Double Bass String Recommendation

[Laidback1]

Folks,

I play a 1930's era American Standard. Have had it for about a year and recently changed strings on a shop's recommendation and do not like the sound I'm getting after the change. I play in a folk trio and some bluegrass. An existing band that needs a bassist has asked me to start coming to their practices and they mainly play Country Rock (Eagles, etc.) and older country type of stuff.

I only play pizzicato and tend to like a "Thumpy" type of sound. The shop recommended and put on some Euro Sonics and I do like the feel but I feel like I've lost tone. They recommended the change due to the age of the existing strings since it was getting harder to keep a couple of them in tune. These are the strings that were on the bass when I bought it. "G" string was gut and when I bought the bass was told that the "D" string was "gut like". Not sure what the "E" and "A" strings were. I've attached a picture of the old set showing the wrappings. No wrapping on the "G" gut string.
The "D" string had olive colored wrappings and the other two were wrapped in bright red.

I'm not the best at remembering to maintain things and definitely did not do the maintenance recommended on the gut string so it would probably be best to go with something else than gut (but I love the sound.....)

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[A. Munk]

Thomastic Spiracore E and A
Pirastro Olive D
The spiracores are probably still good. They last a long time.
I'd put those back on and go for some new guts. Gamut is my gut string of choice. But there are a host of other D and G options.
There's a set of new old stock Labella gut strings in the classified right now that would probably sound great on your bass.
Or just find some used spiracore D and G and see how you like that.

 

[Fretless55]

Be sure to hold onto that Spirocore E and A, they pair well with a number of synthetic gut D and G.

I have a Spirocore Weich E with Innovation Golden Slap ADG on my tubby old Kay and it sounds like a bassoon!

 

[John Chambliss]

An Oliv G (like your D) is a nice but expensive wrapped gut string. And put the Spiros and your Oliv D back on. Edit: You could also choose to sell that Oliv D and go with a used Spiro D and whatever G.

 

[Don Hergert]

There's a world of DB string choices out there, especially if you're mixing them. And a number of online vendors are selling singles, so there's nothing to stop you from making a mix that you like, except perhaps time and money . As has been suggested though, your Spiro E and A are probably worth hanging on to, you may want to use them again sometime, especially if you get into mixing strings.

I started with "gut like" Superior Bassworks (SBW) Deluxe Dirty Guts, which are a translucent yellow/brown Kevlar core "gator line" that is spiral cut, providing the look and feel of gut. These strings are pretty inexpensive and come as a 6-string "bump" set that you can select strings from as needed for the right gauge range for you and your bass. I really like the feel, tone and volume of the medium D and G and have stayed with them. The SBW Deluxe E and A have good tone, but for me were just not loud and clear enough to be heard acoustically among other instruments, although they do sound very good plugged into an amp or FOH.

After a few months of using these, I swapped the SBW E and A out for Innovation SliverSlaps E and A, which are basically the same string that @Fretless55 mentioned (Innovation Golden Slap) only in silver color. These E and A strings are loud and clear and have a very nice growl to them, and they mix very nicely for feel (texture and diameter) with the SBW D and G strings.

I've been using this mix for a little over a year now and despite my curiosity about getting guts someday, every time I play this SilverSlap EA/SBW DG mix I'm happy I have them on. They sound great, feel great and they're showing no wear.

I can see myself trying the SilverSlaps (or Golden Slaps) EA with gut DG sometime in the future, although I've recently tried a friend's DB with gut DG and frankly wasn't that impressed with them for acoustic clarity and volume. It might be his setup or something, but they didn't speak for me as well as the SBW DG.

I play slap/pizz/arco 45%/45%/10%, preferably acoustically, but I'll amp up or plug in on stage as needed... And my bass is a 1930s Alcoa aluminum double bass that among other things has been treated internally to sound more thumpy and woody.

 

[Reiska]

Guts in general, and especially wrapped gut doesn`t hold their tuning as well as steel strings do, so there might be lots of life left with your guts. I bet the Spiro EA / Oliv D / plain gut G sounded fantastic on a American Standard. I`d go back to that setup in a heartbeat, but would use Spiro lights instead of mediums, and propably a Oliv G.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

I've got Evah Pirazzi Slap E and A strings on my old Kay, mixed with Oliv D and G wrapped gut strings and I love them. The sound is nice and fat for my pizz playing and my slap sound. So far so good on the wrapped gut strings holding up; and they settled down and stayed in tune after about two weeks on the bass.