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Double Bass Spiros! Back to bass-ics

#25
Was just remembering.. back when I was in school and studying w/ the late, great Dennis Irwin, he once brought an old Kay he was borrowing to school. It had real old Spiros, and I could have sworn they were gut strings. They sounded and felt (played a few notes on it myself) nice and thumpy and had the same kind of full tone guts put out (of course, the Kay's thump-factor comes into play too, but still).
 
#27
gypsyjim said:
Bluegrass guy again. Just played this afternoon and another bass player noticed the lack of volume on my Upton Hawkes with the Obligatos - one year old. Has anyone else heard of losing volume after just one year? I picked up a guys 3/4 with UB blacks and it had twice the volume as mine. I heard of some make of string that starts with E?
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In my opinion, Oblis are short on volume when they're new. A wonderful sounding string in my living room. :) On the bandstand, forget it-- too anemic for me. In addition, I could never dig in on them because they'd just give up. Oblis also have a pretty short life-span. I suggest you throw a set of Evah weichs on your bass. I'm quite sure they'll perk it up!
 
#29
Uncletoad said:
Olive G is way stiffer than any Velvet I've tried. It's not all that far off a mittel spiro.
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The Spiro Mittel G is a problem child. Some sound better than others IME. Similar in string tension to the Oliv for sure. But I've found that the Oliv responds in a way that takes less effort than the Spiro to get the sound I'm hearing. The Oliv responds to a lighter touch quite well.

Expensive though.
 
#31
I too like the olive G but dont' think it has the same character as a Spiro G. It's round, sweet, and has a shorter note pizz. The Mittel G has more edge, cuts through mud better, but sounds way worse when playing at lower revealing volumes. On my two basses the Oliv G wasn't as loud as the spiro or a plain gut.
 
#32
Uncletoad said:
On my two basses the Oliv G wasn't as loud as the spiro or a plain gut.
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Same on mine, but only marginally so. It made up for it in sweetness and response. Remember, Phil?.... that Oliv was pretty well used when you gave it to me. Still one of my all time favorites.

The Gamut Lyon trumps them all so far in volume. Anima was good and loud, too, but not as focused as the Gamut. Oddly enough, on my bass, the Spiro Weich G hung right in there with the best of them, one it was broken in. Surprisingly fat and loud.
 
#33
Well, I was finally allowed to start playing again with my splint on. So now I'm reacquainting myself with Spiros. Compared to the Evahs, the greater sustain, growl, and articulation of the Spiros is kinda fun but they sure don't have that powerful Evah punch. I had forgotten how the Spiros "whine" especially when playing across the strings at the heel of the neck. I always liked that aspect of them. I've had to adjust my playing as the Spiros are so much more supple than the Evahs (which is what I need right now). I tend to try to pull the G right off the bass! Counter to what we describe with a good amplifying rig, I'd describe the sound with the Spiros as sort of, "My bass, but smaller." In retrospect, the set of strings that combines the best of all worlds for me is the Dominants. If the damn things didn't keep breaking, I think I'd be happy with them forever. In any case, the Spiros will remain on my bass for some time to come.
 
#34
I've got my Spiros back on after after several months of using gut. Several reasons --

My arco practice was suffering, just wasn't motivated to bow on gut; I heard several bassists performing with Spiros and getting great "gut-like" sound; I can hear myself better acoustically, bass gets more volume; I did comparisons recording and found the Spiros to have clearest, most even tone; I like the higher tension and find them utimately easier to play, when doubling on electric, it's much easier going back and forth in terms of right-hand technique.

I keep finding that the "in-between" strings -- Velvets, Sensicores, Obligatos, Evahs, tend to sound "cloudy" in comparison to Spiros or real gut. There are nice things about all of these strings, but when I do a recording comparison, the Spiros will win hands down.

Caveat: I will say that on louder amplified gigs, using gut or other lower-tension strings with more decay, is preferable in some ways. The punchy thud, and the lack of ringing overtones has a way of helping you hear and feel the notes in loud situations.

I guess it's always a compromise, but Spiros definitely have a lot going for them.
 
#36
Bobby King said:
...I keep finding that the "in-between" strings -- Velvets, Sensicores, Obligatos, Evahs, tend to sound "cloudy" in comparison to Spiros or real gut. There are nice things about all of these strings, but when I do a recording comparison, the Spiros will win hands down.
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Bobby, thanks for that one. That says tons and it's based on your solid experience with many strings. Spiros and gut are very different from each other, but each of them remains unsurpassed in many ways, including overall sound and projection. Funny, i've got Spiros on one bass and guts on the other just now, and am appreciating the Spiros again after a time away from them. Volume, clarity, focus, arco.
 
#37
William Hoffman said:
Bobby, thanks for that one. That says tons and it's based on your solid experience with many strings.
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Thanks William.

"Solid experience" is a nice way of putting it. "Obsessive, compulsive, foolish, profligate, pathetic, endless searching for something external to make up for my inadequacies as a bass player" is more like it. But, I have tried a bunch of strings in the process! :D
 
#38
In retrospect, the set of strings that combines the best of all worlds for me is the Dominants. If the damn things didn't keep breaking, I think I'd be happy with them forever.
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Well Les, would you suggest the Dominants for a bass player playing 80% piz and 20% arco? Is the piz volume comparable with the EP weichs or the Spiro mittell?
 

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