Double Bass Question for gut experts - pirastro pizzicato?

[MrSidecar]

Hey all.

I never thought I would ever ask this. But I am intrigued. After trying some situations where (Pirastro Chorda) guts actually worked really well, sounded great and made me play better (particularly "classic" jazz, bop and such), I can't help but think of trying some gut strings.

However, I am wary of mucking with my bridge slots, so something not as fat as plain unwound would be great. In research, I came across Pirastro Pizzicato, which strangely enough are not a really popular string in talkbassland, as it seems. Searches don't turn up any recent results of anyone using full sets. I could find out that their gauge is close to that of Spirocores. And that they (back when they were still new on the market) felt a little more coarse, round-wound.

So my question for all of you serious lovers of the sound of processed intestines: Do you have any experience with Pirastro Pizzicato? Are they the real deal in terms of gut sound, or are they more of a "gut for spirocore likers" -thing (whatever that might be)? How do they compare to plain unwound guts in tension, feel, and sound?

Thanks in advance.
Best
Sidecar

 

[Sam Dingle]

Not a direct answer to your question but my teacher wanted to try guts so he got lenzber d/g and just threw them on. Didn't touch the bridge slots. For long term use this isn't advised but it worked for him for 2 months. He never opened his slots for Velvets too. His bass has been cut for spirocores for about 20 years and he just went back to them.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Have a look here:

Dropbox - Talkbass

Specially the baen.tamu.edu 105 cm file.
I think you find the information you are looking for in there, even though there is a lot of missing data inside.

Feel free to use the other files too. The formula calculator (load it into a web browser with javascript activated.) might be helpful to calculate the tension of downtuned strings for example.

 

[MrSidecar]

Have a look here:

Dropbox - Talkbass

Specially the baen.tamu.edu 105 cm file.
I think you find the information you are looking for in there, even though there is a lot of missing data inside.

Thanks, DoubleMIDI, great resources. However, just the data that would be most relevant (tension of Pirastro Pizzicato) is missing. Furthermore, I'd like some experience reports of people who maybe have tried them (even though they don't tell us much scientifically, being entirely subjective), ideally in comparison with other gut strings and maybe steel.

Nevertheless, those files and formulas are a great.
Best
Sidecar

 

[lrhbass]

I was curious about them also,when they came out ,but the word was a lot of breakage with that particular string. That was some time ago..

 

[drumgewitter]

hello.. there: Invalid Link Removed you find soundfiles from pizzicato and chordas.. go to "saiten".. in this comparison he used the set with the silver wound D and nylon wound G pizzicato.. there is also a set with nylon wound D and G (guys who know golden spirals say the nylon wound pizzicatos are very close sound wise)..

i personally used to use chordas (carlos henriquez) and atm i have pizzicato E, A, nylon wound G and oliv D.. i have the pizzicatos on my bass for something like 5 month now and really love them.. imo and on my bass the chordas did sound more oldschool compared to the pizzicatos.. but the pizzicatos still have lots of great gut punch..

 

[Reiska]

Hi dude, IME Pizzicato`s sound awesome, nice fat gut tone but with long sustain. What I dislike about them is a sticky feeling under the left hand fingers when playing. Another aspect is quality control, if you buy a set make sure that they are from fresh stash, I had a D string that buzzed right out of the package. You get those replaced by Pirastro, but of course it`s a royal PITA.

Nice to see you being so enthusiastic about guts

Reiska

 

[MrSidecar]

Hi dude, IME Pizzicato`s sound awesome, nice fat gut tone but with long sustain. What I dislike about them is a sticky feeling under the left hand fingers when playing. Another aspect is quality control, if you buy a set make sure that they are from fresh stash, I had a D string that buzzed right out of the package. You get those replaced by Pirastro, but of course it`s a royal PITA.

Nice to see you being so enthusiastic about guts

Reiska

Reiska,

curious- have you ever tried them with the bow?

hello.. there: Invalid Link Removed you find soundfiles from pizzicato and chordas.. go to "saiten".. in this comparison he used the set with the silver wound D and nylon wound G pizzicato.. .

Drumgewitter,

I do know that site- thanks anyways. However, I don't know if anybody else has the same, but if I listen to 5-6 clips of different strings, the differences get a little blurry... Plus, it's always nice to hear some who have actually used a particular string for a prolonged period of time.

Best
Sidecar

 

[Reiska]

Reiska,

curious- have you ever tried them with the bow?



I haven`t tried a full set of silver wrapped Pizzicatos with the bow but my limited experience is that they are bowable. Someone described somewhere that their bowability is on par with Velvet Animas, don`t know if you`ve tried those but I found this to be true. I think this shouldn`t be a problem for you after a while, but you have to like bowed gut tone for that.

Best, R

 

[Geoff Henderson]

I've been using pizzicato E and A strings for years along with Chorda D and G or cheap Indian gut D and G strings. I love them and think they are worth the money. They don't last all that long, maybe 18 months but I play 4 hour gigs and lots of sessions on the regular. They also bow well.