Double Bass Time for a Dead Spiros Club

[erniepro]

The thing with naked gut: this summer my gamut G +D both broke, sitting on by bass in the corner , within five minutes of each other. Granted they were great for nearly two years so I suppose I got my money's worth, excellent sound and response, but I have heard naked guts last indefinitely and that was my hope. I agree the compas 180 are good as are the zyex and flex deluxe, both of which I have been playing recently

What's the issue with naked gut?
No problem with steel wound wound Velvets like Compas 180 and Classico (except maybe production issues).

If you think all these nice G strings have issues, you haven't tried high C strings...

 

[SVT4001]

I use plain gut on one of my basses, and have for years. I have yet to experience any problems with them. In my experience, they are like Spiros in that you put em on and get to work, and look to change every decade or so...

 

[Sam Dingle]

I shouldn't have mentioned gut in my post sorry. On my teachers old Kay they never seamed to stay in tune

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

@Ernie Two years? That's it? How did you maintain them? Where did they break? Did the strings turn white at the weak spot before they broke?

I was a gut freak for four or five years, and played new guts, 60-year-old guts and everything I could get my hands on but never had one truly break. I had a Chorda break just above the tailpiece, but after flipping the string upside down and making a new knot it was fine. And that string was eight years old, wound, and had been on half a dozen basses.

 

[erniepro]

The G just popped a few inches below the nut , about B or C on the G string. No white spot or anything. Then a moment later as I was loosening the A string to change the set, the D broke down near the tailpiece , but what actually happened there was just the leather washer breaking off ( and the washer flew into the bass through the F hole ,adding insult to injury). So the D will be reusable but not the G. And thanks for reminder about reusing with a new knot, I have not done so until I decide about getting a new plain G and put both on. I have not been doing any maintenance other than slightly detuning a quarter step or so after playing so the string doesn't go sharp and have extra tension when the bass is unplayed, although it was rare that I would come back and find the pitch radically changed as sometimes occurs with my olives and eudoxas. Dan at Gamut said no other maintenance is required for his plain guts and said oiling may or may not be useful but in his view is unnecessary. I did contact him regarding any warrantee and his response is the strings are covered for 6 months. As mentioned above, I also expected near unlimited life on plain guts ( and have had too many broken eudoxas and olives, which I like a lot, over time) so the breaking is a disappointment. I live in Honolulu where temperature and humidity usually does not change much over the year, although this summer when they broke has been hotter and more humid than most years. Still not like most places where seasons really can effect changes on string height,etc.

 

[erniepro]

Oh - and since this is a dead Spiro club.....I almost always have my old extended E/C on my old Juzek, no matter what other strings are above it. As many have said, they sound good with everything, and for all styles.

 

[Martin Beer]

After havering over whether to try the S42 Mittels, I put my old 3/4 size Mittels back on a few days ago, and I'm now wondering why I ever took them off! That solidity and sustain is just fun to play, I can adjust my bridge lower than with the Weichs and the arco isn't even as touchy as I remembered it being. The E string sounds good further up the neck, whereas I was finding the Weich E was a bit tubby sounding above the Bflat. This is a set I bought new in 2008, though they've only got around five years playing on them as I've dabbled with other strings, so I'm hoping they hold out for a while longer.

 

[Sam Dingle]

If I've learned anything from reading posts on this website, they will.

 

[ouijabird]

I've just put some old spiro weichs on my bass which I got from @groooooove. I'm loving them so far and even used them for an orchestral gig at the weekend! They bowed surprisingly well though the D string is a little scratchy but hopefully it'll darken with time. It's my first experience with Spirocores so no idea if they are 'dead' yet.

My bass has an extension so I'm currently using a Helicore Orchestral Ext E which seems to match the spiros well enough for now. Gotta keep an eye of for a used Spiro Ext E to complete the set.

 

[brother21]

I just took off my old Spiro Weich strings on my Kay. I looked up and found the receipt dated 11/20/93 at the time I also bought an underwood pickup that cost $120. I'm still using the underwood it won't die, but the Spiros still had some sole to them but I'm now going with Gamut gut strings on top and Rotosound bottoms...what a change in tone and string flex...this is fun.

 

[iiipopes]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH! The heel on my bass cracked! My tech thinks it is a hidden knot or imperfection in the grain. The bass is out of commission for the time being. I will update. KC Strings won't touch it until it completely breaks off. I'm thinking hide glue injection and clamping to see if I can bring everything back together.

All input is welcome.

 

[phyton]

My Spirocore Mittel strings are now officially over an year old. I raise a glass to another 9 years with them not leaving my bass

 

[oysteivi]

I just installed spirocore mittels on my first double bass that I bought last week. The old strings were weirdly mismatched both sound and tension wise - probably a result of buying a random cheap string when one breaks - and the completely new spiros have already improved the sound /and/ the playability of the bass.

Looking forward to when they break in properly, and I aspire to apply for this club on Jul 11. 2017.

 

[Who da Ville]

the arco isn't even as touchy as I remembered it being

Maybe your chops have improved since the last time the Spiros were on? I can say for a fact that my Spiros don't seem nearly as touchy as they did a year ago, and I'm still playing the same strings…

On the rare occasion when I 'get it right' these strings really sound fantastic under the bow!

 

[unbrokenchain]

Bought my first set of Spiros in early 2012 from a guy in town who said he bought em new and then realized he couldn't wait long enough for them to break in, so he sold them to me in favor of a more used set. I played them for a couple years, and I mean played hours and hours, five days a week at least, gigged once a week minimum, and it wasn't until early 2015 that the strings actually felt like they broke in. There was a really noticeable point where the strings just all of a sudden felt very supple under my fingers. I did break an E string while tuning (guess the nut was a little sharp) in 2013, and suffered with a Heliocore E for a while, but thankfully got another used mittel set and swapped the E. I've tried the Heliocores, Innovations, Corellis, Evahs, and those stupid SuperNils; but the red silks will remain on my bass as long as my hands will play!

 

[Ronald Weasley]

I've been using velvet animas for a couple of years but the d string broke so I throw my old mittel D on there from a set from 2009 and it sounds pretty great. I decided today to put in my mittel E and A since the animas were getting kind of weak and unfocused and then my spiro D string snapped! That string sounded so good.

Anyways I'm thinking for my next set getting some spiro weichs and keeping the old mittel E, but I haven't decided for sure. I loved the animas but I just want a bit more sustain, clarity and durability I think.

 

[iiipopes]

Anyways I'm thinking for my next set getting some spiro weichs and keeping the old mittel E, but I haven't decided for sure. I loved the animas but I just want a bit more sustain, clarity and durability I think.

Velvet strings are known for even tension across the board. S42W's have a lot of tension difference from G to E. If you like your S42 Mitts, but want a more even and slightly lighter feel, then the set of Spiros to get is the 3/4 3885W set: when mounted on the same bass, they have more of what you are looking for, slightly less tension than S42 Mitts, more even feel string-to-string, and IMO are the most underrated set of strings out there. I use and prefer the 3885.5W E string to either the S42W or the S42M: lighter feel like the S42W E string, but with solid tone, heft, clarity, definition and character of the S42 E string.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I've been using velvet animas for a couple of years but the d string broke so I through my old mittel D on there from a set from 2009 and it sounds pretty great. I decided today to put in my mittel E and A since the animas were getting kind of weak and unfocused and then my spiro D string snapped! That string sounded so good.

Anyways I'm thinking for my next set getting some spiro weichs and keeping the old mittel E, but I haven't decided for sure. I loved the animas but I just want a bit more sustain, clarity and durability I think.

If you want some Velvet, the increase in tension towards the low end like the Spiros, consider the Velvet Compas 180. Some Spiro character and some synthetic core. Have a lot of power. A bit tricky to bow, different than Spiros.

 

[Ronald Weasley]

Velvet strings are known for even tension across the board. S42W's have a lot of tension difference from G to E. If you like your S42 Mitts, but want a more even and slightly lighter feel, then the set of Spiros to get is the 3/4 3885W set: when mounted on the same bass, they have more of what you are looking for, slightly less tension than S42 Mitts, more even feel string-to-string, and IMO are the most underrated set of strings out there. I use and prefer the 3885.5W E string to either the S42W or the S42M: lighter feel like the S42W E string, but with solid tone, heft, clarity, definition and character of the S42 E string.

Yeah that sounds like what I'm looking for. What about the spiro solo set and tuning it orchestra? It seems that they have really even tension too, but how do they sound vs weichs?

 

[iiipopes]

Yeah that sounds like what I'm looking for. What about the spiro solo set and tuning it orchestra? It seems that they have really even tension too, but how do they sound vs weichs?

Again, there are two solo sets, 3/4 and 4/4. The 4/4 set has similar tension to a Velvet Blues set when mounted on the same bass, but completely different characteristics, being synthetic core and copper wrap. Both sets of Spiro solos are even looser than the S42 Weichs on the lower strings, and a little lighter toned as well.