Double Bass Prestoflex Strings

[Brian DeJesus]

Brian DeJesus and PaulCannon, was it the Heavy or Light Prestoflex set which you tried? I'm on 3/4 Spirocore Weich at the moment, though I've also used 3/4 Spiro Mittels. I'm addicted to the growly pizz thing but I also spend some time playing arco (in a non-classical context). Though there's still some life left in my current set of Spiros, the Prestoflex sound like they could be worth investigating somewhere down the line.

I had the light strings. never tried spirocore, but the prestos u can get some punch. Harmonics really sing on them too.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

But Francois describes the Balance series, not the Prestoflex. Just to make it clear, he did say it was for the Balance series.
BTW, colors for main and spiral are exchanged for the Light version. (Medium: orange main silkwith blue spiral, Light: Blue main silk with orange spiral)

For Prestoflex
From Jonas website Kontrabassatelier.de - strings:

• set EADG heavy 3/4 - ivory yarn at tailpiece, black at peg end
• set EADG light 3/4 - ivory yarn at tailpiece, light blue at peg end

You can switch to English at the top of every page.

 

[JoeyNaeger]

Thanks, I had not noticed that the Prestoflex and Presto Balance were two separate lines. We've received some samples of what I thought were the presto/eurosonic orchestra strings. Just wanted wanted to confirm. I do in fact have a set that's black with an orange spiral, and one that's orange with a black spiral. Sorry to derail the discussion from the PrestoFLEX.

But Francois describes the Balance series, not the Prestoflex. Just to make it clear, he did say it was for the Balance series.
BTW, colors for main and spiral are exchanged for the Light version. (Medium: orange main silkwith blue spiral, Light: Blue main silk with orange spiral)

For Prestoflex
From Jonas website Kontrabassatelier.de - strings:

• set EADG heavy 3/4 - ivory yarn at tailpiece, black at peg end
• set EADG light 3/4 - ivory yarn at tailpiece, light blue at peg end

You can switch to English at the top of every page.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

So, you got the Balance Orchestra in medium and light.
But you always can look at Jonas website that I mentioned before.

 

[JoeyNaeger]

Yes, I did look at the website first, but it does not give good descriptions of the windings on the balance series. These strings appeared on my bench with no description of who made them or where they came from. JR's website has hardly any information as well. I've gotten the information I need though! Thanks everyone.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Black with orange spiral could be Jazzicato Tungsten if the surface is dark.
(BTW, Jazzicato and Jazzicato Tungsten are the same for G and D. Only A and E are different.)

You are right, Jonas was a bit inconsequent in his descriptions, even on Invalid Link Removed
I will write him that he should update the Colour codes in the future.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

@PaulCannon did you have lights or mediums? I’m interested in trying these strings. I would be interested in something that sounds and feels like Spiro Weich only that bows more easily.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Medium Prestoflex are rather high tension I was told by the developer of the strings. As a replacement for Spiro Weich, even the lights might have more tension than 4/4 Spiro Weich.
For most players the Prestoflex lights would be the better choice I was told.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Medium Prestoflex are rather high tension I was told by the developer of the strings. As a replacement for Spiro Weich, even the lights might have more tension than 4/4 Spiro Weich.
For most players the Prestoflex lights would be the better choice I was told.

What is the difference between Prestoflex and Presto Balance Hybrids?

 

[jonas]

Technically speaking, the Prestoflex and Balance strings use differently braided core material. The Prestoflex core is braided similar to brands like Spirocore or Helicore. The Prestoflex's sound has more dominant mids.

 

[Martin Beer]

It's an older thread, but it made sense to keep the Prestoflex posts together. After sticking with Spiros at my last string change in 2015, I decided to try out the Prestoflex this time.
This is day one with them. My bass is an old solid wood 3/4 flatback likely from Saxony, and I'd just taken off an 8 year old set of 4/4 Spirocore Mittels that were getting too dark and thumpy for my tastes.

Pre-installation impressions; The packaging is very simple and barebones, just the paper envelopes in an open faced cardboard sleeve, not much info on the package. Uninstalled the strings feel very flexible, which must say something about the core design. The ivory and blue silks are a little more subtle than my familiar Spiro reds, and the ball ends are slightly smaller. They look and feel like a quality string, I really can't fault the construction and polishing.

On the bass, the pitch stabilises quickly, and the tension feels a hair lower than the 4/4 Spiro Mittels, but not by much. I'd place the feel between those and 3/4 Spiro Weichs. The pizz tone is also instantly familiar, lots of growl and sustain, good volume. To my ears (and on my bass) they have a touch less midrange push compared to the spiros but a nice crisp, clear quality in the high end - the thumb position pizz tone is great with these. I think I might want the string height just a tiny bit higher than I had it with the Spiro Mitts, so I'll probably try that in the coming days. Definitely not a rootsy, gut-like sound, they're more geared to a modern jazz pizz tone. Which is absolutely my goal, but it should give you an idea of the kind of player they're for.

I only had a quick play with the bow today since my dog was napping! They're quite a bright arco sound, quick to respond, but friendly enough to get a clean tone on. Probably not your first choice for an orchestral section, but fine for a jazzer using the bow for practice, or for some of my free improv uses.

I'll see how they go over time, but if they last like Spirocores I could be pretty happy with these. I can't comment on the Lycon comparison as I'm too young to have encountered them, but it's nice to have another subtly different flavour in this style of string.

 

[Martin Beer]

Just a quick post a few weeks on - I'm still liking these strings. They feel closer to Spirocore weich than mittel, but I don't feel they lose volume compared to the mittels on my bass. I've had them out for a local free improv night and an afternoon gypsy jazz set so far - the latter probably not the ideal setting for new, growly steel strings, but they did ok.

Even after the initial settling and playing in, they're a bright, articulate string. They have a quick, crisp quality to the attack that seems fairly unique - possibly a step further in that direction than Spirocores. My bass leans towards being quite dark sounding so this is a good combination for me, though they might be too much if you wanted to warm up a bright sounding bass. I feel like I can coax a fair bit of volume and fullness from them without cranking up the string height, and they have a clarity that makes it easy to hear the pitches. With the flexible feel it is possible to overplay them pizz, but it's getting plenty loud at that point and they don't really need to be pushed that way to get the sound out.

I'm getting used to them with the bow too - if you're used to bowing Spiros then these are quite friendly, though the quickness and pitch clarity keep me on my toes. My bass has a wolf tone around the A (at the octave on the A string, or other positions of the same note), I had to use a brass weight with the Spiro mittels but the Prestoflex set don't set it off so badly.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Just a quick post a few weeks on - I'm still liking these strings. They feel closer to Spirocore weich than mittel, but I don't feel they lose volume compared to the mittels on my bass. I've had them out for a local free improv night and an afternoon gypsy jazz set so far - the latter probably not the ideal setting for new, growly steel strings, but they did ok.

Even after the initial settling and playing in, they're a bright, articulate string. They have a quick, crisp quality to the attack that seems fairly unique - possibly a step further in that direction than Spirocores. My bass leans towards being quite dark sounding so this is a good combination for me, though they might be too much if you wanted to warm up a bright sounding bass. I feel like I can coax a fair bit of volume and fullness from them without cranking up the string height, and they have a clarity that makes it easy to hear the pitches. With the flexible feel it is possible to overplay them pizz, but it's getting plenty loud at that point and they don't really need to be pushed that way to get the sound out.

I'm getting used to them with the bow too - if you're used to bowing Spiros then these are quite friendly, though the quickness and pitch clarity keep me on my toes. My bass has a wolf tone around the A (at the octave on the A string, or other positions of the same note), I had to use a brass weight with the Spiro mittels but the Prestoflex set don't set it off so badly.

I’ve had a set of Prestoflex I bought used in the classifieds a long time ago that I haven’t installed on either of my two basses. I might give them a try.

 

[Francois Blais]

They are not on @jonas Lohse 's Presto Archive - Lando Music website.
Have they been discontinued?
The security certificate on https://presto-strings.com website is expired as well.

 

[Eli Brockway]

They still show up on Thomann.