Double Bass when it comes to longevity, which one is best???

[glory23]

Hi. I play Db in a community orchestra and I'm thinking of changing my strings.

I don't do a lot of pizz, mostly arco.

The first string that crossed my mind was evah pirrzzi but some people in here said there's a durability problems about evah pirazzi and it lives only for like 6months.

Is that true for the arco players too??


If so,, which string lasts long enough??


actually I'm on the fence between evah, belcanto, and pirastro original flexocore.

This is quite important cuz I don't want to buy some vulerable strings and re-buy the same product only six months later.



So is there any strings other than evah , for example belcanto, live longer??

Or is breakage not a big issue for a arco player???



Give me whatever suggestions you want to give!!!

 

[drurb]

I don't think there's a longevity issue with EP weichs. They won't last as long as Spiros but, then again, nothing does. EPs should go much longer than six months.

 

[Marc Piane]

I've had Evah regulars on and off my basses 3 times over the past 1 1/2 years with no issues. Granted I don't like my strings super zingy but I've found Evahs to last quite a while.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

I get about a year out of Evahs with heavy pizz playing daily. Original Flexocores and Belcantos are steel core I believe, so they should last longer.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I have no complaints about my Evahs which have about two years on them. The windings are still good anyway. If they're dead maybe I like them that way.

 

[MrSidecar]

Well, nothing beats Spiros on this one. Especially if you're the kind of guy who thinks they don't bow well- your preferred Spiro usage period would maybe start at about 2 years age (of the strings, of course), and then you can leave 'em on for another 4...

Well.
Sidecar

 

[eerbrev]

Buy spirocores and bow them. They bow just fine (90% classical player here), aside from being, if I may a bold enough to say so, operator sensitive. They won't suffer bad technique, but when bowed well sound great. IIRC, someone just won a symphony job with a full set of spirocores (ninja-edit: it was in the Cleveland Symphony. link to the discussion: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f6/cleveland-x2-845365/)

As well as being a bowable string, they're also nigh upon invincible. I'm looking forward to having my spirocore E and A (permanents on top) for a very long time.

So, that's my vote. takei my advice for how much you pay for it.

eerbrev

 

[TroyK]

Nothing outlasts spirocores. Consider owning up to learning to play on them.

Evah Pirazzis weren't for me, but I don't think there is a longevity issue with them. I used a regular set for most of a year and took them off for reasons unrelated to their durability. I, like it seems most, prefer the weich set, but they still aren't for me.

I think Flexocores are worth consideration too, for what you do. I've played with Belcantos, but not long enough to comment on their lifespan. Perhaps foolish to think that because they're a Thomastik product they might have similar life to spirocores, find their mega thread and see what it says.

Aside from longevity, what do you like? Bright? Dark? Fat? Thin? High tension? Low tension?

 

[Tommy el Gato]

I'd like to quadruple up on the Spirocore statement. Edgar Meyer used to be a spiro user (still uses the E&A), claiming that he changed strings once every 7 years. My teacher has always been a Spirocore user, saying he gets two years out of a set (but he's a jazzer who plays exceptionally hard and does a lot of modern stuff) and on a friend's bass (same make and model) I prefer his setup with spirocores for arco (due to a cleaner, more focused sound) to my zyex. I used to have Permanents over spiros on my bass, by gave up on it when the perms pooped out at 6 months age. Now I wish that instead of replacing the whole thing with a new synthetic core thing, I should have just gotten my hands on someone's old spiro D&G.

Someone once made the joke that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, only two things will survive: Cockroaches and Spirocore strings.

 

[Bobby King]

My experience is that steel strings are the longest lasting. Flexocore (a Pirastro product, BTW) are the best arco strings IMO, but Thomastik Spirocore are also fine for bowing (Weich even more so than Mittel), eapecially as they gain a little age. They are definitely superior to Fledocore for pizz. Both will last a long time.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I love me some Spirocores, but I own gut strings that haven't been made since my father was in short pants, and he's a grandfather of a 13-year-old and a three-year-old, both mine. Still intact and playing fine. Maybe I'm lucky.

 

[MaxJohnson]

Evah weichs and bel cantos are both very nice for bowing and last for a good length of time (Over a year). I've had Permanents last a while as well. They age interestingly, they lose the brightness and gain a dark but deep sound with old age.

 

[kodytbass]

Belcanto is good. I've had them for about a year (I should probably change them) and they still play great.

 

[George Kaye]

I have used the heliocores jazz light guage for the last 17 years. They last a very long time. I mostly play jazz and bow an occasional football at the end of the tune. What I've noticed is that the outer windings don't deteriorate or shift much nor do they react to hand oil and sweat.

They come up to pitch well and stay there.
Harmonics stay pretty well in tune with the fundamentals.
They can be taken off and reused without problems so they are good for removable neck basses.
I have used the same set on a number of basses for years. When they lose there tone I clean them. I have 2 sets that have about 8 years of use.

The spiro red's are what I used to use 30 years ago. My experience is that they are great for the first 6 months then do down hill in a hurry for pizz. The outer winding shift and they get stiff. Because they get stiff where they are bowed and fingered the most the harmonics go out of tune with the fundamental.

I clean strings with rubbing alcohol on a rag and pull the string through my finger in a way to break the stiffness out of the string on all the strings I've used.

Have the spiro reds been improved? I love the sound of them, esp for jazz. It is the sound imo but their short lives and high cost have made the Heliocores a better choice for me. But I see a lot of people say they last and last. So are they a better design?

 

[MrSidecar]

Have the spiro reds been improved? I love the sound of them, esp for jazz. It is the sound imo but their short lives and high cost have made the Heliocores a better choice for me. But I see a lot of people say they last and last. So are they a better design?

That's proof that mileage always varies.

I have had terrible times with both helicore pizz and hybrid, with literally very set I had one issue or another, plus I can't say that their lifespan is anywhere near Spirocores. On the contrary, this "sudden death" you have encountered with Spiros, I have experienced with helicores, they just wend dead after 9 months to a year, usually nearly from day to day, If they ever made it that long mechanically. The spiros are mechanically speaking totally issue-free for me, and they degrade very gracefully.

I don't know if they have improved the Spirocore formula at all since their original launch, but I feel tempted to say I don't think so.

FTR, I play lots of pizz out and lots of arco at home.

I'm not saying your experience is invalid. It's rather unusual though. But mileage varies.

Best
Sidecar