They say that the devil makes work for idle hands 
Summer touring is winding down and that leaves time for fussing with strings. But seriously folks, I've had Gamut guts on my bass for over a year and I love them dearly, but my bowing chops are going to hell because, despite what others may be capable of, I suck at, and hate bowing on gut strings. I recently purchased a set of Spiro Solos and put them on my Azola EUB (which formerly was sporting Garbos), and I was very impressed with them. Still, bowing on the Azola is a lot like playing a giant mosquito. You could see the idea bulb over my head asking "What would these sound like on Irmgard?" (my blonde German bass). So f*#K me, I gave it a try, and they sound great!
Now mind you, I have a non-adjustable bridge on Irmgard set up for guts, so the action is pretty high for steel strings. But given the low tension of the Spiro Solos at regular tuning, it's still managable. I did an amplified gig last night and had great results, so I came home and filed down the D and G slots just a little bit. (I couldn't resist, now I'll have to bust out the Super Glue if I put the Gamuts back on) The E&A are fine as is, but the D and G were high. The advantage of the high action is that I'm still getting plenty of thumpy "gut-like" tone, even on the G string. I'm wondering if I can go lower without losing the sound I like (or maybe just man up and deal with it)?
I'm surprised how un-whiney the Solos sound. I did a fairly high-volume gig and the sound wasn't much different than my guts, I could still slap on them, and the quicker response for pizz is always a pleasure. My only complaint is that there's a little more tendency for feedback to develop on open strings.
Meanwhile, the arco sounds great. Again, no scratchy/whiney sound on the G, even the amplified arco sounds decent. There's something about being able to play arco on the same bass that you pizz on -- the practice time that you put in has a real payoff in terms of intonation and left hand strength.
I wonder if I'll still be high on them in a week. I have a bluegrass gig on Friday and we'll see how that goes.
To paraphrase Rene Descartes : "I change my bass strings, therefore I am."
Summer touring is winding down and that leaves time for fussing with strings. But seriously folks, I've had Gamut guts on my bass for over a year and I love them dearly, but my bowing chops are going to hell because, despite what others may be capable of, I suck at, and hate bowing on gut strings. I recently purchased a set of Spiro Solos and put them on my Azola EUB (which formerly was sporting Garbos), and I was very impressed with them. Still, bowing on the Azola is a lot like playing a giant mosquito. You could see the idea bulb over my head asking "What would these sound like on Irmgard?" (my blonde German bass). So f*#K me, I gave it a try, and they sound great!
Now mind you, I have a non-adjustable bridge on Irmgard set up for guts, so the action is pretty high for steel strings. But given the low tension of the Spiro Solos at regular tuning, it's still managable. I did an amplified gig last night and had great results, so I came home and filed down the D and G slots just a little bit. (I couldn't resist, now I'll have to bust out the Super Glue if I put the Gamuts back on) The E&A are fine as is, but the D and G were high. The advantage of the high action is that I'm still getting plenty of thumpy "gut-like" tone, even on the G string. I'm wondering if I can go lower without losing the sound I like (or maybe just man up and deal with it)?
I'm surprised how un-whiney the Solos sound. I did a fairly high-volume gig and the sound wasn't much different than my guts, I could still slap on them, and the quicker response for pizz is always a pleasure. My only complaint is that there's a little more tendency for feedback to develop on open strings.
Meanwhile, the arco sounds great. Again, no scratchy/whiney sound on the G, even the amplified arco sounds decent. There's something about being able to play arco on the same bass that you pizz on -- the practice time that you put in has a real payoff in terms of intonation and left hand strength.
I wonder if I'll still be high on them in a week. I have a bluegrass gig on Friday and we'll see how that goes.
To paraphrase Rene Descartes : "I change my bass strings, therefore I am."
. Again, the sound is darker and less nasal than Mittels or Weichs with the bow. 
. But the Gamuts balance nicely on my bass.
