Double Bass String dilemma

[JimmyM]

I have a bit of a string dilemma that I thought I would run by you all and see if I'm going to get laughed at and thrown out by a classical teacher.

I have only been playing a month on my double bass, but thanks to years of playing electric, I'm now fairly good at pizz playing, and I have an opportunity to do some good-paying swing/rockabilly gigs, which will of course involve slapping the doghouse. I have tried and tried to make my Obligatos work for slapping, but after opening up my middle finger and bleeding my own blood a couple days ago, I've taken off the Obligatos and put weed whacker strings on my bass so I can do these gigs without any further harm (don't laugh...they work really well).

I want to take classical lessons so I can better myself as a player. And these weed whacker strings bow pretty well. I am certainly not good with a bow at all, but I can draw it back and forth and get a pleasing tone. I know the vast majority of classical bassists use steel strings and don't even care for real guts, let alone whackers.

So if I were to take lessons, how badly is the teacher going to yell at me for showing up with whackers? I'm looking into buying an ultra-cheap used CCB specifically for these swing gigs, and when I find one, I'm going to put the whackers on it and put the Obligatos back on my good bass. But as a career musician, I have to do what I have to do to make money. And the Obligatos are only going to take being taken off and put back on a certain amount of times before they get ruined, so I'm not looking forward to putting them back on every time I have a lesson only to take them off for gigs.

So I thought I would run this question by the classical pros on here where I can't see you goofing on me before I try it with a teacher who will be in my face laughing at me

Thanks in advance for being nice with your answers.

 

[jsbachsonata]

it's a hard decision but you have to make a choice... steel wound strings will sound much much much better than the whackers you have WHEN BOWED. There's no way that anyone can obtain a good tone using whackers when bowed.


however, if you are going in a jazz direction, there's no problem


sooo... i know it's a hard decision, but that's life. Choose one and stick with it...one of the styles you play will have to suffer some consequences.

 

[Mr.Phil]

Stick with steel, build up calluses... I think steel just sounds better all around, and any kind of tough skin you have obtained playing electric is not sufficient. So, practice, practice, practice...

 

[JimmyM]

Oh believe me, Dr. Phil, I have discovered the hard way that the calluses aren't the same! And I did take off the whackers and put the Obligatos back on. I think I will just keep them on. I think they will end up making me a better and more accurate player in the long run. I'm still going to try to find a CCB beater I can use exclusively as a slap bass with the whackers, but I think this bass will have Obligatos on itfrom here on out. Another bout with bleeding blisters, though, and I'll probably change my mind yet again.