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Double Bass Obligatos: is the love gone?

bassfiddlesteve

bassfiddlesteve

Your first second choice™
Supporting Member
Dec 3, 2003
3,141
5,477
#1
I remember when there was a fairly active Obligato love-fest here on TBDB, but now they don't get mentioned too often. I have an old set of them on my hybrid and they are still nice and growly, lasting way longer than I expected. Does anyone else still use and like these strings, or have EP's and Zyex wooed everyone away?

- Steve
 
#5
I tried them for two months or so, no " rolling ", or other issues whatsoverer. I went back to Spiro weichs. Weichs have most of the qualities I was searching for in Obligatos and it`s easier for me to actually hear what I´m playing in a band with them vs Obligatos. Obligatos are wonderful strings but I have come to a conclusion that for me, there really are only Spirocores and gut. The middle ground leads always to the original, which is Spiro weich in my case. I actually got so far with this that I dumped my string stash to my schoolmates place, to keep me away from messing around with them all the time :) I rather spend my time practicing and save the money while at it.

Reiska, a recovering string addict
 
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#8
The string matrix has Spiro mittels vs Obligatos. Obligatos are quite close to weichs I think, or at least the 5ths tuning sets are pretty similar. Obligato low C is very weak comparing to weich when bowed.

I even tried a set of Spiro weich C, Obligato A, solo E and high C tuned to C G D A which gave a pretty nice blend of old and contemporary school sound with gut-type feel.

The major difference in Spiro weichs and Obligatos for me and on my bass is projection and the bowed sound of the low string.

I`m also kinda tired of messing with strings and tunings and would like to forget about the b******t, learn to live with the Red Mitchell weich set and enjoy it for years to come.
 
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#10
Didn't notice the roll to begin with, but then I got on a roll... The longer I had 'em, the worse the roll, IIRRC (if I recall roll correctly).
More egregious was the Obs coming undone. I slap, which caused the Obs to break, and it wasn't always the G, but the E.

And then...

Woo woo! :woot:

Along came the sultry seductress, Evah. Who wouldn't want to bed down their bass with her? :smug:
 
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#12
Feral Feline said:
Along came the sultry seductress, Evah. Who wouldn't want to bed down their bass with her? :smug:
Click to expand...

I had Obligatos on my carved E.H. Roth and found them to be a bit "mushy" and experienced "the roll". Neither had been an issue when I used these strings on my Kay. I now used EP Weich's on the Roth and I like them quite a bit.

- Steve
 
#18
bassfiddlesteve said:
I remember when there was a fairly active Obligato love-fest here on TBDB, but now they don't get mentioned too often. I have an old set of them on my hybrid and they are still nice and growly, lasting way longer than I expected. Does anyone else still use and like these strings, or have EP's and Zyex wooed everyone away?

- Steve
Click to expand...

Hey Steve,

I used Obligatos for a while on a few different basses. I still like them, but I wore them out pretty quickly, well, I wore them to the point where the presence I liked out of them was gone. Usually this took 5-7 months. I have switched to Velvet Blues because they last longer for me. Dynamics is another element too. I felt the obligatos had a narrower envelope of expression vs the velvet blues. I think if I raised the bridge, that may open that up, but I didn't explore it as I wanted a string that lasted longer and the envelope of expression was revealed when I switched to blues. I never experienced the roll others speak of. So, I still like them, but Eps and Zyex are not really a comparison as they are different animals imo. Velvet blues are a fair comparison to the obligatos.
 
#19
The bass I'm playing now had Obligatos on it when I initially feel in love with it. Sounded beautiful at home, but a terrible intangible and weak noodle mess on gigs. I somehow never really felt where was in the mix, and I had a hard time hearing myself at all.
So, for me the love was gone quite fast, actually, to the point where I even consider them to be the most loathsome bass string on the market today.

best
Sidecar
 

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