I was thinking that when I saw this that it sounded like steels but I always thought jimmy played guts. The 2nd video totally doesn't look like guts.
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Double Bass SPIROCORES ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!
- Thread starter Jason Sypher
- Start date
Nope, I think you're right. Not guts, or maybe some kind of wrapped gut. Whew. I can save a few hundred bucks. The only time I saw him live was in Detroit with Elvins trio with Joe Farrell and he was using Spiros and a Polytone pickup and an Ampeg B15. Very loud and very steely and very very beautiful.
I had to add to this thread--forgive me for steering away from JG for a moment.
Longtime Helicore Hybrid Med gauge user. Started on Spiro Weich, early Heli Pizz,Spiro Mittels, and Evahs (in that order) for sometime before using Heli Hybrids consistently for the last 10 years or so. Been looking for something "more" for about the last year. I decided to reinstall a 2-year-old set of Spiro Weichs that had been on my bass for 2 weeks and were taking up space in a drawer. It's been a revelation.
1) They're louder, at even the lighter gauge. The bass is playing with more volume than it did with 6-month old Helicores.
2) Theres a bump in the mid frequencies that makes the notes much clearer and the intonation is spot on. Very easy to hear good (and bad) intonation anywhere on the bass.
3) The mid-to-upper register of the instrument leaps off of the bass. Playing double and triple stops are clear and audible and balance much better with the open strings. Everything from about "C" to "A" on the g-string just sings.
4) They bow great. They grab the string very quickly and with authority at piano or forte. Very nice and clear for practice (Bach) or arco solos. In 4 gigs, they've only "falsed" on me twice and I'm guessing it's because I need a rehair. Might go with black (as I've read on TB) next time for these strings.
5) They react to what your right hand puts out in a very magical (and musical) way. I forgot about this when I stopped using them years ago. You can really dig in and get the string to "pop" back at you in a certain way. Ray Brown had this way of getting the (Spiro) string to whack off of the fingerboard on the "E" on drops that was funky and soulful. They also react to being played softer or lighter that allows you to be much more articulate. Every drop and pull-off and ghosted note speaks clearly and with authority. I forgot all those wonderful little nuance things I had learned to do on the fly with this string years ago.
6) They stay in tune and hold their pitch better than what I was used to.
7) On my C-extension, the Db now shakes everything in my studio. The Helicore had a decent open 'C', but this Db is something to behold.
8) My amplified settings went back down and close to flat. The frequencies I was attempting to add on my Woods all came back and the bass sounds best with little to no eq, at a lower volume than before.
I had Weichs on my fiddle a couple of years ago--for about 2 weeks--in an attempt to move away from the Hybrids. I couldn't hang with them after that long mainly because of the gauge factor. They're thinner strings, but I promised myself to stick with them this time. I also started using a wooden endpin about 2 months ago which, IMHO, only helps with this string--it's warmer and louder. I believe they will only get better. Perhaps I, like many, stopped using them because I read that they're not that good or because a beloved bassist went to something different. They work just fine and it's good to be back home again.
Longtime Helicore Hybrid Med gauge user. Started on Spiro Weich, early Heli Pizz,Spiro Mittels, and Evahs (in that order) for sometime before using Heli Hybrids consistently for the last 10 years or so. Been looking for something "more" for about the last year. I decided to reinstall a 2-year-old set of Spiro Weichs that had been on my bass for 2 weeks and were taking up space in a drawer. It's been a revelation.
1) They're louder, at even the lighter gauge. The bass is playing with more volume than it did with 6-month old Helicores.
2) Theres a bump in the mid frequencies that makes the notes much clearer and the intonation is spot on. Very easy to hear good (and bad) intonation anywhere on the bass.
3) The mid-to-upper register of the instrument leaps off of the bass. Playing double and triple stops are clear and audible and balance much better with the open strings. Everything from about "C" to "A" on the g-string just sings.
4) They bow great. They grab the string very quickly and with authority at piano or forte. Very nice and clear for practice (Bach) or arco solos. In 4 gigs, they've only "falsed" on me twice and I'm guessing it's because I need a rehair. Might go with black (as I've read on TB) next time for these strings.
5) They react to what your right hand puts out in a very magical (and musical) way. I forgot about this when I stopped using them years ago. You can really dig in and get the string to "pop" back at you in a certain way. Ray Brown had this way of getting the (Spiro) string to whack off of the fingerboard on the "E" on drops that was funky and soulful. They also react to being played softer or lighter that allows you to be much more articulate. Every drop and pull-off and ghosted note speaks clearly and with authority. I forgot all those wonderful little nuance things I had learned to do on the fly with this string years ago.
6) They stay in tune and hold their pitch better than what I was used to.
7) On my C-extension, the Db now shakes everything in my studio. The Helicore had a decent open 'C', but this Db is something to behold.
8) My amplified settings went back down and close to flat. The frequencies I was attempting to add on my Woods all came back and the bass sounds best with little to no eq, at a lower volume than before.
I had Weichs on my fiddle a couple of years ago--for about 2 weeks--in an attempt to move away from the Hybrids. I couldn't hang with them after that long mainly because of the gauge factor. They're thinner strings, but I promised myself to stick with them this time. I also started using a wooden endpin about 2 months ago which, IMHO, only helps with this string--it's warmer and louder. I believe they will only get better. Perhaps I, like many, stopped using them because I read that they're not that good or because a beloved bassist went to something different. They work just fine and it's good to be back home again.
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Spirocore, Flexocor, gut. All else is marketing. I’ve tried them.
Flex 92, original, or deluxe?
I like the 92s and originals (caveat I've never used them on my bass), and if I only played orchestral music those would be my string of choice, but I find the deluxes (which I have used) to have a fizz to their sound that I don't particularly like.
I love the 92s, and found the Deluxes stiff. The originals will be used to wire up the nearest muffler. Only violinists should play such shrill strings.
On my bass is is about as huge and deep as it gets. On some basses the G can be less stellar, my old Hachez is one.
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Just put an old spiros on my American Standard. Reds on the top, weichs on the bottom (it's all I had lying around)
I'm worried I've created a monster!
I'm worried I've created a monster!
I know, I was surprised to hear more of a tonal difference, and not so much of a volume difference
I think when you put reds on the bottom you'll notice a volume difference.
I love my Spiro Mittels. I am curious as to when they will need to be replaced seeing as they still sound great after a year of heavy use. I used to have synthetic Guts on my old bass and didn't realize how much I disliked them until I switched to Spiros.
This has been my experience exactly. I've tried everything under the sun. I started with Spiro Weichs then studied with a teacher who insisted on Obligatos and tried those for a while and pretended to really like them. I've also tried Original flexocores, Bel Canto, Evah Pirazzi, Flat Chrome Steel, Passione, Superflexible, Passione, Flex 92, Helicore Hybrids. I just put a new set of weichs on my Shen and I am home. I play equal amounts with the bow (Orchestral, Chamber, and Solo) and Pizz (Jazz, Folk, Free) and this are perfect for everything. Anyone who tells you they don't sit in a section or bow well is a liar! I will never go anywhere else, well maybe a Mittel E.
I always guessed that blending in a section seemed like a good reason not to use them. Maybe there is no good reason not use them!Anyone who tells you they don't sit in a section or bow well is a liar! I will never go anywhere else, well maybe a Mittel E.
The range of sound arco and pizz is just the best. There are other strings I like the sound of but they all end up being to limited.
Blending in a section is the only reason I'm hesitant to stick with them. Less a section and more with an ensemble (I play a lot of musicals).
There are many folks that use them in a section. Joe Guastafeste, the long time CSO principal strung his beautiful 5 string with them. I have also seen folks in Berlin, Concertgebouw, and Vienna with them. I think European orchestra players tend to play with a bit more edge than most Americans. Spiro B/C strings are very common in sections here though.
