I’ve been a low tension Corelli kinda guy since my Bass professor steered me that way in college in the early 2000s. Spent a some time out of the game and dove back in with a fresh set of Corelli’s around December. Getting caught up on string developments since I stopped paying attention a while ago has left my head spinning. I ordered a new bass and planned to put Corelli’s on it because that’s been my thing, but then I got thinking, “why?”. I’m a bit of a Rabbath fanatic and I saw that he went with Genßler around 2010 or sometime thereabouts. I do love low tension and high flexibility, and I am interested in the synthetic thing, I’m also only interested in arco playing right now. I need the strings to be great under a bow, to sing in Thumb position so I can attempt to play Rabbath’s music, and have good low end as well so I can work on orchestral stuff. That’s my wish list. Sonores are a bit much for my modest needs, but the Temperas sound very interesting. What else is out there in that vein? What else could get me “90% there at 50% the price”. How do Evah Pirazzi’s compare to Tempera’s? BelCantos? Obligatos? Dominants? I know that ultimately the bass chooses the strings, and I don’t have this bass in hand yet, just looking for some comparisons and other peoples experiences because strings are too expensive to be rolling through them, I want to try and make a thoughtful, well reasoned purchase the first time and try and save myself the time and money of going through all those sets. Thanks!
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Double Bass Tempera vs. ????
- Thread starter BassFalcon
- Start date
Hard to tell without knowing the bass, but... I used Corelli's for years, then slowly shifted to synthetic core strings (Dominants, Sensicore) and then their solo versions. I wanted a warmer fuller sound than the cello-like Corellis. I now use guts (including for orchestral bowing) but that probably won't work for the Rabbath literature. Kaplan solos might do it for you.
Dominant or Sensicore or Obligato solos (use a regular Sensicore G)? Not synthetic but other options might be Jargar Dolce or Spirocore or Passione solos? The Kolstein Heritage strings don't get a lot of love here, but I have them on the other bass and like them. (I was a pretty committed Sensicore user, but they have become impossible find)
Dominant or Sensicore or Obligato solos (use a regular Sensicore G)? Not synthetic but other options might be Jargar Dolce or Spirocore or Passione solos? The Kolstein Heritage strings don't get a lot of love here, but I have them on the other bass and like them. (I was a pretty committed Sensicore user, but they have become impossible find)
As a user of both, I would compare Evah Pirazzi (I like the weich) to Tempera by saying "90% there at half the price," although the arithmetic might not be exact. They both:
bow very nicely
pizz very nicely
have a broad tone
have a good low-end grunt with the bow (EPs a little gruntier, not much)
sing well in thumb position
are flexible and supple (Temperas win)
can be loud
I've not used Obligato or Dominant, but have tried Bel Canto. Nice, but not as ... full-throated(?) ... unfiltered(?) ... as the Tempera and EP.
@AGCurry In your opinion, is the seemingly slight advantage that the Temperas have over the EP’s worth the extra cost and hassle of both waiting your turn on the list and then getting them through customs worth it? Not having played either yet, it sounds like they would both fulfill my wish list of attributes, with Temperas having an edge in performance but the EP’s having the edge in price, availability, and ease of purchasing. I’d like to have the edge in performance for sure, but sometimes close enough is good enough. Hopefully sometime in the future the Tempera production and distribution gets ramped up.
I'm not sure I can fully answer your question. I have one bass strung with EP weich and two basses with Tempera. The Temperas are worth it to ME because my mother left me some money when she died four years ago, so I can afford to indulge myself (I often think that my instruments are crying out for someone better to play them).
I felt competent to answer your original question because I had JUST replaced a set of EP with a new set of Tempera, so the differences and similarities are fresh in my mind. There was nothing wrong with the EPs; they had awakened that bass after a fresh setup and some other strings that didn't work, and they performed well for the now-ended orchestra season... very close to the sound I want.
BUT I had a fresh Tempera set lying around waiting, and I was pretty sure that I would get a similar sound out of them with a bit of a bonus in comfort and volume. I'm relieved that I was correct. They still haven't quite stabilized, but I have no plans to try anything else on that bass... anytime soon.
So, I guess my advice is: Unless you have the coin to spare, try the Pirazzis and know that Temperas are very much like them. If and when you're ready, you can make the upgrade. It's a common truism that we spend much more time and money getting that last 5%.
By the way, the biggest pain in buying Temperas is not customs; it's the payment process. Jan-Ole doesn't accept credit cards or PayPal, so the payment process is kind of byzantine.
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Thanks again! You provided the exact information and the exact experience I was looking for and answered my question deftly. I’ve done my reading here and elsewhere and it certainly seemed that people were describing both sets of strings very similarly. I signed up on the Tempera waitlist a few weeks ago and have heard nothing since, and who knows how much longer until I do. I was hoping to hear from someone with first hand knowledge that the EP’s were pretty close. I’ll just go with those, it’s not like I even have a choice until my name pops up on the waitlist anyway. The Temperas will stay on my wishlist of strings I’d like to try one of these days, but for my purposes and skill level it doesn’t seem worth the time and effort to really fixate on them. The EP’s sound as though they have what I want, step 2 is to practice more.
How do you perceive the tension difference between the Tempera and EP? Seems that the "competitive advantage" with the Tempera are the low tension, a la gut, but with a synthetic core. Are EP significantly stiffer or did you not really notice the difference?
The Temperas are palpably less tense, and that's part of their marketing shtik (not saying it's wrong or right). I like the low tension, but some might not, so I count that as a difference rather than an advantage.
Reason i ask is that OP seems to be coming from Rabbath camp which usually means low tension, easy to start strings IME. I'm not totally sure EP Weich fits that bill if that is really what the OP wants. The EP Solo set might be closer if a synthetic core is truly desired, and might be closer in feel to Tempera(just a guess, i have not used either set!).
Yeah, Tempera has Francois Rabbath's testimonial on its webpage!
My understanding (from reading the EP megathreads) is that EPs for solo tuning are qualitatively different from the standard-tuning versions ... so I can't give any advice there. All I can say is that EP weich don't feel tense, and they're certainly easy to start.
I'd vote for Spiro Solos at orchestra pitch (S43, not the 3886). They won't be quite as bright as the Corellis but still bright and will have a lot more grunt. Though not synthetic they'll still be very supple under the left hand and start extremely easily with the bow, sing in thumb position, etc. They also react very well to any of the off-the-string techniques.
My understanding may be flawed but I believe that Jan-Ole and Gerold are it. They have their line of Sonores strings which are basically bespoke, but the demand was getting to be too much so they also have Tempera, and that the idea behind Tempera was to offer a high quality string but with little to no options . My assumption is that with the restricted choices vs. the Sonores that they would be able to make them in relatively large batches and therefore fill more orders more quickly for those that don’t need or want the level of choices and options that ordering Sonores strings gets you. So I believe Tempera is still just a two man operation but made in more of an assembly line fashion than the Sonores. Im open to correction and will immediately defer to anyone with actual knowledge of the matter, but that’s what I currently believe is the case.
I`d vote for EP weichs, solos or Spiro solos. EPw`s are darker sounding, louder and a tad stiffer than Corellis, if my memory serves. Temperas are propably fantastic strings, just as are Pirastro wrapped gut like Eudoxa and Oliv, but I much prefer the EPs because they are available everywhere for reasonable amount of money, unlike the aforementioned.
... can't say that EP are at all comparable with the Temperas or any of the other Gensler strings. I am playing Gensler strings since years now and had quite many models on my bass, now finally ended up with Tempera. Which might be the last choice for the rest of my career ;-)
EPs are nice, dark, mellow. They have an acceptable sound on nearly any instrument.
Tempera is completely different, much richer, much more colors and but above all way complexer!! I have now one set on my old italian bass and one on my Claudot. I can't even choose which instrument profited more but its a please every day to practise and discover new sounds.
So if you are searching for a nice solution, there are some strings on the market. But if you are looking for something more exquisite, you should try Genssler strings and maybe start with Tempera, because they are fantastic!
EPs are nice, dark, mellow. They have an acceptable sound on nearly any instrument.
Tempera is completely different, much richer, much more colors and but above all way complexer!! I have now one set on my old italian bass and one on my Claudot. I can't even choose which instrument profited more but its a please every day to practise and discover new sounds.
So if you are searching for a nice solution, there are some strings on the market. But if you are looking for something more exquisite, you should try Genssler strings and maybe start with Tempera, because they are fantastic!
What about temperas vs the different sonores strings?
I have a set of temperas on my bass right now and they are really nice. But the perfect string for me would be slightly thicker, have some more punch and sound a little less like a steel string. Would any of the sonores strings fit this description? I have the five tuning tempera set btw…
I have a set of temperas on my bass right now and they are really nice. But the perfect string for me would be slightly thicker, have some more punch and sound a little less like a steel string. Would any of the sonores strings fit this description? I have the five tuning tempera set btw…
Maybe the APs? Your best bet might be to contact Gerold. I played the Temperas on a friend's bass while I had BASSO strings on mine and they were pretty similar in sound and feel, maybe too similar for you, but that could be another option.
