Double Bass New Upton Bass Strings

[bassically_eli]

What about players who don’t like gut or Spiros?

Try Ernie Ball Slinky's. You'll need to adjust your setup. First get a shoulder strap, remove your endpin, then get out your shrink ray....

Seriously, some of the comments about Spirocores on TB lately would have you thinking you're not even playing bass if you don't use Spirocores. Christian McBride, Helicores? Nope, total hack.

 

[PBandJazzBass]

Try Ernie Ball Slinky's. You'll need to adjust your setup. First get a shoulder strap, remove your endpin, then get out your shrink ray....

Seriously, some of the comments about Spirocores on TB lately would have you thinking you're not even playing bass if you don't use Spirocores. Christian McBride, Helicores? Nope, total hack.

I think a lot of perceived negativity towards Spirocores (particularly their bowed sound) is word of mouth spread by some who haven’t even used them.

On the other hand, in my opinion, a lot of Spirocore users have too much of a “all or nothing” attitude with them. Like, as you mentioned, someone isn’t a “real” bass player if they don’t use Spiros.

I guess being in the middle (liking them but not loving them) isn’t good enough for either side

There are plenty of good strings out there. Find what works for you.

 

[evanrunyon]

Watched that video again and I think the thing that is bothering the most (other than the sound of the strings, that is) is that comments are turned off. Come on, you cowards, either face the internet or don't.

 

[lurk]

I don't get the hostility here. Dude's trying to build a business in the tiny world of double bass. Good for him. For me, on my bass, I don't like Spiros or guts. This video came out a few years ago, and as I recall, a lot of top jazz dogs were using other strings. I think only one guy, Brian Bromberg who used Spiro Weichs, had a set on his bass.

 

[BassinCT]

Regardless of how these strings feel/play/sound, I am not interested based on the content of the video.

 

[JBarz]

What about players who don’t like gut or Spiros?

They’re on the wrong side of the forum…. (I jest, I jest - play what you want of course…)

 

[Eli Brockway]

What about players who don’t like gut or Spiros?

Those exist???

 

[foilracer]

Find the strings for your bass...your sound. Bright bass, bright strings...dark bass dark strings...dark bass bright strings...bright bass dark strings arco...slap? Find the strings for your bass...your sound.

 

[Earl]

Oof, those sound terrible!

 

[Mark_T]

I think a lot of perceived negativity towards Spirocores (particularly their bowed sound) is word of mouth spread by some who haven’t even used them.

On the other hand, in my opinion, a lot of Spirocore users have too much of a “all or nothing” attitude with them. Like, as you mentioned, someone isn’t a “real” bass player if they don’t use Spiros.

Maybe on the former. I have tried them. I do use a Spiro E, but the D and G sound truly awful on my bass. I guess if you have an ancient, played in S42W D and G you'd like to send me for $0, I'll try again, but I can't wait 18 months sounding like a strung-up trash can to play them in, not when other strings work out of the envelope.

The latter, well, that seems like it's really gotten out of hand these last couple of years. I've been around TB for a long time and Spiros have always had a devoted following but yikes, the orthodoxy is really strong these days. It's practically the answer to every question, regardless of whether someone asked about strings, an endpin, an edge repair, or a car that'll hold a double bass ("My Honda Fit fits 144 packages of 3/4 Spiro weichs and there's almost room for my bass left over!").

Don't get me wrong, for the right bass and player, they're good strings.

 

[damonsmith]

What about players who don’t like gut or Spiros?

They are playing in a section or getting drowned out by drummers!

 

[the_Ryan]

Agreed. At the same time, we don't need another dead "dark sounding" string on the market.

They certainly have their place, although most arco-focused A and E strings do tend to have too few overtones for my taste as someone who prioritizes clarity and consistency of tone between the 4 strings. The prototype Thomastik set (which I believe are going to be Peter Infelds for bass) are probably the single string set that’s come closest to those goals, but the A and especially E were still too dark for my liking.

For reference, my go-to setup on my Laborie for a few years has been Belcanto GD, Spirocore S42 or 3885W A (the S42W A sounds too thin compared to the BC D and S42W long E), and Spirocore S42W long E.

 

[jmpiwonka]

Another vid
I don’t dig the sound but he does address the setup some, I imagine the twang mellows if there is more scoop in the board and a little more string height. Plus a year or two of playing in.

 

[bassically_eli]

I like Spiros a lot, but as has been said, there are a lot of great strings and Spiros are certainly not the end all be all. In fact, I seem to notice very few on the basses at BVS, and they certainly know how to make a bass sound and play great. Honestly, I think a lot of the success of Spiros is due to the 7 or so different gauges/flavors they offer. If there were 7 flavors of Perpetuals, or Dominants, or Obligatos....

I am always happy to see new offerings for DB gear. Props to Upton if they can bring new strings to market that even a few players like. That said, I honestly find these marketing videos off-putting. Who is doing the engineering work? Who is doing the manufacturing? Did they hire industry vets or contract with other companies? Recent videos seem to imply that Upton is suddenly an expert in steel strings, synthetic strings, and amplifiers too (they're supposedly making a copy of the old AI down firing amps). I will not be the first to buy.

 

[Francois Blais]

BVS

?
What's BVS if I may ask please?

 

[LouisF]

Bob Beerman's Bass Violin Shop (BVS) in Greensboro (I believe) North Carolina

 

[bassically_eli]

Yes, the Bass Violin Shop. Guess all those basses get drowned out by drummers.

 

[JBarz]

I like this thread’s humor and candor.

I am a recovering gear-addict and have tried a bunch of strings. FWIW, my brain has made sense of it all by putting them on a spectrum that looks like this:

Weak overtones (dark)…………………………………Loud overtones (bright)
Loud fundamental ……………………………..Less fundamental

1 .... 2….. 3….. 4….. 5….. 6….. 7….. 8…… 9….. 10.
[Plain gut —— Synthetic core —— Spiros ]


As far as I’m concerned Perpetuals > 9. Heliocore 7, maybe. Obligato=5. Oliv = 3.5. Red-O-Ray = 2, etc etc.

Looks like Upton’s going for an 8

But in my reality, mayhaps oversimplified, there are only two types strings - Spiros on bottom, gut on top.

 

[Brad_Pearson]

Personally I'm glad to see Gary and Upton get into strings. Sounds like he hit his goal of an even more "alive" steel core string. Camera audio and computer speakers are not the best way to judge a string. I remember when the fist clips of the Aquila sprials came out I didn't think they sounded that great. Got them on one of my basses now. I for one, am excited to see what else they come up with.

I commend Upton for all the extracurricular endeavors they've been getting into lately regarding rosin, amps and strings... That's an ungodly investment of time, energy, and money, for something without a guaranteed return. All so we can have more options to realise our sound.

 

[damonsmith]

But in my reality, mayhaps oversimplified, there are only two types strings - Spiros on bottom, gut on top.

I agree with this. However, I don't think gut & Spiros are so different. They both have a lot of harmonic information if you know how to get to it, especially arco. Once you know how to get to that information you can also shut it down when you don't want it.
The "twangy" G myth is really just saying you don't understand the string.