Double Bass Time for a Dead Spiros Club

[Sam Dingle]

Thats the plan at this point. It can only get better after 2 years of use. Coming up on 2.5 next month

 

[Sam Dingle]

Out of curiosity what is everyone mixing with their dead spiros?

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Out of curiosity what is everyone mixing with their dead spiros?

More dead Spiros. Weich E A D and a Mittel G. Had a Dominant G on for a little while but didn't like the contrast.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Interesting. I've heard of weich with a mittel E but not G. What's the reason for that?

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Fingerboard needs work and the Welch G is really buzzy. I'll reassess after the board is planned but I do kinda like being able to dig in a little harder with the heavier G and may leave it on.

 

[Don Kasper]

Interesting. I've heard of weich with a mittel E but not G. What's the reason for that?

The Weich G is very thin sounding (and feeling) on my bass - I replaced it with an Obligato G, a few years ago, which I like.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I see. I can't see myself going back to the spiro G any time soon. I like the Gauge of the Evah a lot.

 

[richhansen]

So here's a question to you necro-spiro lovers. I have a set of mittels that are about two years old, and I still can't get twang and zing out of them. Do these strings ever get to the point where they bow as smooth and scratch-free as Evahs or Belcantos, like when they get REALLY dead? I don't doubt that if I shedded on these spiros for 20 years 8 hours a day I might begin to start sounding like Catalin Rotaru, but I just don't have that kind of time. Is there a way to cheat the system and make them sound older faster, with some kind of oil rubbed into the windings?

On the other side of that coin, I have been running my old and dead electric bass strings through an ultrasonic cleaner for decades, which brings dead strings 100% back to life every time. It worked wonders on an old set of spiro weichs I tried once as well.

 

[Reiska]

I experienced with the bridge curvature and cutted the wings off while I was at it. It really helped with the zinginess and balanced the overall sound, with both 5ths and 4ths tuned weichs.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Baby oil and never wipe down the strings after playing. simply don't clean them. Thats my advice.

 

[ctrlzjones]

On the other side of that coin, I have been running my old and dead electric bass strings through an ultrasonic cleaner for decades, which brings dead strings 100% back to life every time. It worked wonders on an old set of spiro weichs I tried once as well.

Huuuh, so the secret weapon would be an ultrasonic cleaner ...
Never heard of these ...
Do all models work equally?
Where could I find one to lay my strings down into it?
Are there particular professions that use it?
Like ... dentists ... or what?

Just imagine: we could work wonders, switching between baby oil and ultrasonic cleaning; this sounds like someone found the 'perpetuum mobile' at least for out beloved Spirocores ...

 

[richhansen]

I've used several ultrasonics that are made for industrial use, as well as some that are made for jewelry, and they have always given me spectacular results. I got the idea from when my wife used one to clean her jewelry. I have gotten the best results when using denatured alcohol in the ultrasonic cleaner, and leave it in for only about 2 hours, especially for non-metallic core double bass strings. For really stubborn slab strings, sometimes I've had to process them for about 4 hours, but I always have bright as new sounding slab strings, and I haven't bought a new set of them in decades.

Amazon.com sells them. This one here should work fine. http://www.amazon.com/Kendal-Commer...417478204&sr=8-12&keywords=ultrasonic+cleaner
You want to make sure the tank size is big enough for the big 'ol doghouse strings. I've cleaned spiros with this method, as well as Obligatos and Evahs. It always works wonders. That is, when you want to brighten old dead strings up. If the strings are not physically damaged or corroded, there should be no reason other then gunk in the windings that make them go dead, and a thorough ultrasonic cleaning should resurrect almost any dead string.

I will give the baby oil a shot on my spiros. If that doesn't tame the brightness, I'm going into full experimentation mode. Maybe put em in the kitty litter box, or soak them in something like old motor oil or WD40 - LOL. I can always try to clean them again with the ultrasonic method.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

The ultrasonic cleaner in the band repair shop at Long & McQuade is big enough to take a bath in! Its great at cleaning the rust, etc. out of vintage guitar and bass parts but I never thought of doing strings in it.

 

[iiipopes]

I appreciate the use of denatured alcohol instead of water to minimize any chance of internal corrosion. I would still follow up with a safe way to make sure they are completely dry before re-mounting them; obviously something soaked in pure alcohol isn't going into a home cooking oven or range to dry! Oh - and no matter how well the cleaning "restores" the string, I'm NOT going to do that to a Spiro G string once I finally get rid of the twang!

 

[iiipopes]

I will give the baby oil a shot on my spiros. If that doesn't tame the brightness, I'm going into full experimentation mode. Maybe put em in the kitty litter box, or soak them in something like old motor oil or WD40 - LOL. I can always try to clean them again with the ultrasonic method.

My concern about soaking them in any kind of oil is that you can't completely get rid of the oil and therefore oil may seep out of the string onto the fingerboard, which may be detrimental. I still stand by my statement: mount them and play out the new string zing over time.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

I thought we liked them dead and now we're talking about denatured alcohol and ultrasonic cleaning....I'm confused(er).

 

[iiipopes]

I thought we liked them dead and now we're talking about denatured alcohol and ultrasonic cleaning....I'm confused(er).

Just like your favorite comfy jacket that nobody but you wears: you still might have to send it to the dry cleaners once every so often to extend its life, remove stains, etc.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Ok, I'll buy that.

Several years ago I worked a JazzFest show and got to hang with Gary Peacock for a bit. He has a theory that you never ever wipe down your strings as it grinds more gunk in than it takes of and kills them quicker.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

I've got a drawer full of Spiro D and G strings that I never use if anyone needs some.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

I just put on the Mittel G you sent me James and it's exactly what the bass wanted. Thanks for helping me out!

 

[Sam Dingle]

Came home from college for a winter break and have to rent a bass for the next three weeks. I was delighted to find that the bass I'm renting has…you guessed it; a dead spiro! Now my bass is set up with a 2 year spiro E (as of recent) and maybe 3 month old Evahs. This bass's spiro is (according to the guy) more than 5 years old. Compared to this my spiro sounds new. The note is there and then it's gone. There is almost no sustain. It sounds beautiful! Its everything I imagined it to be. If people are interested I could post audio of it. (For those wondering the setup is that DEAD Spiro red E, Evah A, Eudoxa D, Oliv G).