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Double Bass Strings that work with Magnetic Pickups & Slappable

RabbitMurphy

RabbitMurphy

Guest
Aug 16, 2015
8
0
38
#1
Hi Guys,
Im about to buy the Schaller Magnetic Pick up and decided id change strings while I'm at it can anyone recommend some Strings that work well with the pickup, suited to slap and won't break the bank?

Cheers
 
#2
Anything with a steel core works.
Iron, steel and nickel are ferromagnetic materials, but if it's only in the winding, it might be too less, because the inner windings are often from a non-ferromagnetic material.
Typical choice is Spiro Solo 4/4 downtuned to orchestra tuning or any other steel core solo string. Eurosonic/Presto Nylonwound would work too if you don't need to bow and want a softer slap sound (they are synthetic wound). Probably the Ultralights.
 
#5
Superflexible Solos would work too, of course.
Eurosonics are a Presto Nylonwound and all Presto strings have a steel core like the Spiros.
Steel core strings should be preferred, because the core has more or less the same diameter, so sbout the same amount of ferro-magnetic material. If it is only in the windings the higher strings might sound a bit thin due to less material. In general that could be compensated by the pickup, but the signal will be weaker with a non-ferro-magnetic core.
 
#6
MR PC said:
It's rumored that Zyex strings work with magnetics, even though it's a synthetic core. Would love to hear about that if anyone has tried it.
Click to expand...

Good to know,
I love the feel of Evah Parazzi Weichs on my Clevenger EUB, but the Bartolini Pickup, that Martin had designed for the bass, only recognizes the G string. It can't sense the D, A, or E at all. I guess it
must have something to do with the smaller diameter of the string having just enough metal for the pickup to read.

Ric
 
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#7
I liked the G D Evahs on my Azola, they really did go dead to the point of murky overtones though. Went through 2 or 3 sets there. Better luck with the Spiro Solo G D A, and Weich E on that instrument. The Solos sound great (meaning not twangy) out of the package, and just keep getting better for years. I've been thinking of experimenting with a Lace Alumitone P pickup for a magnetic. Tried a few different pickups and between the noise and primitive mounting I wasn't happy..for me a mag needs to be suspended beyond the end of the fb or it just gets in the way sooner or later. Of course, to far out there and it's in the way of the bow. Looking for a compromise. The Bartolini P is an excellent PU, I wonder which model yours is, Rick? And I'd bet Martin Clevenger came up with a nice mounting system too. Some of those old Clevengers really have great ebony boards, and the pickup systems were designed very thoughtfully.
 
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#8
I have used Helicore Hybrid Lights, Eurosonic/Presto Ultralights and Superflexible Solos (tuned down) with a magnetic pickup. I have fairly high action, about 16-17mm high.

Helicores -> bright growly sound, hard to slap
Eurosonics -> Great thumpy but sustaining tone, easy to slap, E is a little weak but A,D,G are great, matches nicely with the Helicore E. I like the tone but found it hard to cut through on stage with a loud drummer.
Superflexibles -> Tension is between the Helicores and Eurosoncis, woody but clear tone with medium-shorter sustain, E is a little weak so kept the Helicore E again. Slap is not as comfortable as Eurosonics but with a bit lower action I think they can be slap friendly.

You can also check out the Blast Cult Low Lifes:
 
#9
MR PC said:
. I've been thinking of experimenting with a Lace Alumitone P pickup for a magnetic. Tried a few different pickups and between the noise and primitive mounting I wasn't happy..for me a mag needs to be suspended beyond the end of the fb or it just gets in the way sooner or later. Of course, to far out there and it's in the way of the bow. Looking for a compromise.
Click to expand...

MR. PC,
When I couldn't get the Bartolin's on the Clevenger to work with Evah Parazzis', I contacted someone at Lace and ask if they had any pickups that could sense strings with synthetic core. They mentioned they were working on one, but as far as I know it doesn't exist yet.

MR PC said:
The Bartolini P is an excellent PU, I wonder which model yours is, Rick? And I'd bet Martin Clevenger came up with a nice mounting system too. Some of those old Clevengers really have great ebony boards, and the pickup systems were designed very thoughtfully.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that the pickup Martin used on my bass was an of the shelf design. It's small compared to most of the Bartolini's I've seen and I could never find it in their current catalog. Bartolini used to ocassionally make custom pickups for buiders. When I purchased
the bass from Martin, I think he mentioned that it was designed for his EUB's at the time.



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#10
Wow Rick, that mounting is exactly what I have envisioned. I've never seen a Bart P Model like those, I wonder how they are wound? Bartolini used to do custom pickups a lot, I've seen some Harp pickup harnesses with one Bartolini pu per string. There is a Lace acoustic bass guitar pickup that works with synthetic cores I believe, but it's in a thin 5-6" soap bar case, designed to slip under the strings on the flat bass top. It has some pretty exotic magnets and potting materials, like the old Lawrence acoustic guitar sound hole models. If any company was to take a chance and was able to mass market an upright magnetic pu that works with synthetic cores, I believe it would be Lace.

Thanks for the photos, that is a lovely EUB. Did you ever find a replacement diaphram pu? I guess those are similar in design to the pu used on the Ampeg Baby bass and the little Supro Pocket bass. Magnetic, not piezo?
 
#11
MR PC said:
Wow Rick, that mounting is exactly what I have envisioned. I've never seen a Bart P Model like those, I wonder how they are wound? Bartolini used to do custom pickups a lot, I've seen some Harp pickup harnesses with one Bartolini pu per string. There is a Lace acoustic bass guitar pickup that works with synthetic cores I believe, but it's in a thin 5-6" soap bar case, designed to slip under the strings on the flat bass top. It has some pretty exotic magnets and potting materials, like the old Lawrence acoustic guitar sound hole models. If any company was to take a chance and was able to mass market an upright magnetic pu that works with synthetic cores, I believe it would be Lace.

Thanks for the photos, that is a lovely EUB. Did you ever find a replacement diaphram pu? I guess those are similar in design to the pu used on the Ampeg Baby bass and the little Supro Pocket bass. Magnetic, not piezo?
Click to expand...

Mr. PC
Thanks for the kind words. Actually, the diaphram pickup was called a Diamond Sonance. It has three piezos, one in the center that you can see, and two imbedded in the corners of the diamond, that are for arco. When I originally purchased the bass it had
a plastic bridge with two diaphram pickups, very similar to the Ampeg Baby Bass. Alas I have not had the bass restored by Martin, simply because I use it a great deal for outside and inclemet weather gigs, so freeing up the time to ship it out to Martin in
San Francisco hasn't been in the cards of late. It's fingerboard is high quality ebony, and the neck profile is identical to my French Mirecourt Bass. So perhaps, this fall I can get it out to him. I have to decide whether or not to retain the Bartolini's as
his new design puts, an screw adjuster in that spot, that raises and lowers the fingerboard The new Arco Virtuoso bridge is not adjustable, so you change the string height by rasing and lowering the fingerboard.

Ric
 

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