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Double Bass Superflexible vs. Dominants

basss

basss

Supporting Member
Aug 27, 2001
3,543
1,306
NY
#1
I've had Dominants on my bass for close to a year and they are starting to sound dead. These strings sound great on my bass but I'm interested in checking out the Superflexibles as well.

Has anyone tried both of these strings? The Dominants brought some booty to my bass that was missing with the Spiro meduims that they replaced. How do the Supers compare?

A search turned up a lot of info but not many direct comparisons.
 
#2
A couple of months ago I made the same transition, going from Dominants to Superflexibles. The Dominants were absolutely gorgeous strings in every respect, but at eight months, they died literally overnight. I replaced them with Superflexibles, which I had heard good things about and had been meaning to try when the opportunity arose.

I am happy with the Superflexibles, although not "taken" with them like I was with the Dominants. The Superflexibles are bright, a pretty strong sound, and, for me, relatively bowable (I say relatively because for me, bowing is pretty darn hard no matter what string I'm using).

The Dominants were softer to the touch, responded easier to the bow, and had a more beautiful "organic" sound than any other string I've yet tried. None of the metallic brightness of all-steel strings. They also had a shorter lifespan, as I mentioned above.

The Superflexibles have a brighter, more metallic sound, as one would expect, and are not as bow-friendly as the Dominants. I would say the Dominants beat the Supers in all respects, except for expected lifespan.

The Dominants did seem thicker to me (I didn't measure them), so they took a bit more fingertip to press and a bit more effort to pluck fast passages when playing pizz. Thus I seem able to pizz the Superflexibles faster than I could the Dominants.

Comparing the Superflexibles to other all-steel strings I've tried (Helicore Orchestras, Pirastro Flat Chromesteels, T-I Spiros, Corelli 370F's) the Supers are near the top. Not quite as bow-friendly as Corelli's, but a stronger sound for jazz pizz. Pretty good sustain (which can be good or bad, depending on if you want sustain or not, the type of playing you do, etc.)

All in all, the Superflexibles seem like a good dual-purpose string, and I like them, though I wouldn't rave about them. I hope this was helpful.
 
#3
Interesting. My Supers are about a year old, ridden hard, and they're pretty much dead. Not much there at all but thud, 'specially the G. And I've been thinking of checking out Dominants-with-Stark-E as I've heard others here recommend. So I'm going t'other way...

I liked the Supers well enough. They were great when they were new -- they had a darker, grittier quality than the Corellis I had on before that. Easier to get that breathey quality with the bow. But they're gone now, man...
 
#4
greitzer said:
A couple of months ago I made the same transition, going from Dominants to Superflexibles...
Click to expand...
Curiosity got the best of me and I put the Supers on yesterday. So far I agree with everything you said. I like the 'quickness' of these strings compared to the Doms. The Doms seemed a bit deeper, especially on the E string, although I wouldn't call the Super E thin at all.
 
#5
I agree with what has been written.

You do know that the Superflexes are very different to the Dominants, don't you?

Dominants are stiff, superflexibles are.... well, superflexible...
 
#6
Has anyone tried using a dominant E with supeflexible A, D & G?

I'm bowing more and more and I'm begining to fall out of love with my spirocore E. I used an Obligato E for a while, but it sounded pretty bad on my bass.

I'm after something with a bit more fundamental than the spirocore (both pizz and arco) I don't mind losing growl, but i would like to maintain the volume.

Do you think the dominant will deliver?
Obviously no one can totally predict how it will perfrom on my bass.

Thanks
thomas
 
#7
Thomas Stone said:
Has anyone tried using a dominant E with supeflexible A, D & G?

I'm bowing more and more and I'm begining to fall out of love with my spirocore E. I used an Obligato E for a while, but it sounded pretty bad on my bass.

I'm after something with a bit more fundamental than the spirocore (both pizz and arco) I don't mind losing growl, but i would like to maintain the volume.

Do you think the dominant will deliver?
Obviously no one can totally predict how it will perfrom on my bass.

Thanks
thomas
Click to expand...

I think thats exactly what you will get with the Dom E although I found it took more effort to bow than others I've tried. It bowed well- I just had to put more muscle into it.
 
#8
Damon Rondeau said:
Interesting. My Supers are about a year old, ridden hard, and they're pretty much dead. Not much there at all but thud, 'specially the G. And I've been thinking of checking out Dominants-with-Stark-E as I've heard others here recommend. So I'm going t'other way...

I liked the Supers well enough. They were great when they were new -- they had a darker, grittier quality than the Corellis I had on before that. Easier to get that breathey quality with the bow. But they're gone now, man...
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the string height, if I set my superflexibles higher and dig in a bit I can get the old school sound, but if they're set low they get more of that bright growly sound. Also using a darker g string like a flexicore start will help, if you want that old school sound.
 
#9
Somewhat thread reviving (possibly a little high-jacking too).

I've been playing on superflexibles for a month or two now and I have become very torn. I used Kolstein's Heritage for about a year and am definitely a fan, but they didn't give me the arco response that I needed.

The superflexibles are really hard on my right hand when I'm playing pizz. I get cramps really fast etc. It's not an action issue, it's the string tension or stiffness, whichever you prefer to call it.

I'm wondering if the Dominant's would be a good choice. Are they less hard on the right hand than the superflexibles? I've seen Dominants compare to Spiro Orchs and I don't think that my hand could deal with that tension. My hands were always fine with the Heritage strings so they could be the answer...but I know that the Dominants have better arco response.

Bassically, are the Dominants easier on the right hand than the superflexibles?? And if not, what string would you suggest that would get the superflexible/dominant/heritage type sound and be easier on the right hand?

Thanks guys.
 
#10
No
Dominants are higher tension and harder to get around on than the Supers, although they were very playable on my bass. The Supers are only slightly higher tensions than I remember Spiro Weich being and are very easy to play. Now that I've had them (Superflex) on my bass for a while I'm really digging them - sort of a warmer fatter sounding Spiro Wiech. If you are having trouble with the Supers you might want to try a super low tension string such as the Corelli tungsten.
 
#11
jazzbassnerd said:
what string would you suggest that would get the superflexible/dominant/heritage type sound and be easier on the right hand?
Click to expand...

Obligatos? I use Superflex now with an Oliv G. Been a while since I had Obligatos on, but I think I remember them being lower tension than Superflex. Maybe someone else can chime in.
 
#12
Obligato is lower tension than Superflexible but probably a shorter lifespan. I think that Obligato bows better than Superflex, but it's a very different sort of string.

These things are so dependant on the bass, the player and your preferences. I have Obligato on for my E&A and Olive on the G&D and I've been quite happy with this combo for both pizz and arco. I tend to go for a gut-like sound and feel. But my son has Superflexibles on his bass and I always enjoy playing his for a change of pace. And they've been on his bass for over a year and still sound good.

I think that Superflexibles are probably the best all-around steel string, unless you are a heavy arco player, and then Flexicor is probably the best arco string, IMO.
 
#13
Thanks so much guys.

It's a tough thing. I've been playing a lot of contemporary classical music and I feel that sol pont. and false harmonics, etc. come out so much better on steel strings than on the synthetic core. But the Superflexibles are just tearing me up.

Are the Olivs the extremely expensive Piastro string?? Those would be out of my budget.

I'll read up on the Corellis.

Again, thanks so much guys.
 
#17
Medium Gauge Flexicores are perfectly supple to me. The perfect tension to my hands. Not to stiff, definitely not floppy. (the E is worthless). I've read here that the Stark Gauge Flexicores are think and tense, but the Mediums are nice. Probably a little lower tension than the Superflexibles, although it's been a few years since I've had them on my bass.

Nice strings for Pizz, I may go back to them. I kept my set. Now that I think about it, maybe Superflexibles E and A and med. Flexicores D and G.

Just a thought.

troy
 
#18
TroyK said:
Now that I think about it, maybe Superflexibles E and A and med. Flexicores D and G.

Just a thought.

troy
Click to expand...

I've used this combo and it works well. The Superflex arco is not quite on par with the Flexicor's but that's the trade off for having pizz sustain on the low strings. I quite like the pizz sound of the Flexicor G&D.

I think that Flexicor may be lower tension than Superflex, but as Francois noted, less so on the upper stings.
 

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