• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Trying to decide

JimmyM

JimmyM

Apr 11, 2005
127,255
125,172
Plymouth NC
Disclosures
Endorsing: Yamaha, Ampeg, Line 6, EMG
#1
I have mostly used guts because most of my gigs have been swing gigs where I need to slap. Now I have become a man and have successfully gotten over the hump of using steels (meaning I can play a 5 minute song all the way through without getting blisters or tired), and it's time to buy a set I like. Had Obligatos...liked everything but the sound. I've got Eudoxas on there now...love the sound but hate the price. Plus I've got two strings with broken windings so that sounds like they're out for slapping. And they're too fat. What I like is deep bottom like guts and a fairly light string tension. I like the sound and feel of broken-in Spiro Weiches for slap and pizz but I don't like the fact that you can't arco them. And as bad as I arco, I need some help from the string.

So I have it narrowed to 2 sets...TI Superflexibles and Corelli 370M orch. tuning. From what I've heard about the SF's and the 370M's, they're about identical as far as sound and feel, although different in the materials used. So if that's true, I'll get the SF's since they're $20 less. If it's not true, can someone please fill me in on the differences? I did a search on the 370M's and there's not a whole lot of info on them here. Lots of Superflexible stuff, though.
 
#3
Two reasons...

1. I could never deal with the sound of the E string with guts, and I never liked mixing guts and steels or guts and wound guts. I never got over the different feels, nor could I find any E string that matched up to the plains except Eudoxa, and I'm not going to spend $100 every time I need to replace a string. Nor do I particularly want to pay gut prices. I did it once, but I don't think I want to do it again.

2. I think steels just plain sound better. I do standards gigs too, and for straight pizz, steels sound a lot better to my ears than guts or nylons. Now don't get me wrong...I love the sound of guts on the G, D and A, but steels are pretty much where it's at for straight pizz.

3 (OK, three reasons). I travel a lot and we often have to rent out basses locally, and they're all strung with steels. So if I play guts, I don't get calluses on my fingers, and I go out of town and rip my hands to shreds after one good Bill Haley song. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Really, now that I'm used to steels, I don't notice any more physical difficulties playing them, so it's not that big a deal. Ideally I'd like to have three basses, a ply with guts for swing gigs, a nice $6000-7000 carved bass with Spirocores, and one of Ken's $100,000 gems set up for classical. But that'll have to wait for tomorrow's lottery. I've got one very good Upton plywood bass that I need to do it all and not much hope of owning a new one anytime soon. So setting it up with steels is the logical thing.

Wow, am I long-winded or what? Sorry for the book.
 
#4
:) Cool!

Anyway, I'd love to help you, but my preferences in strings have lately been favouring a mix of Obligatos and FCS. To be honest, I'm looking for a louder, more defined tone, so I'm looking into changing to a full set of Dominants. From what I've gathered on here and from playing my classical teacher's Kay (not his orchestra bass) they're very brittle when they're new, but darken nicely. Depending on your personal preference, you may or may not like the tension on them. I haven't played a bass with them in a long time (partially why I'll be hooking up with my classical teacher for a lesson this week!) so I can't personally comment on them.

If you can find 'em, Dave Young has done a number of recordings using Dominants, including a couple bass/piano duet albums. I own this one and really like his tone. Great album, too...one of my favourite bassists.
 
#5
I don't think you're going to find a lot of similarities between the 370Ms and the Superflexs. The 370 series is very light, and you'd have to go with the TXs to get even close to the Supers. The Supers fall between Spiro Mittels and Weichs in terms of tension and bow much, much better. While they have the TI zing initially, they darken quite a bit over time. Some have described them as being indistinct; I like them quite a bit. The 370s are much lighter and will have a brighter sound that has its own unique quality. I have used Supers a lot and have had them on for many months at a time, but I can't say the same for the 370s; I only had them on for a few months. I had the TXs, and I had a very hard time projecting through a crowd. But they are very comfortable and have a nice, bright sound and bow even easier than the Supers. But they both have the advantage of being very good strings at very good prices.
 
#6
JimmyM said:
I've got one very good Upton plywood bass that I need to do it all and not much hope of owning a new one anytime soon. So setting it up with steels is the logical thing.

Wow, am I long-winded or what? Sorry for the book.
Click to expand...
It's not possible to be say too much about strings...:)

As I said in a thread across the hall, I have become a big Weich fan. My Upton sounds much more mature. Much closer to the jazz-pizz sound I here on so many recordings. I had guts on for quite awhile, D&G (mostly as a curiosity). If Bop was still king, they'd be on my bass. But in 2006, the sustain and growl of the Weichs make all the difference. :)
 
#7
I think I'm going to go for the Supers based on what has been said about them vs. the Corellis. I don't want a bright string, and even though the tensions read higher than the Weichs, it's not that migh higher, plus other people said they feel like they're looser in other threads. Thank you all for your help, and if anyone has more to add to this thread, please don't let the fact that I've pretty well decided stop you.
 
#8
I went from Superflexibles to Corellis, I find the Superflexibles a little brighter [not much though, just a little] and although they bow better then Spiros, Corellis bow better then Superflexibles. When Corellis break in they are warmer and get a pretty good slap sound. Superflexibles are a little louder and have more midrange, which is a good sound but I got sick of that "Ti" mid growl after 7 years of Spiros and then a year of Superflexibles which to me although Superflexibles are warmer and bow better still sound very much like Spiros, also they are closer to spiro orcs in tension then Corellis even the 370 TXs. But..... I can't say you will have the same opinion; you know how it is, only your ears and on your bass will you really be able to know when it’s the "it", or at least the "it" for now;) .
 
#9
Aaron N, you are right about that. I mean, look at the conflicting POV's about the two types of strings, and that's just in this thread.

So thanks to all of you. I have made my decision and I'm going with the Supers. I was going to flip a coin to decide after reading all this conflicting info, but then I found that Musician's Friend has Supers for $90 a set. I'm there!
 
#10
Ninety bucks is a good deal. I remember I bought them as my first set other than the mystery strings that came on my orange plywood bass because John Clayton liked them. This was when I was 14 or 15. Lemur used to carry them for $80 back then. Now they're $105. I may buy a set at that price just to give them another try.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back