Hey guys. It's been a while since I've been on here. I recently got a great deal on a nice 14-year-old Eastman hybrid bass ($900 with case, stand, two bows, tuner) and started taking classical lessons. Bass has old Spiro's (they're not too twangy, because they're probably a decade old) and is nice and loud. I don't hate the tone. But... I'm curious what you would suggest for strings, considering I'll be doing more bow work. -I will be playing a mix of pizz and arco--maybe 50/50 -Genres: tango, latin, some classical and some jazz and rock and roll. -For pizz, I mostly I like a thick, pillowy vintage sound -I used to play EP Weichs and liked them pretty good on my EUB, but I was never super happy with the arco tone (though much of that could be because it was an EUB and my arco was all self-taught) -I'm curious about a mixed set with bow-friendly plain guts for the G and D Any ideas?
I would keep the Spiro's for now and concentrate on the arco and decide whether you need to upgrade to a better bow. John
I play 50-50 pizzz-arco also and I'm very happy with my EP Weichs. Right now, I have a Stark E but it's not a big improvement on my bass, IMO.
I've decided EP weich are the best hybrid for me. Spirocores are the best "pizz and arco in the practice room/at the end of ballads"
Decade old Spiros are not that bad for bowing and should work for all what the OP wants to play. And to learn how to bow a less forgiving string is easier to hear and correct as a very forgiving bowing string. The EP Weich might be a bit too soft for some of the styles, I think the Spiro might be better (and of course there are other styles the OP mentioned where the EZp Weich would be better). But I think the Old Spiro is the best compromise and is cheap, even if he wants to replace them with another used Spiro set in about a decade. In case the OP might get blisters when playing with Spiros that would be a good reason to change to EP Weich or some similar synthetic core string (I prefer Innovation Braided over EP Weich).
