Haven't been on this side of the forum in a while but this came up on YouTube. Thoughts?
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Double Bass New Upton Bass Strings
- Thread starter Sam Dingle
- Start date
So he invented Spirocores? Gary is starting to talk like he’s the Elon Musk of bass. That’s not a compliment.
Agreed. At the same time, we don't need another dead "dark sounding" string on the market.
Agreed. I’m surprised people are still trying to make new strings, but then again I thought that in 2019 when the perpetuals came out and those were the best feeling string for my large juzek. Maybe someone will like these
What he isn't wrong about is that expanding on Spiros the answer, not retreating from them.
What happened to the AI amp clone he was working on? Amp, synthetic strings, rosin, steel strings.... I'm a little lost.
I heard the rosin is good tho
I heard the rosin is good tho
Playing Devils Advocate here, as someone who likes Spirocores.
What about players who don’t like Spiros?
My gut reaction is he’s not particularly great on camera and those strings sound pretty awful under the bow.
There have been plenty of new strings released in the past decade or two for people who don't like Spiros - low tension synthetics, modern or traditional gut designs, damped metal core strings for orchestral or hybrid use.
I agree with the comments about the risk of inventing something that already exists, but then it would be healthier for player choice to have multiple makers working in that style of string.
I actually think the Perpetuals are a great example of this, as the thing that (most) people don't like about Spiros is that they take quite a bit of time to break in and fully develop what (most) people consider their characteristic sound and feel. Off the record, a Pirastro rep told me that that's essentially what they were going for with the Perpetuals; a Spiro that sounded broken in from the get-go.
More string options are always good, and the more developers competing with one another should theoretically keep the prices all within touching distance. I will agree that the "OOH brand new string best ever everyone MUST switch to these right now all your old choices are now obsolete as evidenced by this single demo video with Kurt Muroki" hype that accompanies a number of new releases is a bit tiresome, though.
What I have noticed is there is a group of people who love everything Upton makes.
They will have a market of their devout fans first. If they take off to the rest of the more critical players... we shall see.
They will have a market of their devout fans first. If they take off to the rest of the more critical players... we shall see.
They have to push so far past them them that something entirely else happens! Or there are tons of dead strings on the market for those people!
The best way around the long break-in time for Spiros is just to never change them! When they start to get dull, clean using Nick Lloyd’s method:
I like my perpetuals. Fixed the Spiro issues - quirks that bugged me.
If I played more arco, I'll probably put the Flexocore deluxe back on. On my smaller bass, the Spiros are staying
If I played more arco, I'll probably put the Flexocore deluxe back on. On my smaller bass, the Spiros are staying
We have a thing for that, it's called gut.
Hate the G string sound, and overall they sound very nasal to me.
I have no interest in these strings, sorry.
I have no interest in these strings, sorry.
"Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars..." and the D and G strings sound like that?????
Unlistenable/Unplayable/Nauseating, etc.
Also, too - his "E" string matches the others perfectly...Yuck.
IMFO, of course.
Sheesh...
Unlistenable/Unplayable/Nauseating, etc.
Also, too - his "E" string matches the others perfectly...Yuck.
IMFO, of course.
Sheesh...
