Double Bass Pirastro Oliv/Eudoxa Strings ... ARE SO MUCH FUN!

[Eli Brockway]

I'm sure one of these days I'll remember they've got a chart with all that info.

 

[MrSidecar]

Whenever I revisit this thread to listen back to Hervé comparing Eudoxa and Oliv, I’m tempted to try the Oliv A. I’m sure the thud-only thing the E-string has going won’t be my cuppa, but the A sounds nice and not too thuddy. I like the strong and focused fundamental without too much mwaaah but still more than decent sustain…

best
Sidecar

 

[Dutch Williams]

Whenever I revisit this thread to listen back to Hervé comparing Eudoxa and Oliv, I’m tempted to try the Oliv A. I’m sure the thud-only thing the E-string has going won’t be my cuppa, but the A sounds nice and not too thuddy. I like the strong and focused fundamental without too much mwaaah but still more than decent sustain…

best
Sidecar

Something tempting about that oliv e and a .... like whale sharks at the bottom of the sea ....

 

[MrSidecar]

Something tempting about that oliv e and a .... like whale sharks at the bottom of the sea ....

i could see myself play the E if I were an arco only player. But for pizz that’s too dark for my tastes.
At least for now. I realise I gradually moved to darker strings from spiro weich to stark to dominants to Eudoxa to Oliv/Eudoxa. So who knows.
But not now.

best
Sidecar

 

[Dutch Williams]

i could see myself play the E if I were an arco only player. But for pizz that’s too dark for my tastes.
At least for now. I realise I gradually moved to darker strings from spiro weich to stark to dominants to Eudoxa to Oliv/Eudoxa. So who knows.
But not now.

best
Sidecar

I’m on mittels how’s that stark E I’m seriously considering it .......

 

[AGCurry]

Something tempting about that oliv e and a .... like whale sharks at the bottom of the sea ....

The A is okay - mostly for arco - but the E is dead dead dead ... IMHO of course.

 

[Dutch Williams]

The A is okay - mostly for arco - but the E is dead dead dead ... IMHO of course.

First time I played a plain gut E was an acid trip ..... gut and e don’t match except in Eudoxa land ....

 

[AGCurry]

Wrapped-gut Es like Gamut, Lenzner, LaBella, and Artone aren't so bad. They aren't dead.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

Wrapped-gut Es like Gamut, Lenzner, LaBella, and Artone aren't so bad. They aren't dead.

Yep. Wrapped gut E’s are very good. Once they settle in they sound great. I used La Bella wound guts (two full sets) between ‘99 - ‘05. I stopped using them because the plain D and G strings broke on me; granted I didn’t know how to properly care for the plain ones back then. I broke the G in the first set I bought and the D in the second set.

They were so expensive on my limited budget back then that I didn’t go back to gut until my Oliv D and G that I’ve been using now since the Fall of 2019. I don’t think I’ll ever use another D or G string because the Olivs sound so amazing. They pizz, slap and bow so well!

 

[Chris K]

The bridge and nut slots should be very smooth, smoother than a baby's behind, and lubed with graphite or a hard soap.

Plus one. Pencil is fine. Wonder what happened to those graphite nuts that were on the market once.

For the rest, I use a microfiber cloth, I wipe the rosin off the strings after playing and sometimes even in between.

 

[JBarz]

Well, this post marks the date I switched that Oliv/Eudoxa set described earlier to my La Scala. They ended up sounding too dark on the American Standard and the Spiros on the La Scala were too bright and tough to bow. Now both basses (and I) are happier after the switch, but time will tell if I just shot myself in the foot…

 

[AGCurry]

Well, this post marks the date I switched that Oliv/Eudoxa set described earlier to my La Scala. They ended up sounding too dark on the American Standard and the Spiros on the La Scala were too bright and tough to bow. Now both basses (and I) are happier after the switch, but time will tell if I just shot myself in the foot…

Yeah, Spiros on a dark-sounding bass = goodness. I just put E/A/D Spiros (Oliv G stays!) on my darkish-sounding Krutz 300, and it's sounding great.

With the exception of the E, I don't consider Olivs as especially dark. I would call their sound broad... like the gut version of Flexocor or Evah Pirazzi. To me, it's the bow that really reveals a string's timbre, and Olivs, while not bright, aren't lacking at all in midrange frequencies.

 

[Dave Hill]

Recenty put an Oliv G over Spiros and it’s awesome. Of course there’s always trade-offs, but it accomplished exactly what I was hoping for; a bigger, beefier sound. I can’t imagine replacing the E A and D Spiros, but wow what a string.

 

[JBarz]

Yeah, that Oliv G is great, just keep a tuner handy. Incidentally, I switched my whole Eudoxa/Oliv set over to my Knutson Messenger EUB and it made that instrument sound 100x more organic and upright-like. For acoustic basses, though, I've grown to prefer the Perpetual Starks over Spiro Mitts for tuning stability and projection... They're beefier than the Spiro high strings and they're "so much fun", too!

 

[Dave Hill]

Yeah, that Oliv G is great, just keep a tuner handy. Incidentally, I switched my whole Eudoxa/Oliv set over to my Knutson Messenger EUB and it made that instrument sound 100x more organic and upright-like. For acoustic basses, though, I've grown to prefer the Perpetual Starks over Spiro Mitts for tuning stability and projection... They're beefier than the Spiro high strings and they're "so much fun", too!

How do they feel compared to the Olivs?

 

[JBarz]

They feel very similar. Slightly higher tension and less "thwack" with the Perps. The Olivs sounded "juicier", but at the expense of projection. Also, I feel like the Olivs have a mild version of that gut 'roll' thing that happens - a little different right hand technique, but negligibly so. Imagine if Spiro Mitts and Olivs had a baby...

 

[krfoss]

Reviving the thread. I threw on my old Eudora d and g over spiro mediums. The windings don’t look great, so I’m checking the group to see if they are on their last leg or will survive. Played them yesterday for a backyard show and they sounded great.

 

[AGCurry]

Reviving the thread. I threw on my old Eudora d and g over spiro mediums. The windings don't look great, so I'm checking the group to see if they are on their last leg or will survive. Played them yesterday for a backyard show and they sounded great.

That G string's days are numbered ... in the single digits.

 

[krfoss]

That G string's days are numbered ... in the single digits.

Darn.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

It’s not that they break (core or winding) very soon, but the core has streched over time and maybe also got a bit thinner because of this and the windings are now unevenly distributed which results in an inharmonic string.
You might also risk cutting the winding into your finger.

If you can move the windings so that they are closed down from the pegbox end you can continue to play the string without problems, but I doubt it is possible and take care of your fingers!