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Double Bass Tempera Hybrid Strings

flatback

flatback

May 6, 2004
2,990
2,667
#1
A couple months ago I received my new Temperas in the mail ( way before I thought I was going to get them) I ordered them for my Contrabassetto a small bodied fully carved travel bass. Previously I have had all kinds of different strings on there from : Pirastro Perps (starks sound great) spiros (both Weich and Reds) with Oliv G, a flirtation with Solo perps, and Velvet Animas (Garbo G).
Just to say I have strung the bass with a bunch of strings.
This spring before I put on the Weichs and Perps I had the fingerboard redressed and the soundpost altered for the first time since the bass left Brazil. My Luthier the undersung but totally badass Bass Doctor Matt Bohn put in a new sound post so loose it fell over when I took off the strings for the first time (he since glued it in place with the thinest layer of hide glue, but the bass just opened up and became resonant in a way that belayed it's small size.
I have wanted to try Gensslers for a long time but the cost and choices seemed wrong for that bass. Enter the Temperas.
These strings are phenomenal. Low tension but super quick to respond, big open harmonic overtones, even across the board, singing, gut like AND steel like. They sound stellar both pizz and arco and they amplify like no other string (on my bass).
I heard a video clip of Rabbath playing them and thought "I'll never get that big fat open sound he gets, he has such a perfect bass and touch" but damn these strings deliver. My bass DOES have that sound.
Standard strings (spiros etc) sound muted and dampened by comparison (on my bass).
The G string is not thin sounding does not wimp out up high has no buzz and just sings. (I am a jazz pizz player mostly)
When I first put the strings on I was bowled over by their sound and a few months later I am still deep in honeymoon love. Genssler is just such an incredible string maker. These strings are both unlike any other string I have tried and yet the benchmark for play-ability/sound. Getting ready to buy another set for my other bass.
I cannot believe how good they are. Big Fan here.
 
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#4
Dunno. Shoot them an email...These are such a killing pizz string. Play them up high (more delicately) and they are bassy as hell (but with round wound...or Velvet) open undampened overtones, move your right hand down and dial in the ping. At the bottom of the fingerboard the sound is fast and quick all across the strings (I dont like dampened E/A strings that sound all inarticulate and slow when you play up them. The upper instrument is crazy good sounding all the way up and across. Mr. Genssler's ideas (I had read about his low tension/silk thread) on how to construct strings (I loved Velvets too which he designed) seem light years beyond, at least for the way I play on my bass. It seems to me a really hard nut to crack: effortless to play but quick sounding, full bodied (way way louder then Weichs) strings whose sound is both percussive and vocal, air with sustain. I'd love to hear from anyone who does not like them...I think I read on the string pages about people going back to spiros from them...just curious...
 
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#5
Piro, do you have them just on the contrabasseto?

I bought em twice so I certainly liked something about them. For me they were too dark- my bass is a 7/8s that can get boomy + I had switched to a realist lifeline that didn’t help. I also ended up chatting with Jan Ole about my bass’ raised saddle, he thought that had pushed my bass towards feeling / sounding good for steel strings, but was interfering with the Temperas. I maybe just didn’t get over the hump, but with Genssler strings it’s always a bit of a head scratcher about setup — how far am I willing to go to change my bass just to find out if the strings work for me.
 
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#8
@flatback this is a great idea to open this discussion!
Nevertheless, the title of this thread is very confusing. Gerold Genssler has his own company called Sonores. However, the Tempera strings are not advertised as "Genssler" strings, although Gerold Genssler was involved in their development. The Tempera strings are not made by him and are not part of the Genssler / Sonores repertoire. There was a thread weeks ago that caused confusion. Should we just open a new thread called "Tempera HYBRID Strings" or something like that? I think it is a good idea to discuss these, but we should not start with a wrong title.
 
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#12
robobass said:
I have just simple "Tempera". Is that the same thing? Anyway, I love them as well. I doubt I'll ever use anything else!
Click to expand...

I'd also like to know this... Are "Tempera" strings the same as "Tempera Hybrid" strings? If not, what are the differences between the two sets?

And an additional couple of questions...

Are the "Tempera Hybrid" strings synthetic strings, or metal core, or gut core, or something altogether different?

Coming from the "other" part of town, are the "Tempera Hybrid" strings up to being slapped, or are they most appropriate for more sensitive treatment?
 
#13
When you go to the Tempera site there's no mention of hybrids, but when you click on the buy button you are taken to a page where you can choose the hybrid option. I'm still on the fence. Awfully expensive and you've gotta wait awhile. Hard to believe they're worth it when my heroes seem to do better than I do with much cheaper sets. I'm currently hot to trot those new Kolstein Heritage strings, but am tempted by the Temperas.
 
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#14
The Temperas were about the only string I’ve been curious about ever since I embraced the Spiros. But it’s been so long (beginning of this year? Maybe) since I filled out the “order” form, I’ve almost forgotten about them. Or maybe given up on them is a better way to say it. And then I hear another person here talking about how great they are. And I wonder when it was they ordered them..
 
#15
sorry if I jumped the line...here is what I know about them: they are thin and supple made of metal wrapped around a silk core (I believe) and they are loud and fast speaking and growl-y with ringing overtones. They are really easy to play and easy to get percussive and articulate sounds. They do that same thing no matter where you play. They definitely require playing with sensitivity and evenness and bloom out with vibrato. I just love them. When you play the E and A up near the heal of the neck they sound great and dont lose tone the way spiros do (on my bass up in that reg)
They are WAY thinner then Velvets or gusts or even Spiros (the lower strings) but because they are loud and quick they don't sound thin or unsubstantial.
And man do they amplify well. Really the most extraordinary string in terms of how the acoustic sound translates to amplification.
...and then there is the whole arco thing.
 
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#16
flatback said:
sorry if I jumped the line...here is what I know about them: they are thin and supple made of metal wrapped around a silk core (I believe) and they are loud and fast speaking and growl-y with ringing overtones. They are really easy to play and easy to get percussive and articulate sounds. They do that same thing no matter where you play. They definitely require playing with sensitivity and evenness and bloom out with vibrato. I just love them. When you play the E and A up near the heal of the neck they sound great and dont lose tone the way spiros do (on my bass up in that reg)
They are WAY thinner then Velvets or gusts or even Spiros (the lower strings) but because they are loud and quick they don't sound thin or unsubstantial.
And man do they amplify well. Really the most extraordinary string in terms of how the acoustic sound translates to amplification.
...and then there is the whole arco thing.
Click to expand...

I'm on my third set of Temperas. I don't think the cores are silk, but they do seem to be threads of *some* material. The core is wrapped with very fine copper wire, which is wrapped with flat ribbon of some steel alloy. Tension is higher than gut strings but lower than any other non-gut, non-weed-whacker string I know of.

They are great strings, in my opinion.
 
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#17
AGCurry said:
I'm on my third set of Temperas. I don't think the cores are silk, but they do seem to be threads of *some* material. The core is wrapped with very fine copper wire, which is wrapped with flat ribbon of some steel alloy. Tension is higher than gut strings but lower than any other non-gut, non-weed-whacker string I know of.

They are great strings, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Well, my mouth is watering but the fact that you're on the 3rd set gives me pause. How long do they last? My gigs don't pay any more than they did 20 years ago, and I can't justify that kind of bread if I'm not gonna get at least a couple of years use.
 
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#18
lurk said:
Well, my mouth is watering but the fact that you're on the 3rd set gives me pause. How long do they last? My gigs don't pay any more than they did 20 years ago, and I can't justify that kind of bread if I'm not gonna get at least a couple of years use.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure a set will give you two years.
My first set was the early Temperas, which came apart at the tailpiece (a known issue) - perhaps because I installed them upside down, not sure.
My second set was used, with nothing wrong.
My third set I got just to have a new set. They're on my orchestra bass, where they will stay as long as possible.
 
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