Navigating Turkos's problem can be a tricky one, I think, because (in in my experience) thicker strings tend to not play as well (arco) as you move up the fingerboard. At least, this was my experience with Zyex and (to a much lesser degree) Spiro Starks. The Zyex had a nice, round pizz sound and bowed very smoothly, but as you move up the string, it gradually loses focus.
On the other hand, I've had a pretty easy time with permanents, flexocores, and spiro weichs bowing in the upper register. I think of those three, the flexocore had the thumpy-est pizz sound on my bass. I prefer the permanent for its brightness and a tighter (and still quite thumpy) front-end. To me the Spiro weich just seemed weak, which is why I generally avoid it.
I think spirocores are still a really good suggestion. Which guage you like is pretty much going to be up to you and your bass. I find that issues with that string becoming a scratchy mess con arco really stem from the player playing too close to the frog. At least that was my experience. In fact, the barky front end of spiros can make excerpts from pieces like Tchai #4, the Flying Dutchman, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capricio Espanole, Mozart #25 much clearer and that scratchiness really isn't heard from more than 3 feet away.
at any rate, I think that the trick is going to be to find something high in tension but small in diameter. Whether you chose one thing or another is probably going to have to do with whether you like it bright or dark.
On the other hand, I've had a pretty easy time with permanents, flexocores, and spiro weichs bowing in the upper register. I think of those three, the flexocore had the thumpy-est pizz sound on my bass. I prefer the permanent for its brightness and a tighter (and still quite thumpy) front-end. To me the Spiro weich just seemed weak, which is why I generally avoid it.
I think spirocores are still a really good suggestion. Which guage you like is pretty much going to be up to you and your bass. I find that issues with that string becoming a scratchy mess con arco really stem from the player playing too close to the frog. At least that was my experience. In fact, the barky front end of spiros can make excerpts from pieces like Tchai #4, the Flying Dutchman, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capricio Espanole, Mozart #25 much clearer and that scratchiness really isn't heard from more than 3 feet away.
at any rate, I think that the trick is going to be to find something high in tension but small in diameter. Whether you chose one thing or another is probably going to have to do with whether you like it bright or dark.
