I've been curious about these so I tried out a set. They were approximately $130
The Innovation Super Silvers are a synthetic core string with a synthetic nylon-like winding on all four strings. They have a tone and feel intended to approximate gut strings. They are to some extent like Labella's Supernil strings but with several differences/improvements -- the winding is finer, smoother and is uniform on all four strings (Supernils are metal wound on the lower and nylonwound on the upper strings). Also the tension is greater than Supernil and the string diameters are smaller (but the Super Silvers are still relatively thick). Super Silvers don't seem to "roll" like Supernils, which is a big improvement.
The tone of these strings is pretty good, plenty of gut-like punch but with more brightness and sustain. The E will get a bit of growl if you sustain a note. The tension is comfortable but the G string seems to have noticably more tension than the rest (there is a version of these called Super Slaps that supposedly have lower tension, the only string that I'd want lower tension from would be the G) The G and to some extent the D have more sustain than the E&A, the G will start to "mwah" which I don't particularly care for. The D had nice definition going up the neck, often an issue with plain gut D's.
The strings do have a tendency to get a little "boingy" sounding when played hard and don't seem to produce all the volume of real gut. Still plenty of boom though, and an all-around gut vibe.
Many people have used the Super Silver E&A with plain gut uppers. I tried this and they match fairly well, both tone and tension. The Super Silvers wrap gives them a little bit of a bright edge that is different from gut, but this more noticable on the upper strings. Given the price of wound gut, these make a good option for the E&A.
The tuning stablized fairly quickly and they are not susceptible to temperature change like real gut. This is a real plus in many situatiuons.
Now down to brass tacks -- I played a loud gig with these on my Kay bass with an Underwood pickup - my usual setup. As with most synthetic core strings that I've tried, I find the note center to be a little cloudy. I always think it's like an arm or leg that has skin and muscle, but no bone running through it (pardon my weird metaphor). Lacking spine. These qualities become more noticable amplified. Still, they amplified decently and they produce a nice, even response across all four strings. I don't love the slap sound -- sort of a plastic "clack" rather than a sharp, clear "click". One thing I love about gut is that they don't feedback as much when turned up loud. The Super Silver G was sustaining and feeding back like a steel string -- annoying.
At home I got a cool sound recording direct through my Sadowsky DI. It was kind of Cuban-sounding and reminded me of the tone of this Fender Acoustic/Electric Fretless P Bass that I once owned that used nylon-core, tapewound strings.
Not really a natural upright sound, but a good sound nevertheless.
You can actually bow on these, not terrific - hollow sounding like Pirastro Pizzicato - but the bow can grab them and make them vibrate, and pretty evenly on all of the strings too. OK for a little practice.
I'm a big gut string fan with the usual love/hate relationship with them, so I'm always interested in these type of strings.
Bottom line -- I took them off and put back on my real guts -- and there's that note center I missed, and the great "snap" in the way they pizz, the good slap tone, the way they sound great live with my Underwood! -- AND -- the constant tuning issues, and thuddy D string notes above a G, and wound E&A strings that develop odd buzzes --
But if you're "gut-inclined" and you play outdoors a lot, if affordablity is a big issue, if you hate wound gut E&As but dont like using steel on the bottom, etc., these could be a very good choice.
So, I'm keeping the Super Silvers as spares. In reality, they're one of the best strings of this type, priced affordably, but they won't replace real gut for me.
The Innovation Super Silvers are a synthetic core string with a synthetic nylon-like winding on all four strings. They have a tone and feel intended to approximate gut strings. They are to some extent like Labella's Supernil strings but with several differences/improvements -- the winding is finer, smoother and is uniform on all four strings (Supernils are metal wound on the lower and nylonwound on the upper strings). Also the tension is greater than Supernil and the string diameters are smaller (but the Super Silvers are still relatively thick). Super Silvers don't seem to "roll" like Supernils, which is a big improvement.
The tone of these strings is pretty good, plenty of gut-like punch but with more brightness and sustain. The E will get a bit of growl if you sustain a note. The tension is comfortable but the G string seems to have noticably more tension than the rest (there is a version of these called Super Slaps that supposedly have lower tension, the only string that I'd want lower tension from would be the G) The G and to some extent the D have more sustain than the E&A, the G will start to "mwah" which I don't particularly care for. The D had nice definition going up the neck, often an issue with plain gut D's.
The strings do have a tendency to get a little "boingy" sounding when played hard and don't seem to produce all the volume of real gut. Still plenty of boom though, and an all-around gut vibe.
Many people have used the Super Silver E&A with plain gut uppers. I tried this and they match fairly well, both tone and tension. The Super Silvers wrap gives them a little bit of a bright edge that is different from gut, but this more noticable on the upper strings. Given the price of wound gut, these make a good option for the E&A.
The tuning stablized fairly quickly and they are not susceptible to temperature change like real gut. This is a real plus in many situatiuons.
Now down to brass tacks -- I played a loud gig with these on my Kay bass with an Underwood pickup - my usual setup. As with most synthetic core strings that I've tried, I find the note center to be a little cloudy. I always think it's like an arm or leg that has skin and muscle, but no bone running through it (pardon my weird metaphor). Lacking spine. These qualities become more noticable amplified. Still, they amplified decently and they produce a nice, even response across all four strings. I don't love the slap sound -- sort of a plastic "clack" rather than a sharp, clear "click". One thing I love about gut is that they don't feedback as much when turned up loud. The Super Silver G was sustaining and feeding back like a steel string -- annoying.
At home I got a cool sound recording direct through my Sadowsky DI. It was kind of Cuban-sounding and reminded me of the tone of this Fender Acoustic/Electric Fretless P Bass that I once owned that used nylon-core, tapewound strings.
Not really a natural upright sound, but a good sound nevertheless.
You can actually bow on these, not terrific - hollow sounding like Pirastro Pizzicato - but the bow can grab them and make them vibrate, and pretty evenly on all of the strings too. OK for a little practice.
I'm a big gut string fan with the usual love/hate relationship with them, so I'm always interested in these type of strings.
Bottom line -- I took them off and put back on my real guts -- and there's that note center I missed, and the great "snap" in the way they pizz, the good slap tone, the way they sound great live with my Underwood! -- AND -- the constant tuning issues, and thuddy D string notes above a G, and wound E&A strings that develop odd buzzes --
But if you're "gut-inclined" and you play outdoors a lot, if affordablity is a big issue, if you hate wound gut E&As but dont like using steel on the bottom, etc., these could be a very good choice.
So, I'm keeping the Super Silvers as spares. In reality, they're one of the best strings of this type, priced affordably, but they won't replace real gut for me.
