Hi- Just replaced the three year old Spiro Weichs on my 25 year old Christopher upright with new Evah Pirazzi Slap. Used needle files to widen slots on bridge a bit to accommodate bigger strings. Lubed nut and bridge with graphite. Open strings sound good. But mid-fingerboard to thumb position sounds bad. Strings are producing an unattractive ah-oo-wa sound (no buzz from contact with board). I tune my own piano. And the sound these bass strings make reminds of the beat frequency one hears when piano unisons are a titch more the +/- 5 cents apart. It’s like each bass string is generating an unattractive beat frequency all by it’s lonesome self. Is this the natural character of these strings? Will this gradually disappear as the strings are broken in? What’s up with this? Anybody have a similar experience with the EP Slap? BTW, I’m a jazz musician. No significant interest in slap style. I bought these hoping they were an affordable alternative to gut.
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Double Bass Why do my new Evah Pirazzi Slap suck?
- Thread starter fasternak
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- evah pirazzi slap
the beat frequency is what happens with a wolf tone, when the body or the tail piece is resonating slightly off the pitch of the string note.
perhaps you changed the bridge position a bit, or the bass has settled with the changed tension.
But I found in general thicker strings are harder to play well in higher registers. When I tried Lenzer Guts I felt like I had no usable notes on the D string above the G, it was just a dull thud, raising the string height helped this a bit.
I did get used to it eventually cause it fits in with old tyme blue grass so well, just kind of frustrating in the practice room.
Spiro Weichs to Slaps is big jump
Good luck.
perhaps you changed the bridge position a bit, or the bass has settled with the changed tension.
But I found in general thicker strings are harder to play well in higher registers. When I tried Lenzer Guts I felt like I had no usable notes on the D string above the G, it was just a dull thud, raising the string height helped this a bit.
I did get used to it eventually cause it fits in with old tyme blue grass so well, just kind of frustrating in the practice room.
Spiro Weichs to Slaps is big jump
Good luck.
Also check the bridge feet lay flat on the top.
I don't believe it's a characteristic of the string, for what it's worth. I run Evah Slap E & A over plain gut D & G and I couldn't be happier.
I agree. I used EP Slaps E and A over an Oliv D&G for a good three year period and I loved the tone. Plus the E and A bow really well.
Wait a couple of weeks before judging them.
Slaps are lower tension than weichs, so perhaps they need a mm or a few more string height
You are right. Raising the action did the trick (Huge relief). My bridge marks have been true for decades. For those who may be interested in buying a set, the slaps are now higher but still more agreeable to the fingers than my Spiro Weichs. On for three days days. Not bad now. Looking forward to breaking them in. I’m optimistic. Many thanks to all - especially to those who suggested moving the bridge.
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Raising the action did the trick. Thanks for introducing me to wolf tones.
Glad there was an easy fix.
I play the slap guts - w/ relatively high action. No issues at all.
I play the slap guts - w/ relatively high action. No issues at all.
Ha,Ha! Wolf Tones. Listen to them. The music they make. Children of the night.
Thanks again, Stuart C.
Thanks again, Stuart C.
I really like the Evah Slaps but they kind of need to be reasonably high (like 7-8mm on the G) to really deliver the goods. If observed them getting better after a few days on the bass as well. It’s been said here before but it’s best to look at them more like a set of gut strings than a typical steel synthetic string.
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Interesting. I’m wondering what it is about the height of the string that effects the tone. I can see it’s a larger diameter than my Spiros. Perhaps there was some small contact with fingerboard that altered the tone enough to be noticeable without producing a full on buzz. It didn’t sound like physical contact to me. I simply thought the strings were just plain bad. The E is still a little funky in a couple of spots mid-fingerboard after raising them. I’m going to give em a few weeks to shape up. If they don’t improve, I’ll try putting my Spiro E & A back on to see if I prefer the blend.
Raising the string height puts more pressure on the top of the bass. Every bass needs a certain amount of top pressure to respond properly. Which Spirocores are you using? The EP Slaps are much lower tension than Spirocore Mittels. The Spiro Weichs are closer, similar to EP (not slap) Weichs, but still significantly more than the EP Slaps iirc.
I was using Weichs. If I follow you, I might imagine how poor bridge/belly contact might interfere with the resonance of strings. Thanks for the explanation, BE.
Mounting the Slaps this way will give more tension on the bridge:
