Can anyone tell me what strings Thomas Morgan is using in this video? Also, is this his personal bass?
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Double Bass Thomas Morgan Strings
- Thread starter sumeursault
- Start date
Earl
Supporting Member
No, that is not his bass. He does not take his bass on the road. Looks like a Spirocore E string, possibly Evah Pirazzi A & D, not sure about the G.
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Ah okay thanks. Now looking at that screencap, it looks like maybe Evah for A/D and Obligato G...
I don't think it's an Obligato G.
I think it's a Kolstein Heritage, but could be wrong of course.
I think it's a Kolstein Heritage, but could be wrong of course.
It’s an Oliv G. I think of that combo as the John Patitucci special
Keep in mind that unless you have the stature of someone like him meaning:
1. The people that hire him hire him for his sound, understand it and want to make sure they hear it
2. He is often playing in venues with pro sound and pro sound people
If you don't have that, "dark" as in non- spiro strings are going to get washed out by the drummer if not the venue as often as not.
Spiros + practice are still your best bet to get heard in jazz based environments.
1. The people that hire him hire him for his sound, understand it and want to make sure they hear it
2. He is often playing in venues with pro sound and pro sound people
If you don't have that, "dark" as in non- spiro strings are going to get washed out by the drummer if not the venue as often as not.
Spiros + practice are still your best bet to get heard in jazz based environments.
For what it's worth, I heard John Patitucci last week in Seattle and he had Evah Pirazzis on E and A and Perpetuals for D and G. Sounded and played great.
Yeah he’s moved on, probably because of Oliv reliability. The stark perpetuals seem designed for him. A bit funny to me to have steel over synthetic core tho.
I do know what you mean @damonsmith but I don’t think it’s that clear cut. I know many people with a great sound with a variety of strings here in NYC. When I had a bass that liked this setup it was great until the Evahs died or the Oliv unwound. So impractical from a cost standpoint, but not muddy at all. I also just switched from Spiros to Zyex on my current bass because as many gigs as there are where Spiros clarity is helpful, I was having just as many where the harshness was over present. It has me thinking about different types of clarity. Spiros have top end frequency clarity, but Zyex has upper mid clarity (kinda like guts actually), guts or Genssler strings can have a sub-frequency clarity too — all bass dependent.
Agree. I think that might be the first time that I had seen or heard about anyone doing that. I assumed EP which and Perpetual stark, but don't know for sure, of course.
I did notice that he endorses Perpetual on Pirasteo's website. Maybe he found the lower strings to be too soft and wanted them to be a little stiffer.
He sounded great, though, and I haven't always loved his sound in the past. Always an excellent player, but this was his best sound to my ears.
Fwiw I believe Thomas Morgan uses (or at least has used in the past) Thomastik superflexible solos
Yes and also note choice, feel, etc. - all things where string choice is less in the equation.
I’d venture to say people are hired for these things even more so than for their sound… and the best of us get hired for having the whole package!
The point is more when you pay the (high) fee of someone like that, you are going to make sure you get what you pay for and that means making sure he gets heard.
If you have an understanding of Spiros, especially with the bow, there is no harshness unless you want it. Obviously, it isn't every band or every room and some rooms and some drummers are too much even for Spiros. Still, when I hear buried, dull playing 9 times out 10 it turns out someone is trying to use a "darker" string. Gut played well can also cut.
The thing is, with technique, you get a darker sound out of Spiros, however, no technique can add upper harmonics that have been killed off by design.
Earl
Supporting Member
Not anymore. He changed to Evah Slaps for a while and now uses Spiro Solos (if he hasn't changed again!).
It seems to be the bass, that Larry Grenadier played for some time... or still plays sometimes?!?
It seems to be the bass, that Larry Grenadier played for some time... or still plays sometimes?!?
Nice catch! I'm assuming then that it's a popular rental instrument in Germany
Whenever I have heard Thomas Morgan around new york (not too recently, but heard him a dozen or so times), he had gut for the D & G (and maybe more). This is a hometown gig, doesn't look like gut, but I can't really tell from the camera. What I can say about his sound is that he often favors a microphone to a pickup, and gets a very acoustic sound, even in crummy rooms with crummy sound (like the old Stone on Ave C.)
Earl
Supporting Member
He has not used gut for a number of years. The strings in this video are Superflexible solos which he used for a few years. Last time I saw him in the Spring he had Spiro solos with a Eveh Slap E. He uses the Realist Lifeline mostly and sometimes will add a mic on an H Clamp through the house.
