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Double Bass Strings for folk/country/bluegrass (pizz + slap). Innovation strings - fail =(

H

hellsq

Jan 30, 2015
11
1
Russia
#1
Hello everybody! Yesterday was my first gig as a UB-player. Lots of people, all was just perfect... And in the middle of this gig plastic cover of my "super silvers" E turned to a plastic spring. I had to take a break and remove this ****** off my E string.

It was very sad, because I loved innovation strings, they sounds (even without plastic cover) very good and E have volume and sustain close to steel string. When I just started learning to play UB, I used superiorbassworks standart strings. Superiorbassworks's G and D sounds pretty good (even more good than innovation, because of more natural gut-like slap sound and more clear bass tone with pickups, but acoustic volume is bit lower). A is little bit worse than ok, but superiorbasswoks's E sounds terrible (thicker one from 6-strings set). No volume at all, and bad sustain.

So, what do you think - should I give innovation another chance? Or maby try LaBella supernil or something else? I need lots of acoustic volume, is it possible with plastic strings? Super silvers do the job perfectly, but I dont want to this situation to repeat. Superiorbassworks have tri-core strings that looks like my super silvers, but they are no longer in production.

P.S. sorry for mistakes - I have very low practice in english =(
 
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#2
You're post is easy to understand. No problems with the English here.

I've never played super silvers, but I've used Innovation strings (140B) for a while, and have never had the wrap unravel. Others may have more info.

Is it possible that either your nut slot or bridge slot is not cut to the appropriate width? If you've played plastic monofilament strings before, maybe they're more forgiving than wrapped strings? Where on the string did it come apart? I've had parts on the string where the wrap becomes marred in some way, or looks crimped for lack of a better description, but it's never lead to what you describe.

Or, I've had a string snap, but a different brand, not the Innovations so far...
 
#6
I would also recommend to check your bass for sharp edges where the string runs along (nut, bridge) and round them. Also check if the grooves are wide enough. A string clamped into a narrow groove can break.
Like Jon I almost exclusively use Innovation metal wound strings (Braided and some prototypes) and never had a problem with them.

On the other hand, strings can break, either the core or the winding. And that often happens when you pluck harder than usual, which often happens on a gig.

I would try the Super Silvers again, but before you put them on make sure the grooves are wide enough (but not deeper than before!) and the edges at the nut and at the bridge are rounded so that no edge can catch the winding on the string. If you are not sure you can do that yourself let a luthier do it. Cheap and you can be sure that it is well done. Tell the luthier what happened with your broken winding, so he can take some extra care for that.
 
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#7
Thank you guys for answers!

Sorry, I should have mentioned this earlier: there must be no issues with bridge - I made full setup for silverslaps. Bridge slots perfectly filed for this strings, no sharp edges, lots of graphite in slots. I have this strings for 2 years. With superiorbassworks strings I use another bridge.

It is very sad that super silvers sells only in packs, buying single string would be perfect - but maby it is time to try something new?

I play a lots of different strings on my UB teacher's basses, Labella Supernil seems nice for me - but what about gut? Anybody have experience with cheap natural gut strings from India? Feedback for these strings seems ok:
Upright Double Bass Gut string "EADG" gut string musical weather coating

Also, in a few songs I use a bow (my band plays some Larry and his flask covers), and bowing with super silvers is painful for ears=)
 
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#8
hellsq said:
Thank you guys for answers!

Sorry, I should have mentioned this earlier: there must be no issues with bridge - I made full setup for silverslaps. Bridge slots perfectly filed for this strings, no sharp edges, lots of graphite in slots. I have this strings for 2 years. With superiorbassworks strings I use another bridge.

It is very sad that super silvers sells only in packs, buying single string would be perfect - but maby it is time to try something new?

I play a lots of different strings on my UB teacher's basses, Labella Supernil seems nice for me - but what about gut? Anybody have experience with cheap natural gut strings from India? Feedback for these strings seems ok:
Upright Double Bass Gut string "EADG" gut string musical weather coating

Also, in a few songs I use a bow (my band plays some Larry and his flask covers), and bowing with super silvers is painful for ears=)
Click to expand...
You can order single strings from the manufacturer shop in the UK.
Have a look here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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#9
DoubleMIDI said:
You can order single strings from the manufacturer shop in the UK.
Click to expand...

OMG. Thank you!!!!! My google searching skills lets me down=)

So, I will order this string right now and there will be 3-4 weeks before I get it (thanks to crazy slow russian post). So, my options for next 3-4 gigs:

1) Play with super silver E without plastic cover (risks for metal wound to do same trick to me)
2) Play with superiorbassworks strings (poor E, and I need more than slap click from E - but maby it will be good through pickups, will test this tomorrow in studio)
3) Buy Labella Supernil and try them (new experience and 120$).

How do you think, is supernil worth it or not? Comparing to superiorbassworks? When I play on my teacher's UB they sounds cool on E and A, but maby it was difference between instruments, not the strings.
 
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#12
jasonrp said:
How high is your action? My favorite part of the bassworks E was the click I got from it.
Click to expand...

My main UB has very low action, but it was enough for superiorbassworks. My bridge is adjustable, I tried to raise it and have no changes with E string sound. Some tricks with nut dont help either.

Yep, bassworks has awesome click, but some songs that I play has many pizz notes on E that must be loud and clear, with lots of sustain. Super silvers gave me all clearness that I wanted, bassworks - absolutely not. Hmmm... maby I will try to use steel E? I can play slap on steel, but not too long, maby with single steel string it would not be so painful. And supersilvers sounds really close to steel, there must be not much difference in sound between G-D-A super silvers and steel E. Spirocore? Or, maby, use spirocore meduim A (in our local shops I can get only medium tension spirocores), S38 in catalogue, and tune it in E? I have some cheap steel strings (set from Stagg electric UB and dead set of superflexible thomastics on my second UB), today is time for experiments=)
 
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#13
If you have a medium tension Solo F# steel wound string or can borrow one for a month and tune it to E that might work too. The click might be a big hard, but better than a loose E or almost no sustain.

BTW, if you have gigs, you always should carry a replacement set with you. The strings can be old and uninspiring as long as they do the job for you. It can get much more expensive if you cannot play the gig because of your broken string than buying a replacement set of strings that you always carry with your instrument.

And you have been lucky that you could still play the E after you removed the winding. A broken core would have left you in the dark...
 
#14
DoubleMIDI said:
BTW, if you have gigs, you always should carry a replacement set with you. The strings can be old and uninspiring as long as they do the job for you. It can get much more expensive if you cannot play the gig because of your broken string than buying a replacement set of strings that you always carry with your instrument.

And you have been lucky that you could still play the E after you removed the winding. A broken core would have left you in the dark...
Click to expand...

Yes, you are absolutely right. As a guitar/banjo/mandolin/dulcimer/other-small-stringed-stuff-player I always had a emergency strings set or two with me. But as UB-player I somehow forget about this rule - I just did not took any of my old strings sets for that time. My fault, yep.
 
#15
One other thing to consider is your bass may be louder than you realize. I was doing an all acoustic thing with a few guys and I could barely hear my bass while playing it. The guy playing slide also played upright so I let him take a turn and watched from the floor. My bass was almost the loudest thing on the stage from 15 or 20 feet away. I was running dirtyguts at the time
 

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