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Double Bass Spiros! Back to bass-ics
- Thread starter drurb
- Start date
Greg Clinkingbeard
Commercial User
They are tightly coiled, and so look like miniature springs or telephone cords.
After six months, the Spiro mittels are off. I must say that I was quite happy with them for all of the reasons most here are familiar with. The EP weichs went back on and with them, the return of the cannon. Yup, the punchy front end and strong fundamental are back. One of the first things I noticed was that when hitting the open E, I can feel the 41 Hz fundamental go right through the floor and up into my feet and body. I missed that. They do seem to feel tighter/stiffer than the Spiros (just as I noted earlier but an experience that others don't share). Whether this is a good idea re my previously injured hand is something only time will tell. I'll be concentrating on maintaining a lighter touch. I think Marc captured it best:
Good to hear you're well on the way to recovery!
I've been wondering a bit since the few threads that brought up the different experiences in the Evah weich vs Spiro mittel tension/perceived stiffness. I'm wondering now if the difference in brightness may contribute a certain amount to unconsciously applying more pressure than needed with the left hand with the Evah weichs - a bit like digging in too hard with your right hand when you're not able to hear yourself.
I know this is something I've experienced a bit - whether it's more about the sound of the strings, or lack of experience on my part I can't say - probably the latter.
It's something I made a note of though and am keeping conscious of while playing.
I've been wondering a bit since the few threads that brought up the different experiences in the Evah weich vs Spiro mittel tension/perceived stiffness. I'm wondering now if the difference in brightness may contribute a certain amount to unconsciously applying more pressure than needed with the left hand with the Evah weichs - a bit like digging in too hard with your right hand when you're not able to hear yourself.
I know this is something I've experienced a bit - whether it's more about the sound of the strings, or lack of experience on my part I can't say - probably the latter.
It's something I made a note of though and am keeping conscious of while playing.
I don't understand-- could you explain a bit more about the brightness/left-hand thing? Thanks.
As for my hand, thanks for the good thoughts. All the healing one is gonna get is there at three months. I'm six months out and have permanent stitches in there. I'm not gonna say I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Well, the experiment is over. The Spiros are back on and they're staying. A small recap. On my current bass, I had Doms, Evah regulars, then Evah weichs. I injured my hand and switched to Spiro mitts, which I hadn't used for years. After getting used to not having the "punch" and low-end power of the Evahs, I rediscovered what so many others love about Spiros. The feel, the sustain, the growl, the whine, the pitch stability.
Feeling safe with my healed hand, I put the EPWs back on. Oh mama! The cannon returned. For a few days, I was like a kid in a candy store. Then I got overloaded on sugar. I found myself missing the sustain and brightness of the Spiros. I also found it tougher to get around with the left hand on the EPWs. That's a bit tough to describe. As for the right hand, there was always an essential "stiffness" to the EPWs that seems to give them that "boom" when you release the string. I started to worry about re-injuring my hand. I put the Spiros back on. They're more comfortable and, well, they sound great. So, sound-wise, it's a trade-off of earth-shaking fundamental (EPWs) for a bunch of other sonic characteristics that I gotta say I really like (Spiros). Then there's the protection-from-re-injury factor that, for me, is HUGE.
Anyway, that's my report having been able to compare EPWs directly to Spiros long- and short-term on the same bass.
Call me fickle but I'm with UncleToad-- Spiros.
Now, if they bring back those Lycons...
Feeling safe with my healed hand, I put the EPWs back on. Oh mama! The cannon returned. For a few days, I was like a kid in a candy store. Then I got overloaded on sugar.
I found myself missing the sustain and brightness of the Spiros. I also found it tougher to get around with the left hand on the EPWs. That's a bit tough to describe. As for the right hand, there was always an essential "stiffness" to the EPWs that seems to give them that "boom" when you release the string. I started to worry about re-injuring my hand. I put the Spiros back on. They're more comfortable and, well, they sound great. So, sound-wise, it's a trade-off of earth-shaking fundamental (EPWs) for a bunch of other sonic characteristics that I gotta say I really like (Spiros). Then there's the protection-from-re-injury factor that, for me, is HUGE.Anyway, that's my report having been able to compare EPWs directly to Spiros long- and short-term on the same bass.
Call me fickle but I'm with UncleToad-- Spiros.
Now, if they bring back those Lycons...
I'm on EP wiechs at the moment but am thinking more and more about a return
to spiros. Mmm I do think that EPW's are the best hybrid, but spiros are THE sound of classic jazz bass.
Either way, both are amazing strings!
to spiros. Mmm I do think that EPW's are the best hybrid, but spiros are THE sound of classic jazz bass.
Either way, both are amazing strings!
- May 6, 2003
- 5,272
- 160
- 64
- Disclosures
- Proprietor Fifth Avenue Fret Shop. Technical Editor Bass Gear Magazine
I know this is not a Dom thread.
DRURB, have you ever tried vaseline or lip balm to lubricate grooves and string during installation?
I have never had a breakage again since I started doing that along with slow tune up.
It would be too bad to give up your string of choice without trying this system, but you might have already reached the point where you said "enough with this".
Well, the experiment is over. The Spiros are back on and they're staying. A small recap. On my current bass, I had Doms, Evah regulars, then Evah weichs. I injured my hand and switched to Spiro mitts, which I hadn't used for years. After getting used to not having the "punch" and low-end power of the Evahs, I rediscovered what so many others love about Spiros. The feel, the sustain, the growl, the whine, the pitch stability.
Feeling safe with my healed hand, I put the EPWs back on. Oh mama! The cannon returned. For a few days, I was like a kid in a candy store. Then I got overloaded on sugar.
Anyway, that's my report having been able to compare EPWs directly to Spiros long- and short-term on the same bass.
Call me fickle but I'm with UncleToad-- Spiros.
Now, if they bring back those Lycons...
doc: I find it surprising that you are able to handle the Spiro Mittles given your hand injury.
I have never had any problem with my hands and play firmly (pizz) but I found the Spiro Mittels tiring to play. I went to the Spiro Weichs because I was worried they would be bad for my wrists.....despite my large wrists and big hands. Maybe I was overplaying them but I don't think so.
Luckily the Weichs sounded better on my Eberle ply ( I still use the Mittel E) but I would never go back to the Mittels because of the tension. Same with the Dominants.
Anyway...it's good your hand is recovering well.
Thanks, can't say I went that far but did lubricate with graphite. The problem, as you may know, is that if ANY of the metal part of the string winds onto the tuning peg, you're cooked. I even experienced the problems when that wasn't the case. I really gave it a good try. The distributor was very helpful and kind and replaced every broken string. In the end, indeed, the risk got to be too much.
Thanks. At least on my bass, you'd probably hate Evahs! Next to their essential stiffness, Spiros mitts are an absolute breeze. I guess it's no coincidence that I never suffered a bass-related injury until I had the Evahs on. When I was allowed to play wearing a splint, I found it very difficult to play on the Evahs. The unnatural playing position of my right hand caused it to fatigue. I switched to Spiros and it felt "like butter." Recently, when I finally dumped the splint altogether, I figured I'd try the Evahs again and I felt that stiffness again. Went back to the Spiros and was good to go. That's just the way the chips fall for me. YMMV.
Let me try to explain this a little better, now that my flu addled brain seems to be back to normal...
It's natural, when playing any stringed instrument, for one to modify what your
hands are doing based on what one is hearing come out of the instrument.
There are technique changes that one should make in response to certain audible cues, and there are changes that one my make based on instinct that are simply the wrong action to take.
I was likening the left-hand thing I was referring to, to digging in too hard with the right when you have trouble hearing yourself on the band stand. It's usually the wrong thing to do! Laying back, and pulling a "bigger" sound out of the bass, playing with better intonation, etc. is a better plan...right?
So back to the left hand thing - I've caught myself putting more force into the fingerboard with darker strings, or in situations where I'm unable to really hear what I'm doing. Not by much, mind you - I don't start squeezing the neck or anything - but enough that I've noticed it, and make an effort to stop.
It's almost like an attempt to get more 'clarity' out of the strings.
Obviously I can't say if it's common for others to do this, but I was just pondering the possibility.
Thanks for clarifying and I gotta say that I'm a big fan of the "left hand sound." I think many players, I guess mostly newbies, don't realize how much left-hand technique contributes. If ever there were a truism, this one of yours sure ranks:
It's natural, when playing any stringed instrument, for one to modify what your
hands are doing based on what one is hearing come out of the instrument.
You read my mind again. I'm about to have another go at it. I did notice last time around that, for me, the Spiros didn't bow nearly as smoothly and nicely as the EP weichs. As others have noted, it may be an adjustment of technique that's in order. I'll report back.
As a was tweaking with a bass trying to increase the volume of the G string (see a thread in "Set up and repair"), i noticed that this particular bass prefers lower tension strings. In my arsenal there are only Spiros (mittel and weich) and EP weich. Any ideas about what else could i try in order to maintain the volume of the Spiros or Evahs with less tension?
Mike
Mike
- May 6, 2003
- 5,272
- 160
- 64
- Disclosures
- Proprietor Fifth Avenue Fret Shop. Technical Editor Bass Gear Magazine
If weichs are to high tension for the bass you could try Solos but they may not be as loud as the others. Tradeoff is they sound great pizz and under the bow.
Non spiro things I suggest trying Velvet Animas or Gut strings.
