Double Bass Technicalities regarding strings?

[Pedro Carvalho]

Making school work regarding the instrument's strings i came across a few questions..
Nylon Core strings such as Dominants fall into the synthetic string category... but what are "composite" strings? what is the composite made out of?
and is rope core a pure steel core but with a braided core (as i've read in the forum)?
Also, steel cable strings (e.g: original flatchrome) do they have steel core and steel winding or are they simply a steel cable?
Thanks!

 

[DoubleMIDI]

As far as I know a composite material is a mix of different kinds of material like wood and synthetic or metal (particles) and synthetics.
The only string I have ever seen in the composite (material) category was a synthetic/metal powder wound string I have seen at Musikmesse Frankfurt some years ago, but yhat was a prototype and I cannot remember the manufacturer, maybe Aquila.

There are differences in core and winding material and construction.
The core can be solid/momofiber, parallel strands/multifiber, spiral wound strands, braided strands. Material different metal alloys, mostly some kind of steel for the core, different synthetic material and gut (fire the core or an unwound naked gut string). For the lower strings there are usually several layers of windings. Except for gut strings the core is the same (diameter) across the set (exception might be high C strings).
A smooth synthetic string is impossible to bow, a roughed surface synthetic string is possible to bow but not ideal. Naked gut is possible to bow but needs to get used to. Metal wound strings are good to bow, but it might depend on surface smoothness, stiffness, tension and probably other things what works better than the other. Also the moving top of the bass and the soundpost has an influence on bowability.
Strings with a soft core usually have less sustain than strings with a harder core but strings can be damped by silk between the winding layers to get rid of too much sustain for easier/smoother bowing.
Elasticity of the core has an influence on available dynamics (less with very elastic cores) and ease of playing (easier with more elastic strings), specially in thumb position or with a high action.

Every bass, player and kind of music prefers something different.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Strings are made with solid steel cores (like guitar strings), twisted or braided multistrand steel cores or spun fibre cores. Don't be misled by the marketing desciptors on the packages - they're there to sell strings, not educate!

 

[Pedro Carvalho]

As far as I know a composite material is a mix of different kinds of material like wood and synthetic or metal (particles) and synthetics.
The only string I have ever seen in the composite (material) category was a synthetic/metal powder wound string I have seen at Musikmesse Frankfurt some years ago, but yhat was a prototype and I cannot remember the manufacturer, maybe Aquila.

There are differences in core and winding material and construction.
The core can be solid/momofiber, parallel strands/multifiber, spiral wound strands, braided strands. Material different metal alloys, mostly some kind of steel for the core, different synthetic material and gut (fire the core or an unwound naked gut string). For the lower strings there are usually several layers of windings. Except for gut strings the core is the same (diameter) across the set (exception might be high C strings).
A smooth synthetic string is impossible to bow, a roughed surface synthetic string is possible to bow but not ideal. Naked gut is possible to bow but needs to get used to. Metal wound strings are good to bow, but it might depend on surface smoothness, stiffness, tension and probably other things what works better than the other. Also the moving top of the bass and the soundpost has an influence on bowability.
Strings with a soft core usually have less sustain than strings with a harder core but strings can be damped by silk between the winding layers to get rid of too much sustain for easier/smoother bowing.
Elasticity of the core has an influence on available dynamics (less with very elastic cores) and ease of playing (easier with more elastic strings), specially in thumb position or with a high action.

Every bass, player and kind of music prefers something different.

If i'm not mistaken the D'Addario Zyex string is a composite material string..

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Zyex has a PEEK synthetic core and metal windings like Obligato, Evah Pirazzi. PEEK is a rather stretchy core like Nylon/Perlon. The Braided synthetic core from Innovation is less stretchy.
They might want to call synthetic core with outer metal winding composite, but then a lot of other strings are too.
Personally I wouldn’t call that composite.

As Jake said, a lot of marketing speech, not make to educate but to separate.
Some strings have an INOX outer winding which nothing else but stainless steel. If you don’t know that you might think it is something very special and buy the same string again. Well, that’s marketing.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

As Jake said, a lot of marketing speech, not made to educate but to separate.
Some strings have an INOX outer winding which nothing else but stainless steel. If you don’t know that you might think it is something very special and buy the same string again. Well, that’s marketing.

I agree with everything you've said except for your characterisation of "INOX". INOX is merely an old fashioned way of denoting stainless steel, from the French, "inoxydable" or "acier inoxydable" ie 'un-oxidisable steel'.
As a kid in the fifties and sixties I remember all kinds of SS objects being labelled as INOX. Our Sabatier kitchen knives are labelled, 'INOX".

I have no evidence to support this - but I believe that the Swiss Army knife, made of INOX steel, is a contraction of "Victor Inox".

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I agree with everything you've said except for your characterisation of "INOX". INOX is merely an old fashioned way of denoting stainless steel, from the French, "inoxydable" or "acier inoxydable" ie 'un-oxidisable steel'.
/QUOTE]
Since I‘m not familiar with French and stainless steel was nowhere mentioned on the Velvet website for Compas 180 strings, for me it was kind of hiding clarity/information to show something like “our strings are different/special, only buy them”. Maybe this is also the case for others, but not all like you explained.