with a full set of Belcantos

 

[TroyK]

Personally, I think one of the things that makes perpetuals so good is how balanced they are across the set. I tried them with a few other things and a few other things with them and I just didn't think that anything made them better.

...but then I went to Spirocores...

But not because anything was wrong about Perpetuals. I ran them through a complete lifecycle and was either going to replace them with a fresh set or go to Spirocores.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I disagree with DoubleMIDI (which is surprising to me.)
…

You might be right, I never had Belcantos. But I think both are not a good match.
But for a steel core string I think there is not much beyond some kind of Spiros in that tension range.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Obligatos work well on top of Spiros. The bass matters, they don’t sound good on some basses. This is a good hybrid set. Belcantos are excellent arco strings. Perps are great too. It all depends on your bass and what you’re playing.

 

[anokaybassist]

Did anyone try an Obligato G with Perps EAD?

I actually did this recently! Great combo! The Obligato just sings against the perps. I love the sustain i get with it. Just

 

[DaveAceofBass]

On my old Perpetual full set, I decided the E was too bright (on my bass) and not taught enough. I did the finger test, and the Perpetuals were like wet noodles compared to the stiffer Spirocores. The A was okay, but no better than the Spirocore A for me. It seemed to me the Spirocore E&A were warmer and punchier. I had gone away from using the Spiro D&G on both of my basses (Kolstein Guarneri and New Standard La Scala Hybrid). For the last year anda half, I had a very successful relationship with Spiro 3885 E&A with the Perpetual Stark D&G on my LaScala . But back in July I took advantage of a sale and decided to try the S42 Spirocore full set which I hadn’t used in a while. Well, my memory served me well and I still don’t love the sound of the D&G strings. That said the S42 set has a thinner E&A than the 3/4 3885 do, so I am going to pair a regular Perpetual D&G with the S42 Spiros to see how it does for me. If memory serves me well this will work much better and be similar to my previous setup with the mixed set. I’ll report back after I give this a try.

 

[Francois Blais]

I actually did this recently! Great combo! The Obligato just sings against the perps. I love the sustain i get with it. Just

Thanks for the feedback anokay.
Since then, I replaced the strings with a full Corelli 370TX set.
Works great.

 

[BassBurns]

Does anyone on here have experience of both the regular Perpetual E as well as the extended E? How do they compare?

 

[BassBurns]

I only ask because there seems to be a significant difference in tension between the two, as well as the difference in guage, so wondered if the extended E generally had a bit more weight and presence than the regular E.

 

[BassBurns]

Is Christian McBride playing Perpetuals here?:

 

[Sam Dingle]

Does anyone on here have experience of both the regular Perpetual E as well as the extended E? How do they compare?

yes I haven't tried them on the same bass but before my extension I used spiro medium with a stark E or weich with a medium E to get an even tension. when i went with the mediums with an extended E the e was still too weak compared to the other strings, no issue with the perpetual as the E had noticibly more tension than the regular E's i played on other basses.

 

[c_mf]

Does anyone have experience with both the Perpetual stark D and Evah weich D? I'm finding that there's a bit too much of a dampened sound to this Perpetual, almost like an orchestral string (incidentally, it sounds absolutely beautiful with the bow, but that doesn't help me much as I play mostly jazz). I'm considering trying either Dominants or EP weichs for the higher strings and wondering whether anyone here could offer some comparison between those and the Perpetual starks. Thanks in advance!

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Does anyone have experience with both the Perpetual stark D and Evah weich D? I'm finding that there's a bit too much of a dampened sound to this Perpetual, almost like an orchestral string (incidentally, it sounds absolutely beautiful with the bow, but that doesn't help me much as I play mostly jazz). I'm considering trying either Dominants or EP weichs for the higher strings and wondering whether anyone here could offer some comparison between those and the Perpetual starks. Thanks in advance!

EP is darker. Maybe try Obligato

 

[Jeff Kissell]

...or the regular Perpetual D?

 

[c_mf]

I just wanted to report back on this for anyone who's curious. I replaced the Perpetual stark D and G with Evah weichs, and these are my impressions so far:

- I'm finding that the Evah G is definitely darker and thumpier than the perpetual, volume is about the same, slightly stiffer feel in the left hand but bouncier in the right.
- The Evah D is better in every way than the Perpetual (on my bass). It's a touch brighter, MUCH louder, with more sustain. Feel difference is the same as the G--it's got more flex under the right hand, but it somehow feels stiffer under the left, most noticeably in thumb position. It's certainly not a big enough difference to bother me, however.

My bass really likes Evahs, apparently. I'll hold on to the Perpetual G for a while in case I want to try mixing it in at some point, but I think I will let go of the D as it just doesn't work on my bass at all.

 

[PBandJazzBass]

An idea popped into my head in the early hours of the morning when I probably should’ve been sleeping.

My biggest gripe with the whole set of Perpetuals was the E string. Kind of makes sense to me. In the standard set, it is apparently lower tension than the A string.

I researched a little tension data and now I’m thinking maybe Perpatual A, D & G with a Spiro Weich E string.

 

[lurk]

An idea popped into my head in the early hours of the morning when I probably should’ve been sleeping.

My biggest gripe with the whole set of Perpetuals was the E string. Kind of makes sense to me. In the standard set, it is apparently lower tension than the A string.

I researched a little tension data and now I’m thinking maybe Perpatual A, D & G with a Spiro Weich E string.

I'm using Superflex solo G (A turned down to orch.), Perp D & A, and Spiro Weich E and really like this setup, as do others who play my bass. Of course the whole thing is very subjective blah, blah, blah.