I've been listening to Brian Bromberg for years, and on several of his CDs, he is using a nylon string piccolo bass. Note that these are not black tape wound stings, but steel / nickel wrapped around a nylon filament. At one point, LaBella used to make a set of nylon piccolo bass strings (ABN70BB) but these are out of production. Any idea how to replicate the sound of Brian's nylon piccolo bass or where I can source strings that could be fitted to either an electric bass w piezo bridge, or an acoustic bass guitar?
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Nylon Piccolo Bass Strings
- Thread starter Jeff59
- Start date
You can use Thomastik-Infeld Acousticores. At the moment those are the only Nylon Filament strings for electric bass.
I've seen the Acousticores, but they are not made for piccolo tuning, albeit they are the only nylon filament strings I've seen for the electric bass. Brian Bromberg has a promotional video for his Jobim CD that references new nylon piccolo bass stings that he sourced from LaBella, but a call to LaBella suggest that they have nothing in production. Brian perform on a Dean acoustic bass guitar strung with nylon piccolo strings.
Here's a link to the video:
Any thoughts on where these can be sourced?
Here's a link to the video:
Any thoughts on where these can be sourced?
They are available as singles... I don't think they are listed on my website but I have them..
Just need a plain steel and you are set!
.053 .041 .035 .020p
Or you can do something like .041 .035 .020p .014p
Just need a plain steel and you are set!
.053 .041 .035 .020p
Or you can do something like .041 .035 .020p .014p
Thanks for the info. While I'm under the assumption he is using nylon filament piccolo strings, I am unable to find anyone who makes these.
Thomastik-Infeld. Those sets can be made using their Acousticores set and a single plain steel string. The plain steel can be used by any brand and I suggest purchasing multiples of them as they will be changed probably ten times before the wound strings...
La Bella used to make the set. This is the first mention I have seen about them in over a year. If there is enough demand I can see about getting them made up again. I'll mention it to them next time I speak with them.
La Bella used to make the set. This is the first mention I have seen about them in over a year. If there is enough demand I can see about getting them made up again. I'll mention it to them next time I speak with them.
Are you suggesting that the Thomastik-Infeld Acousticcores in these gauges can be strung as a piccolo tuning? Which string gauge would be the plain steel string? Yes, LaBella did make the set ABN70BB which I'm told was a steel or brass on nylon filament piccolo bass set … I spoke with them recently and these are discontinued. I know a few other piccolo bass players who would gladly purchase some bulk in nylon piccolo bass strings if available.
and to revive Igor...
Are the Thoms available in a short or medium scale that would fit my string through 30" scale Ren? I am really thinking of switching back. Also..is there ANY magnetic property in the string? or will my mag pickup on the Ren be useless? I would like to use th short or medium scale (can't remember which, need to measure, along with a .030 or so for my high C.
Are the Thoms available in a short or medium scale that would fit my string through 30" scale Ren? I am really thinking of switching back. Also..is there ANY magnetic property in the string? or will my mag pickup on the Ren be useless? I would like to use th short or medium scale (can't remember which, need to measure, along with a .030 or so for my high C.
John … I believe that they are. Jason at Bass Strings Online set me up with the TI Phosphorbronze round wound on nylon core strings in individual gauges of .035, .041, .053, and a folk nylon ball-end string in a .0032 gauge for the G string. I'm using them on a Breedlove Atlas acoustic bass that has a 34" scale, and they fit perfectly. I don't know about magnetic properties for magnetic pickups, as the Breedlove is using a piezo bridge, but I'm assuming that with a nylon filament, they might not work on mag pickups. Jason is one of the more knowledgeable and helpful guys I've met and knows this stuff better than most, so perhaps a call to him might clarify. These TI nylon strings in a piccolo tuning sound fabulous, and even the folk nylon string integrates well with the rest of the set, other than requiring a bit softer touch. Hope this helps.
Cheers Jeff. I have a little more research to do. I know the people at LaBella are on this as far as custom sets.
I have an Ibanez Mikro set up as a Piccolo..and thought a piezo would be a good choice vs the mag. getting back to the bottom 4 of a guitar, but with a 28.5/bari scale, with the right hand spacing of a "bass".
LaBella has always come through for us odd bal request(ers).
I have an Ibanez Mikro set up as a Piccolo..and thought a piezo would be a good choice vs the mag. getting back to the bottom 4 of a guitar, but with a 28.5/bari scale, with the right hand spacing of a "bass".
LaBella has always come through for us odd bal request(ers).
