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Double Bass Strings for Juzek with a little AI commentary...

C

cduston

Nov 7, 2021
14
14
#1
I am working on finding some new strings for my ~50-60 yr old Juzek. I'm looking for a dark sound, these days I'm playing lots of solo arco rep (but I don't want to tune up!). In the past, this bass has sounded great in two contexts: solo strings (brand lost to time, sorry!) in a medium auditorium, and Eva Perrazi weich in a recording studio.

I've got Corelli 470Ms on right now, but they are *very* squacky. Slightly better with my salt-n-pepper bow (instead of white hair), but still pretty nasty. It actually doesn't show *too* bad on recordings, but it's there so I need a switch. Recommendations?

The AI twist is that I asked this question of ChatGPT, and I thought I got a very interesting answer (Bel Cantos with some analysis about the darker bow hair). Invalid Link Removed to see what other people thought and I got slammed. I'm not doing that here because of my bruised ego, although someone said "a light set of Flexocors", so I'd like to hear what people think about that.

Thanks for any and all answers!
 
#2
Belcantos would be a fine starting point into your string search. I'm not surprised to see them recommended by ChatGPT as they are one of the most popular arco-oriented string sets, though at least a couple TBers have reported using them successfully for pizz as well. I have them on one of my basses and like them a lot!

I've also enjoyed using the Flexocor Deluxe as a primarily arco string as well.
 
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#5
If you’ve got the cash, worth trying the Peter Infelds. Very reasonably describable as splitting the difference between Spirocores and Bel Cantos; the E and G strings, particularly, might be the best I’ve ever played.

I’ll add that I didn’t love the ‘A’; I currently have the Infelds on the E/C, D and G, with a well-used Spiro Weich on the A.
 
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#11
Honestly, if you are playing solo rep and want a darker sound, consider downtuned solos. You might be able to get away with a solo BC G and D with a Spiro A and E. Or maybe something else? Pick a solo arco string and double check what the downtuned tension will be on DoubleMidi's amazing spreadsheet.

The downside is that you might overpower the strings if you have a heavy bow arm. The upside is, you can tune up to solo tuning without breaking anything.
 
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#12
JazznFunk said:
I've never seen ChatGPT play a bass. Forums like THIS are better for nuanced, human responses with less chances of AI slop and resources wasted.
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Yeah I don't really disagree, but when someone(/thing) says "oh yes, it makes total sense that you need darker hair for those strings", it makes me want to explore that further - with humans!
 
#13
evanrunyon said:
If you’ve got the cash, worth trying the Peter Infelds. Very reasonably describable as splitting the difference between Spirocores and Bel Cantos; the E and G strings, particularly, might be the best I’ve ever played.

I’ll add that I didn’t love the ‘A’; I currently have the Infelds on the E/C, D and G, with a well-used Spiro Weich on the A.
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yeah I'm getting convinced. And as far as the price - all strings are too damn expensive, except for Corellis!
 
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#15
Mark_T said:
Honestly, if you are playing solo rep and want a darker sound, consider downtuned solos. You might be able to get away with a solo BC G and D with a Spiro A and E. Or maybe something else? Pick a solo arco string and double check what the downtuned tension will be on DoubleMidi's amazing spreadsheet.

The downside is that you might overpower the strings if you have a heavy bow arm. The upside is, you can tune up to solo tuning without breaking anything.
Click to expand...
yeah this is a reasonable idea, but I'm only playing solo rep for the training and personal development. If I grab the bass to play a gig (I have another instrument, so this might not matter), I want it to be ready. But thanks for the thought!
 
#16
cduston said:
Yeah I don't really disagree, but when someone(/thing) says "oh yes, it makes total sense that you need darker hair for those strings", it makes me want to explore that further - with humans!
Click to expand...
Ask a human first - save resources and stop feeding the AI machine. That's what this forum is here for. Carry on.
 
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#17
JazznFunk said:
Ask a human first - save resources and stop feeding the AI machine. That's what this forum is here for. Carry on.
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Not flame baiting, but I *love* using AI for initial summarization of vast amounts of forum info -- -- that's what's it's best at doing -- and the results you get are "cited" with links that you can drill into if you wish.

This saves me huge amounts of my most precious resource -- TIME.
 
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#18
stefaniw80401 said:
Not flame baiting, but I *love* using AI for initial summarization of vast amounts of forum info -- -- that's what's it's best at doing -- and the results you get are "cited" with links that you can drill into if you wish.

This saves me huge amounts of my most precious resource -- TIME.
Click to expand...
So you used AI to search a forum which already has a search function to..... search the forum?
 
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#20
I think the AI angle would be more compelling if the clanker had suggested something more interesting than BelCantos and black bow hair for an orchestral bass 🤷‍♂️

Personally, I enjoy poking around the forum but no hate for using whatever tool gets you where you want to go.
 

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