I dont clean mine very often. When I do, I use rubbing alcohol and a rag.
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Double Bass Time for a Dead Spiros Club
- Thread starter iiipopes
- Start date
lrh: I used to use almond oil on my gut/ steel/chrome/silver wrapped gut strings. Still use it on my Spiro Weichs....or any other metal-wrapped string. Judging by the residue on my cleaning cloth it does a good job removing the grime.
Almond oil? I can see that on guts, but on Spiros? well, maybe to get the twang out of the G string, but I'm having trouble seeing the benefit other than a regular wipe-down with a clean, lint-free cloth. Please elaborate.
iiipopes: Elaborate? Other than I need to use the almond oil up...it cleans the strings. No science involved.
Ok so I am in the process of moving back to my "new" old spiros. I tried my old set of spirocores which are about 3 years old and love the feel of them, but the music I'm making and playing requires a slightly newer sound. So sad but my year old set is doing fine. Still dead, just less.
bskts: "Slightly newer sound"??? Can you explain? Pizz? Arco? If you are referring to a brighter sound then obviously dead spiros won't help. But given the lifespan of Spiros....3 years is not very long.
On the other hand if you are trying to narrow down a particular sound you have in your head then you will likely have to start the string search all over again. I'd start with some kind of Flexocores. Maybe your bass needs a different setup. Or maybe you need a different sounding bass.
Its hard to describe. My dead spiros are DEAD! I attribute the sound to a set of Evahs but you can still hear the pitch cut through the mix. The arco sound is glorious. There is no scratching whatsoever (ok, maybe when my bow hand gets sloppy). Just fundamental. Its truly amazing how different they are from that typical spiro growl. There isn't any growl, just sustain. Its weird to describe. But these do not have the character of spirocores that I know.
I know this is Ray Brown here, but this is the fundamental sound I'm looking for. The ease of the slides on the string that really SING. My dead-dead set doesn't do that. Plus that "smack" on the low E string isn't there like it is here. My year old set still has that mojo without the annoying quality of a banjo.
I know this is Ray Brown here, but this is the fundamental sound I'm looking for. The ease of the slides on the string that really SING. My dead-dead set doesn't do that. Plus that "smack" on the low E string isn't there like it is here. My year old set still has that mojo without the annoying quality of a banjo.
I'd say it took them about 20 hours of gigging (and quite a bit of practice) to break in fully. Since then they've been about the same.
I'm certainly happy both with the sound and the playability of my spiros!
After far too many years of mixing Spiro Weich/Mittel E and A strings with numerous combinations of G and D strings I finally concluded a couple of months ago that to time had come to end all that experimentation.
I am now back to a full set of Spiro's (4/4 Mittel E and 3/4 Weichs).
The long journey back to where it all began was good in many respects. Some combinations were fine. But even that dreaded Weich G has now settled in and mellowed nicely. There is something satisfying about giving a single brand string set time to settle in fully.
Spiro Weichs should be the starting point for all pizz players. I have used them (not the same set though!) on three separate basses over the years. They are the only strings that brought out the best in all three basses.
I now expect my all-Spiro set to eventually die and then produce that wonderful sound for a long time. I also expect they will outlive me
.
I am now back to a full set of Spiro's (4/4 Mittel E and 3/4 Weichs).
The long journey back to where it all began was good in many respects. Some combinations were fine. But even that dreaded Weich G has now settled in and mellowed nicely. There is something satisfying about giving a single brand string set time to settle in fully.
Spiro Weichs should be the starting point for all pizz players. I have used them (not the same set though!) on three separate basses over the years. They are the only strings that brought out the best in all three basses.
I now expect my all-Spiro set to eventually die and then produce that wonderful sound for a long time. I also expect they will outlive me
.
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I have noticed a lot of beginners play spiro weich and are told to do so. No one told me that, so I started with the mediums, then 20 string sets later i'm back to a set of mediums.
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Greg Clinkingbeard
Commercial User
I have dead reds on the E and A on both my Kay and old flat back. The latter has a C extension and that string was bought used and has at least 6 years on it. Although it sounds great, the winding is beginning to show gaps around first position so I will replace it in the next year or two.
I have Bel Cantos on top on that bass, finding them to sound more like a more balanced set. The Spiro D and G always sounded nasal and the G, thin in thumb position.
The Kay has EP Weich on top of 2-3 year old Reds.
I have Bel Cantos on top on that bass, finding them to sound more like a more balanced set. The Spiro D and G always sounded nasal and the G, thin in thumb position.
The Kay has EP Weich on top of 2-3 year old Reds.
I've been experimenting with Zyex lights on top of dead-ish (almost 2 years) weichs and I've been finding that arco and pizz they really compliment each other: the Zyex D and G start easily with the bow and work super well in many different settings, but their E and A are really squirrelly with the bow whereas I've been finding I love the articulation of the Spiros arco and pizz, but I've always felt the D and G were a little more piercing as opposed to full-bodied, which is what I like about the Zyex (holy runon sentences batman!).
the Ryan: I used the Zyex regular or zyex lights for the G and D with Weichs on the bottom for a couple of years. But after about 18 months the Zyex went dead and had to be replaced. I also found that after several months, the difference in sound between the synthetic Zyex and the Spiro Weich combo became more pronounced. I'm not sure if it is just my bass or whether the Weichs finally settled in. But in the end, the Weich G and D had more note clarity without losing their solid fundamental.
Hope the combo works out for you though.
Came back to this thread after talking to a friend. She bought a bass in 2013 and the e string broke, so we changed them to a full set of spiro weich. She hasn't changed since (though she's had 2 neck breaks and a few other repairs, the silks are toast at the peg box).
I'm 9 months into my "new" set of mediums.
Here is the question: who has the oldest Spirocore on talkbass? Anyone going on 10+ years?
I'm 9 months into my "new" set of mediums.
Here is the question: who has the oldest Spirocore on talkbass? Anyone going on 10+ years?
If it's "who plays the oldest Spirocore strings currently on a bass" it's not me, but when I took them down (4/4 Mittel on a 110 cm scale), they were about 25 years old and I still have them in my drawer.
But hardly played them in the last 10 years they have been on my bass (no time to play then). Maybe I would still play them if I have lowered the action before taking them off. OK, the thin high C might have been a reason to find something thicker or more stretchy anyway...
But hardly played them in the last 10 years they have been on my bass (no time to play then). Maybe I would still play them if I have lowered the action before taking them off. OK, the thin high C might have been a reason to find something thicker or more stretchy anyway...
