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Double Bass New! Pirastro Perpetual Double Bass strings

#1,781
Earl said:
Try Thomastic Superflexible Solo E/A with your gut G/D. Much easier on the hands than regular Evahs, really rich sound once they break in, and try lowering your strings - gut does not have to be really high to sound good (depending on the way your fingerboard is planed). I play this combination at a medium/low height and it sounds great.
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I had my action very low on guts. I made it work. But you can't really go super low with them on my bass. And there are definitely many tradeoffs with low action guts. The D string especially being pretty dead higher on the neck is a big one. And I have realised some faster runs just are not doable with guts and my physique no matter how low the strings. The arco being terrible on guts is a big minus. I have also started noticing the guts eating into my fingerboard, hence the dressing.

That said, I might just go back to EPs (or some other hybrids) with gut on top. I just thought I'd be ready to change things up a bit. It's been more than a decade with my previous string setup after all.
 
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#1,782
Thinking of trying these out and trying to decide on whether to get the stark or medium D+G. I'm currently playing an old set of 3885 weichs with a newer mittel E. The tension of the medium D/G was a bit much on my bass in thumb position, weichs are definitely easier to get around on. I understand stark, in this case, doesn't necessarily mean higher tension thus my dillemma. I'm learning a lot reading through the thread but lots of pages here :)

I'm a jazz player but do a lot of arco at home. I'm just not crazy about the sound and feel of the 3885's under the bow so looking to try something different.

Edit: Just noticed a set in the classifieds with the medium and stark D/G so I'll buy those if they're still available. I guess the question now becomes which should I try first?
 
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#1,786
Francois Blais said:
Good day.
Am I alone to find the regular Perpetual G nasal and whiney?
Speaking pizzicato here, I'm not playing with a stick.
I have a stark G at hand, but found it quite dark and more tense.
Other ideas please?
Thanks!
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The regular perp G was pingy with pizz on my brightish carved bass. Arco, it felt and sounded thin on my bass. I've not tried the starks yet. On my EUB (BSX Allegro) I still have the original 1/2 sized Helicore hybrids. I'm currently exploring synth core strings -- Evah P weich, Galli BSN 900 med and today will be installing EP mediums.

IDK what's in your box-o-strings. Is your bass currently wearing the full set of regular perps? Try a F92 G-string?
 
#1,787
Francois Blais said:
Good day.
Am I alone to find the regular Perpetual G nasal and whiney?
Speaking pizzicato here, I'm not playing with a stick.
I have a stark G at hand, but found it quite dark and more tense.
Other ideas please?
Thanks!
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Unfortunately for you, it would appear your heart yearns for an Oliv G.
 
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#1,788
Thanks.
I have several Gs on stock, F92, FD, FCS, Obli, Evah Med, some Helicores, Prelude, Dominant, Permanent, Kaplan med ...
The F92 is nice, but somewhat tense.
The FD is even better tonewise, but somewhat tense too. (a solo FD could be a nice candidate...)
Gut is out of the equation, sorry. :)
The Obligato is too bright, maybe a weich Evah would do better.
 
#1,789
I like an Evah Weich G with a Perp (regular not stark) D and A and a Spiro Weich E. I don't like the stark Perps. For me they have a lot of the qualities that I dislike about Spiros and less of what I like about Perps. Of course the usual blah blah about different strokes and all that.
 
#1,791
Try the Evah Medium tuned a whole tone lower. If that would fit well tensionwise I would order a Evah Solo A (and use it downtuned to G).
You might try that with your other higher tension strings too if a solo set exists.
If downtuned by a whole tone is too less tension a Weich version (tune down the medium by a half zone for tension testing) would be better (but most of your strings don‘t have a Weich version).

Have you considered taking a look at my Excel file in my Dropbox to find a G string (or solo A string downtuned) that fits the Perpetuals?
 
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#1,795
lurk said:
I like an Evah Weich G with a Perp (regular not stark) D and A and a Spiro Weich E. I don't like the stark Perps. For me they have a lot of the qualities that I dislike about Spiros and less of what I like about Perps. Of course the usual blah blah about different strokes and all that.
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Yeah, I like the Evah Weich G more than the Perpetual Stark G on top of regular Perpetuals or Spirocores. I've played a full stark set on a couple of peoples' basses and thought they were great, though...
 
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#1,799
PBandJazzBass said:
With other sets, I’ve found thicker strings often create a more blunt pizzicato articulation. Has anyone had this experience with the crazy thick Stark Perpetual E?
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On my bass, the Perpetual Starks are very even-sounding across the set. The E looks and feels very thick, but it has the same pizzicato attack and the same fairly long sustain as the other strings.
 
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