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Double Bass Obligato vs. Innovations

Which set would you buy today?

  • Obligato

    Votes: 28 59.6%

  • Innovation 140B

    Votes: 19 40.4%
  • Total voters
    47
#21
I haven't tried both, but i have really fallen in love with the obligatos on my plywood bass. Deep tone, soft feel, lots of sustain, articulate, and reasonably easy to bow. I've had a set on there for nearly a year now and no signs of damage or breakdown. I will buy them again
 
#22
Well here's my report:

On Friday I received a set of 140H and a set of Obligatos from Quinn.

I tried the 140H first as people have told me they are darker and I need something darker for my fifty year old German.

These strings are very thick. Looking at the Obligatos, I don't agree that the gauge is the same. They are thicker and substantially thicker than the Flexocors I had on previously.

Pizz sound is big and arco is easy on the G and D but not so easy on the A and E. The sound is missing a warmth and fullness I was hoping for and the arco is a little raspy.

The tension on these strings feels really high. I don't notice it so much on the G and the D but when combined with the thickness of the A and the E, I notice it enough that these strings are too hard to play for my liking. Because of the thickness I also had to jack up my bridge and I had hoped that thick strings would not be so stiff as Olivier points out.

I would like to try the Obligatos (perhaps even just on the A and E) but I would really like to try the Velvet Animas so I think I will be returning the Obligatos to save some money on the basis that they are brighter than the 140Hs.

Adrian
 
#24
Right but I believe what you took off was the Innovation 140B and not the 140H right Brian?

I have not heard much good about the 140B but the 140H are pretty good.

I want to try the Anima before I try the Obligatos. If I don't find the Anima to my liking then I will either have to stick with the 140H or go with the Obligatos or some mix.

Adrian
 
#25
Adrian, you're right, I removed 140B's. I believe you'll like the Animas as a pizz string, and yet they should be suitable for arco. I'm going to put the Animas back on another bass that I will use primarily for pizz. I'll give the arco another try on them as well. I originally bought the Animas to try them as an arco string. I didn't like them on my Testore (I've put Eudoxa's on the Testore). But I was surprised that the Animas were really good for pizzacato (and still a usable arco string).
 
#26
I just got a new set of Obligatos (Dominant E) for my 40 year old Rauner plywood, and I have been reminded why I was enamored with my Olbigatos that were on there already. I think the E on the Obligatos is too floppy for my tastes, but otherwise, the nice round sound I get is just great. Easy on the hands, loud as all get out (on my bass at least), and now with the mixed E, all strings are very fast piz (I don't play arco) articulation.

Obligatos, rah rah rah.

I love this set of strings.

Jason
 
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#31
Mostly core material but also fatigue of material.

Most synthetic core strings (not Innovations and maybe not Dominants) are very stretchy (using Nylon or PEEK) and mass gets away from the vibrating part over time, so the string gets lighter (less tension on same pitch). Also the stretching characteristics show fatigue over time.
This is true for steel core too, but it usually takes a longer time period on steel core strings. It also depends on material components and making and core thickness etc.

Also deformation of windings over time due to deformation of the straight string during vibration which often makes a string more flexible adds to the change of string characteristics over time.

It depends on the characteristics of such an older string if it is called played-in (Spiros) or dead (Obligato).
 
Last edited:
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