Double Bass What strings are THESE?

[moles]

Okay, now that I've TOTALLY hijacked this thread....
Yeah - after reading a bit more from the archives about why drurb and others liked the Lycons so much - I seriously doubt that this is what I have. Someone had said something in what I read about the A string rolling a bit like Obligatos. Uh-uh. These things are much higher tension, they ain't rolling anywhere...
Also found reference to the peg head colour on Lycons being blue also..
I also doubt that my strings are from the 70's. I just figured it was a possiblity if all else pointed to them being Lycons.
I tried that string identifier at Quinns, and got all kinds of different results, depending on the day of the week. Sometimes nothing...sometimes 5 different possiblities.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

The string threads are meant to be hijacked, otherwise they wouldn't be in the string section.

If you want to see hijacked, have a quick look though the Gamut Guts (mega) thread.

-J

 

[TroyK]

Thomasik superfexibles have blue silks at the tailpiece, but I don't know when they were first made.

Superflexibles are not that vintage. Plus their silks are closer to teal or baby blue. The ones on the album cover look like royal blue to me. I think Lycons are a pretty good guess, if they had that color silk. But, Thomastik did have an old string that either doesn't exist or no one wants anymore. Don't know, doesn't matter.

Okay, now that I've TOTALLY hijacked this thread.

What? You hijacked my "What strings are on the bass of an anonymous bassist pictured on an album cover that I don't have a picture of to share" thread?

How dare you!

 

[moles]

If you want to see hijacked, have a quick look though the Gamut Guts (mega) thread.
-J

Hehe - read if a few times..
Now if someone were to turn that one into a discourse on plain vs kevlar cored weedwackers, then I'd be impressed

K, so far we've got Superflexibles, Innovation Hybrids, and possibly some sort of D'addario...
not bad. That narrows it down quite a bit for me.

 

[TroyK]

The silks on Superflexibles are very light blue. Baby blueish.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

The silks on Superflexibles are very light blue. Baby blueish.

Hey...are you calling me a baby?

I don't think moles' strings are Superflexibles. The peg end silks on Thomastik strings are all the same color for each set, i.e. mittels are red, weichs are purple, etc.

BTW, does anyone know when the Supeflexibles were first introduced?

-J

 

[drurb]

They haven't made Lycons for quite a while. How old is the Strunel? I can't imagine the you're renting a bass with 20 year old strings on it. But, if they're not Lycons, then there is some other string running around out there with Royal Blue silks.

Isn't DRURB our resident Lycon expert?

I have that three-record set as well and just took a look. The strings in the cover photo do, indeed, look like Lycons. The color of the silk wrap on the tailpiece is right and the gauge looks right as well.

Lycons had blue silk at the tailpiece end and at the peg end.

Yes, I still miss them!

 

[drurb]

...Are the Lycon's a synthetic or steel core?

The Lycons were a special angle-wound steel core. No synthetic.

See posts #7 and #16 here.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Just had a peek at the D'Addario Pro Arte strings on my recently acquired '39 C-1.

The peg ends go green, black, gold, red and the TP end is sapphire blue over red.

Very pretty.

 

[bassist1962]

Not to show my ignorance, but what happened to Lycon? Why are they no longer made if they were that good?

 

[Francois Blais]

What about Thomastics in the 60's-70's. Wasn't there a "precision" string or something?

The Prazisions are still available and have black silk, Troy.

Nice day,
François

 

[drurb]

Not to show my ignorance, but what happened to Lycon? Why are they no longer made if they were that good?

You may wish to see this thread although it doesn't answer your question. I don't know why the company folded. Like so many other things, superiority of design and execution does not guarantee viability in the marketplace (think Beta vs. VHS). I sometimes wonder how I would like a fresh set of Lycons compared to my Doms or other strings that I've used. Is it the nostalgia that is enhancing my recollection of their quality? Nah! They were that good!

 

[Randy Ward]

Randy, that bass is way too cool. I haven't seen one of those in years.

Thanks Marcus I think so too. I am hoping to get it in shape to use on BG gigs.
I think it is a 1969, judging by the serial #.
I paid 100.00 dollars for it in the late 80's

Randy,
So you've still got the Lycons? What color were the peg end silks? I'm extremely curious now...

The thread has moved on
but I had to cut the strings
to make them fit on this bass,
so there are no peg end silks.
Everyone please forgive me.
But the G was broken in half...
so my teacher felt they were expendable.
how was I to know they were Très Cool?

On a related note.
It was brought up in the thread that DRUB mentions...
If there is interest in this string,
maybe some company could cop the design.
since the patents probably expired and the company folded.
Perhaps the good folks at Upton?

I'll offer my set for reverse engineering.

 

[TroyK]

I have that three-record set as well and just took a look. The strings in the cover photo do, indeed, look like Lycons. The color of the silk wrap on the tailpiece is right and the gauge looks right as well.

Excellent work! Do you want to go for double or nothing by naming the headless bassist?

 

[drurb]

...I had to cut the strings
to make them fit on this bass...

 

[drurb]

On a related note.
It was brought up in the thread that DRUB mentions...
If there is interest in this string,
maybe some company could cop the design.
since the patents probably expired and the company folded.
Perhaps the good folks at Upton?

I'll offer my set for reverse engineering.

Funny you should mention that. I brought one of my old worn-out Lycons to Gary a while back and he cut it open. There was that Lycon angle-wound metal core. Gary and Eric, young whipper-snappers that they are, didn't seem to be all that impressed. Perhaps if Gary had ever played on a set he would have been more enthusiastic. I wish someone would reproduce them. I wonder where the Danish machinery is-- probably long-gone.

 

[BrandonEssex]

I just got a bass with strings like this, purple silks, both ends, and a green rope core. Quinn's search page narrows it down to either Thomastik Dominants or Belcantos. I like these, and I want to put them on my other bass, too. Anybody with a positive ID?

 

[Francois Blais]

Purple silks with a green rope core?
What do you mean?

 

[BrandonEssex]

These have purple silks on both ends, and the core, which you can see just a little bit at the scroll end of the string, is a braided synthetic of some kind. This core is neon green. It's easiest to see on the A and E strings, where the windings are loose at the very end of the string.

 

[Francois Blais]

The Belcantos silk is orange, and they use a steel rope-core, so they're probably Dominants.