The Spiros also amplify well even with the infamous BP-100 pickup. Sounds greatt with the Full Circle
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Double Bass SPIROCORES ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!
- Thread starter Jason Sypher
- Start date
strung up the bass with the new 3880 reds and I dont know if it is because my technique has shifted for the better or if I have just lost all my high end hearing but I love these strings now. Just tore it up last night, the strings are so ridiculously responsive and fast. Seems way easier then it used to to use arm weight rather then finger dexterity to get around and the long sustain that I used to wish was rounder and shorter, I just love now. Play short notes if you need em but man to be able to set a string in motion and have it keep going like that, and then be so expressive if you squish it around a little.
They amplified really well with a contact mic too.
They amplified really well with a contact mic too.
Yes. Expressiveness. That’s my vibe this week.
After finally getting the soundpost in the right spot on the Spiro/Permanent clad German, which is so resonant now, I started wondering why the Solano wasn’t as much fun to play. Something was off.
Turns out that I had forgotten my maxim: Spiros, Flexocor, Gut. Everything else is bull****.
My ancient King came to me with a set of steels I thought were Original Flatchrom, because the silks are pretty much gone, but I think they’re Flexocors from the ‘70s with plain aluminum ball ends.
They have wire windings around what’s left of the silks on the pegbox ends, and Flatchroms don’t sound like that. Damn things are as old as I am.
And Holy Hell, what a sound. They look like they’re about to fall apart, but this bass has never sounded better. It’s THE SOUND for classical arco played with a surrender stick. Heaven, I’m in heaven.
All of a sudden, when I play it sounds like music.
After finally getting the soundpost in the right spot on the Spiro/Permanent clad German, which is so resonant now, I started wondering why the Solano wasn’t as much fun to play. Something was off.
Turns out that I had forgotten my maxim: Spiros, Flexocor, Gut. Everything else is bull****.
My ancient King came to me with a set of steels I thought were Original Flatchrom, because the silks are pretty much gone, but I think they’re Flexocors from the ‘70s with plain aluminum ball ends.
They have wire windings around what’s left of the silks on the pegbox ends, and Flatchroms don’t sound like that. Damn things are as old as I am.
And Holy Hell, what a sound. They look like they’re about to fall apart, but this bass has never sounded better. It’s THE SOUND for classical arco played with a surrender stick. Heaven, I’m in heaven.
All of a sudden, when I play it sounds like music.
I have them! The pizz sound is great, but bowed, man, they leave a lot of money on the table.
Never knew this bass could roar under the stick.
Never knew this bass could roar under the stick.
I believe a wise man once said “if you have a bass that sounds good with bowed spirocores, keep it forever”
Folded paper or a piece of cardboard would do as well, at least for a (long-time) temporary solution.
A 3/4 Weich E might be better than a 4/4 Mittel E. Bowability is better and the tension difference is smaller.
But best would be a trip to your luthier ...
A 3/4 Weich E might be better than a 4/4 Mittel E. Bowability is better and the tension difference is smaller.
But best would be a trip to your luthier ...
I've never tried them. I'd like to but have no idea which set to buy. But is it true, as you seem to imply, that they are lousy under the bow? Do any of the great classical guys ( Edger Meyer, etc.) use them?I believe a wise man once said “if you have a bass that sounds good with bowed spirocores, keep it forever”
Yes. Meyer plays Spiro EA, Permanent DG.
I have a set on my old German and it’s a viable crossover set.
I have a set on my old German and it’s a viable crossover set.
Tons of people love Spiro E’s for pizz and arco. What are you using now? Do you have an extension?
If you have a super dark bass spiros may be good. I’d try a dead medium set for arco work. The set I had played for 3 years sounded great under the bow near the end.
Most people stick to belcantos though maybe with a Spiro log E
I have a Helicore Hybrid Light Tension set. I don't have an E string extension. I've never used any other brand on this bass, although my last set were medium tension
I'm just curious if I would see a big difference from experimenting. My bass isn't what I'd call dark. It's quite lively. I don't understand how to try a "dead " set. Also, do they take a long time to break in? I'm not gigging much lately so it might take me a long time for the break in period.
Thank you.
Bertram Turetzky uses them and the set on his main bass seems to be very well worn in. Edicson Ruiz uses the solo set on his solo bass.
I currently use the weichs on my bass and they’re a really nice hybrid string. They sound fairly good arco when they’re new, but the sound gets better overtime as the overtones start to mellow out. I performed in a bass section where the two other bassists were using Spiros (2 of is had weichs and the 3rd had solos tuned down) and it was a really epic sound. It was for the Shostakovich Violin Concerto in A minor and the sound was perfect for that piece. Break in time it took about a month or two for them to start sounding really good. Initially they sound brighter than the mittels but I have found the weichs to become darker than them after a they’ve been broken in. I can get a very pleasing and fairly dark punch out of them with pizzicato now, which was the sound I was hoping to but failed to get on some synthetic core strings before I made the switch.
The mittels are a bit tricky, but I’ve played a few basses before with very worn in sets and they bowed like a champ. Ideally though if I could have a second bass that I could use solely for arco work, I’d have that bass strung with a much more arco friendly string like Flexocores or Belcantos.
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Because I am not bowing classical, the overtones I get from new Spirocores are a welcome thing, My small bass must really be dark because it did not get that much brighter with the new Spiro mittels I put in. But I can get many harmonics
My new favorite arco player is Diego Zecharies, Mostly with his solo stuff. I thought he used Spirocores, turns out he uses Pirastro Flexocore
My new favorite arco player is Diego Zecharies, Mostly with his solo stuff. I thought he used Spirocores, turns out he uses Pirastro Flexocore
Just put a G and E from a 3885 set on the travel bass this week. Loving them so far... they are exactly what I hoped.
I’ve never tried Flexocor but belcantos are my 2nd favorite string. The flex will have to be miles better
