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Double Bass SPIROCORES ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!

#682
LouisF said:
I believe I once heard (is that vague enough) that when Yuri Temirkanov was music director of the Baltimore Symphony, he had all the basses string up with Spirocore STARKS! The only time I heard the orchestra under his direction, they played the Rachmaninoff 2nd Symphony and I would certainly believe it from the sound they got.
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It’s worth remembering that the O on the ball of every Spirocore is for Orchestra.
 
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#688
Starks now on the bass and it is taking them like a champ. Lowered the strings a bit to offset the noticeably higher tension of the string. They sound pretty big and very full. I think i might like them quite a bit due to the inspiring deep tone and could see myself sticking with them. Will give them some days to settle before final judgement and i have a gig with them in a couple days to see how they sound with a band.
 
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#691
sean_on_bass said:
To me they are the best pizz string ever created, but not all would agree i am sure.
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I would agree with this even though I play Dominants. If Dominants didn't tend to break when you take them off and put them back on, I would say otherwise.
 
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#693
S42 medium reds yes, which I can get from local brick and mortar here in Helsinki, Finland :). I'm coming from guts via Evah weichs to this point, which both deliver pronounced low end pizz tone. I'm not newbie to Spiros, I've tried several mix and matches with them in the past, most lately I used a mittel E with Evah weichs. Anyway, my primary need for pizz tone is rather thump than contemporary jazz pizz tone, I don't play jazz on the DB. Most of my pizz playing happens in folk / americana / roots music environment, mostly fully acoustic. Lots of busking too. I hear and I'm halfway sure that the thump is there, but I have to learn to dig it out first, and it can be painful at times. Also, my Spiros are a mix of new and very slightly used strings.

My needs have changed a lot during the past year or so. At first, I'm teaching my original first instrument, the drumset nowadays, and I absolutely needed lots of drum gear for this reason. I needed to get rid of extra percussion stuff and electric basses that I don't need to finance the drum gear. I now have my DB, my Fender P, my custom tube pre and beatiful stash of drum stuff. All simple, elegant, practical and reasonable quality that will not get old fashioned, and which can take the hazards of lugging between rooms and two rehearsing spots.

All that said, I like Evahs for pizz a lot, but they're not too great under the bow on my bass, and they are pretty fragile, they can' t take the BS of my car free muscle power lugging lifestyle too well. I have to keep up maintaining three instruments that I study, play and partly use in my teaching now. I can't afford changing strings on the DB once or twice a year, I need longevity and durability.

To the tonal qualities, for me and my needs Spiros are the best arco string in the market, there's no BS in them. What I do or fail doing will respond back immediately. There's clarity like no other. Their natural quality when striving for clean tone reminds me of brass and horns, whereas guts sound like reeds. When not going for clean tone ther' s all possible colours available. I believe this to be true for pizz too, but I'm very much in the beginning learning how to handle all the tonal information available. Let' see how it goes, will report back like I wrote earlier :).
 
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#694
Stark Update: After a long practice session last night my hands are feeling pretty achy today. I am thinking these might just be a little too stiff on this bass at the moment, so since i have a 2 hour gig today and 3 hour gig tomorrow i decided to throw on some older Zyex Mediums to ensure i can get through these performances. I did leave on the Stark E though since that might be the best E string i have ever heard on the bass. That will likely stay there for the long term.

The only reason i tried the Starks were become my mitts were starting to feel dead after a number of years of abuse. I may just spring for a new set of mitts at some point but happy i now have Starks on hand for when they are needed, and the E string is a definite win. I do think if my bass was setup more optimally the Starks would feel a bit better under the hands.
 
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#697
Chris Fitzgerald said:
@Seanto I agree. They are great, but can be a lot of work. I will never give up my Stark E strings, though. If you are ever in town, look me up and try a bass with Dominants with a stark E. Pure heaven!
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You know it! The Doms are definitely intriguing to me. Just got home from first gig of the weekend and my E sound was fat and clear like never before with the Stark. Blended really well with the Zyex A/D/G actually. Had to tune all strings after each tune, but that's what i get for changing string a few hours before the hit.
 

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