Shen SB100 String Search - Attention SB100 Owners, please chime in!

I have a Shen SB 180 and it sings with Spirocore Weichs

 

Caveat: Mine’s a Chadwick so it’s not really a direct compare.

3/4 Spiro Lights (3885W) on mine have tonnes of life arco and pizz—and if I’m reading you right, should be the best starting point for that singing tone. Just pick the tension that works for you. I also tried Zyex medium (ADG) as well and found them to be quite nice (louder from the drivers seat, slightly less overtones, and a bit harder to bow), but overly fragile on my travel bass. (I don’t believe it’s an issue on ‘regular’ basses). It really depends on what speaks to you.

I play bluegrass/swing/country and prefer a darker, thumpier pizz, which is my version of sing. That being said, I really liked Innovation 140B on mine for a darker pizz, and a nice airy arco sound as well.

 

Sorry for the thread de-rail, but Jon, your part in Tim Neufeld and The Glory Boys is really entertaining. The Hootenanny Tour promo, and the Legend of the Glory Boys is fun to watch.

OK - back to your regularly scheduled programming now.

 

spirocore lights or mediums

 

Spiros should sound great on that bass. Guts are good too if you are up for journey.
I have 2 SB80s. My understanding is that the SB100s have a nicer looking top laminate but are otherwise the same bass. The older SB80 has an random mix of guts which sound really good in the mix (horns, guitars, drums). It is my favorite player at the moment. The newer SB80 had Spiros. Excellent strings for bow or pizz on that bass. That bass sounded good enough to impress my instructor at the time, he commented frequently about how good it sounded. For slapping however, Spiros are kind of harsh so I switched to Eurosonics which are good amped but acoustically have a metalic sound to my ears.

 

I put Corelli 370M's on mine and have been happy. Though 99% of the time I'm playing amplified for drunk bar goers.

 

I have two Shen SB100s - one regular, and one is a Chadwick.

The regular SB100 has Innovation Super Silvers which sound great for the Bluegrass that I play -- short sustain but good note definition on the lower strings. The Chadwick came with Spiro Weichs and is much brighter sounding. The Super Silvers are low tension and easy on the hands but really hard to bow, so I practice arco on the Chadwick.

 

I've always liked Spiros

 

Slightly off topic- my Cleveland New Standard plywood came with Spiro Mittels, but sounds way better with guts - currently got a set of the cheaper gamuts (Red Diamond) on there.

I like Spiros A and E and maybe D, bit that spiro whine on the G makes me want to give up bass when I hear it!

 

I have an SB-200, and I use Flexocor Deluxe.

 

How do you like the Flexocor Deluxe A and E strings?

 

Loved them (the whole set actually) on my former bass, a 50s German shop bass.

On my current bass, I like them under the bow -- I don't have a problem starting the A and E as some have reported, but those 2 strings are kinda too tight for pizz on this bass. I'll use the D&G on top of Spiros as a compromise.

So — bass specific in my experience

 

Personally, I think they work fine. They have a nice thick gauge and they are still flexible under the fingers. They also feel balanced with the D and G. I’m not the greatest player, but I think the set works very well together.

 

I have an SB80, so a similar comparison. My bass / setup very much likes low-ish tension. It has sounded best with Velvet Blue and downtuned Spriocore 4/4 Solos with a Eurosonic Medium G. While I’d generally say the blues were a brighter, both had a clear and thick tone with good volume. Don’t need to jack these sets up high, either. The Spirocore Solo G/A isn’t a viable pizz string on my bass and didn’t match the rest of the set, way too easy to overplay and hard for my pickup to track.

I have found that heavy strings like Spriocore Mittels or Helicore Medium choke the bass. Evah Slaps (all synthetic) couldn’t really get the top moving acoustically unless they were at a really high string height, but they played and amplied very nice. I haven’t really given gut a shot on this bass, but the two gut G string blends I tried (Gamut Lyon with the Blues, Evah Slap gut G with the otherwise complete set of synthetics) weren’t better than the full sets of either string. I’d really like to try a set of 4/4 Spiro Weich next, this bass seems like a good candidate!

 

I have Corelli 370s on my SB150. I like them better than the Spirocores I had on it originally. A bit more flexible and punchier.

Dan

 

I have a SB 100 ,I had Helicore orchestral originally but switched to helicore hybrids and it really made a huge difference in volume and tone.

 

I use medium, but I've never tried the light or heavy to compare.