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Double Bass Wound gut E and A

massimo

massimo

Jul 29, 2006
210
79
Paris (France)
#1
Question for experienced gut users (pizzicato):what's the difference, in tone and touch, between SILVER wound and COPPER wound E and A gut strings?
Is one better suited for jazz playing?
For naked G and D which strings you find better for traditional jazz sound (W.Ware, Pettiford, Blanton). I have tried Gamut (good but for my taste a little too "modern" sounding) Chorda (too big but great G string) and others.
I tried Lenzner G and D naked gut (the "classic" set, not the "jazz" set) and liked it, right tension, warm sound and not too expensive.
Thanks for your help.
 
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#3
I can't tell a big difference between the copper or silver E&A, I've used both.

Right now, I'm using normal Chorda's D&G and Oliv E&A. I'm rally enjoying my tone, the E is a bit thuddy but I can live with it.
I've always struggled with the transition in tone from raw D to wound A, or the raw A to wound E.
To my ears the Oliv E works perfectly with a raw A, and I think the Oliv A is the best transition from a raw D.

I'm waiting to see what string gives out first, but, I'll either replace the E with a Eudoxa or the the A with a big raw A.

If the chordas are too beefy, perhaps the thinner guage chordas would work for you.
I've got nothing nice to say about Lenzners, the one time I bought them 3 out of the 5 busted within a couple months. I think you get what you pay for, and compared to the other more expensive sets out there, they're junk.

Before my current set-up, I was using either a used set of dlugogleckis, or a Gamut set with a raw pistoy A and copper wound E (all heavy+)
 
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#4
massimo said:
Question for experienced gut users (pizzicato):what's the difference, in tone and touch, between SILVER wound and COPPER wound E and A gut strings?
Is one better suited for jazz playing?
For naked G and D which strings you find better for traditional jazz sound (W.Ware, Pettiford, Blanton). I have tried Gamut (good but for my taste a little too "modern" sounding) Chorda (too big but great G string) and others.
I tried Lenzner G and D naked gut (the "classic" set, not the "jazz" set) and liked it, right tension, warm sound and not too expensive.
Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I haven't found an appreciable difference between the copper and silver wrapped Gamut guts.

The Lenzner D and G are fine for pizz-only playing. I don't much care for the wrapped Lenzners.
 
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#5
A lot of the time the "silver" wrapped is actually silver-plated copper. Gamut even specifically makes note of that.

That's also the more historical option that Gamut offers—the ones they have that are un-plated copper are polished down a bit flatter, which has a bit of an effect on the tone and a lot of effect on the feel, and both are quite a bit more than any difference than you'd find between unpolished copper vs silver-plated copper wire.
 
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#7
DoubleMIDI said:
The only full silver wound DB strings I know are Pirastro Eudoxa. That’s also the reason why they are so expensive.
And copper seems to be more robust to the swelling of the gut core, Silver seems to break sooner than copper in this case.
Click to expand...

And the silver winding of Eudoxas is undoubtedly an alloy, probably containing some copper and not a whole lot of silver. Even sterling is just 92% silver. Likewise, the copper windings are also alloys.

I speculate that the main purpose of the silver plating over copper is that tarnished silver isn't as ugly as copper oxidation - unless you like green.
 
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#10
LouisF said:
Just curious: why shy away from a raw A - I found it much more satisfying to play (arco) once I got the knack of of it (bow placement, weight, speed of attack) than ANY of the wound strings. GDA with a Spiro E??
Click to expand...

Louis, then I have to ask you: Why shy away from a gut E, wound or unwound? The problem I have with mixing steel and gut is the differing weight and speed each type desires. Much less an issue with four gut strings.
 
#11
I shy away because both my basses have extensions. A gut E/C would be massively thick and expensive (and I'm not sure how it would survive the machinery of an extension). A gut E would be on the thick side and would really need a good set up to be bowable, but pizz wise should be great. I mean, talk about THUDDY!
 
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#13
LouisF said:
I shy away because both my basses have extensions. A gut E/C would be massively thick and expensive (and I'm not sure how it would survive the machinery of an extension). A gut E would be on the thick side and would really need a good set up to be bowable, but pizz wise should be great. I mean, talk about THUDDY!
Click to expand...

No, I meant: Why recommend a steel E (e.g. Spirocore) instead of a wound gut E? (like Feeney)
 
#18
Rebop said:
I used a wound Artone E for 10 years before the winding broke. Who knows how long it was used before that, but it was ancient.
Click to expand...

I got two years out of the A that came with my Chordas before the winding broke in one small spot. Just noticed the slightest roll under the fingers and a spot where the silk underneat was starting to poke through the broken winding. Still need to get it unwound and then have for a spare G string later on down the line.
 

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