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Double Bass New! Pirastro Perpetual Double Bass strings
- Thread starter luisraulmunoz
- Start date
When I tried them a few years ago, they were the regulars. In fact, I don’t think the Starks had even come out at that point. If I try them again, it’ll probably be whatever my local shop has in stock at the time. I think they usually just have the regulars.
Gotcha
Are you still using them?
. I have both and prefer the regulars. I think they match better. Just my take..
Are you still using them?
. I have both and prefer the regulars. I think they match better. Just my take..
No, I currently have a set of Spirocore Mitts that have been on my bass, for the most part, for about 2 & 1/2 years. I tried Evah Pirazzis and Spirocore Weichs earlier this year for about a month each.
I’ve been playing a lot of Big Band gigs recently and need something lighter under my pizz hand.
No. the Mitts are heavier and I’m looking something lighter. When I had the Weichs earlier this year, I found the D & G too nasally and thin sounding. The E & A were nice though.
that’s why I love the extension string cuz it’s drastically heavier than the normal E, almost like a perpetual stark E
Well, I went ahead and did it today.
Perpetual G, D & A with a Spiro Weich E. The Perps are brand new (medium G & D) while the Weich E had been on my bass for a little over a month earlier this year.
And, so far….I’m very impressed and optimistic (the later being quite unusual for me). They blend together quite nicely. I realize they’re fresh, but the Perps don’t have much of that “new string sound.”
Perpetual G, D & A with a Spiro Weich E. The Perps are brand new (medium G & D) while the Weich E had been on my bass for a little over a month earlier this year.
And, so far….I’m very impressed and optimistic (the later being quite unusual for me). They blend together quite nicely. I realize they’re fresh, but the Perps don’t have much of that “new string sound.”
S42, largely because I already had it and I remember liking it when it was on my bass back in February-March.
I just replaced Spiro S42's with my full set of Perpetuals (stark D&G)... I had a solid couple of months of hard gigging and my hands are a little beat. I gotta say, there is something REALLY compelling about the tension/feel of the Perps.
I haven't changed my strings since september 2021 but to be fair I don't play much upright at the moment. Maybe once a month I'll pull it out (which im ashamed of lol) and I've done 5 gigs on it this year, plus teaching at a summer camp in July. At the camp I felt the strings were a little darker than I wanted but others there felt they still had a good bit of life. I keep thinking if I'm not playing it much I should throw on some spiros but then i'd be down the rabbit hole of which tension is right for my bass. The perpetuals just feel great tension wise on my instrument that I can't justify it. Let me pull out my bass now...
So far (knock on wood, make the sign of the cross, throw salt over my left shoulder, etc.) the Perps over Spiro Weich E seem to be working pretty well.
I have a couple gigs this weekend so I suppose that’ll be the best test.
I have a couple gigs this weekend so I suppose that’ll be the best test.
I just looked at the string sticky about spiro tension vs perpetual tension. perpetuals with stark DG feel great on my bass. I chose to compare the adjusted tension numbers for both sets but maybe that was unwise. A perpetual stark set with extended vs a 3/4 weich with an extened Medium E from G-E is:
Perpetuals 26.39 / 26.39 / 28.16 / 32.87
Spirocore: 28.03 / 28.54 / 29.56 / 34.62
I have a 43.5 inch scale so the numbers would need to be adjusted for that extra two inchs or so but what I'm seeing is the spirocore 3/4 set would be slightly more tension on the whole bass, but the tension relation between the two sets of strings is pretty similar. It seems my thoughts are correct; if I wanted a spiro set that was most similar tension wise to my perpetuals it would be this set.
BUT THEN I looked at the measurements of the 3/4 vs 4/4 spiros and measured my bass. the distance between the silk ends, on the D string, would not fit on my instrument, meaning the silk would be sticking out past the nut onto the fingerboard.
Very happy to scratch this itch before ordering a set of strings that wouldn't fit on my bass. Obviously it says its a 3/4 set of strings but I was thinking maybe it wouldn't really matter. Turns out it does.
Looks to me like I'm stuck with perpetuals unless I wanna go back to the dreaded, E string weaker than the A string setup. Ok, back to the shed.
Perpetuals 26.39 / 26.39 / 28.16 / 32.87
Spirocore: 28.03 / 28.54 / 29.56 / 34.62
I have a 43.5 inch scale so the numbers would need to be adjusted for that extra two inchs or so but what I'm seeing is the spirocore 3/4 set would be slightly more tension on the whole bass, but the tension relation between the two sets of strings is pretty similar. It seems my thoughts are correct; if I wanted a spiro set that was most similar tension wise to my perpetuals it would be this set.
BUT THEN I looked at the measurements of the 3/4 vs 4/4 spiros and measured my bass. the distance between the silk ends, on the D string, would not fit on my instrument, meaning the silk would be sticking out past the nut onto the fingerboard.
Very happy to scratch this itch before ordering a set of strings that wouldn't fit on my bass. Obviously it says its a 3/4 set of strings but I was thinking maybe it wouldn't really matter. Turns out it does.
Looks to me like I'm stuck with perpetuals unless I wanna go back to the dreaded, E string weaker than the A string setup. Ok, back to the shed.
How much is the silk over the nut (vibrating string and nut groove length)?
Spiros are closely wound for a few centimeters under the silks before the windings are spread.
So you can fix the silk with some glue above the nut and then remove the silk below to get a longer playable part.
Another option would be to add something to the underlength if that doesn‘t put the underlength silk over the bridge.
Spiros are closely wound for a few centimeters under the silks before the windings are spread.
So you can fix the silk with some glue above the nut and then remove the silk below to get a longer playable part.
Another option would be to add something to the underlength if that doesn‘t put the underlength silk over the bridge.
yep but I have an extension so the tension is a little more on that string than the normal E.
that gets to the point of I’m not sure it’s worth it to me. I’m lazy that way I guess. And with the price of spirits it’s not worth it to me at the moment.
