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Double Bass yo string addicts, new Pirastro Passione string?

#43
I played a friend's bass last night that had the new Pirastro Passiones on it. They sounded good on his bass, very even across the instrument, decent "thump", etc. They felt a little flabby for my taste - prob due to low tension. They spoke quickly, but didn't seem nearly as powerful as Orig. Flexocor. I would prefer them over Obligatos and Belcantos (which, if I understand correctly, they are in the same league with). Perhaps the newer stark guage set will pick up the slack (pun intended) enough for me to be coerced into buying them. For some strange reason I really liked the look of the silks on the tailpiece end - but that's irrelevant.

cdp
 
#46
Francois Blais said:
[....]

The Oliv G is the most beautiful bass G I ever tried [...]
Click to expand...

Francois is right! (As usual. :) )

I just put the Olive G back on my bass after using a Spiro Weich for a while. The Weich was OK, I didn't object to it enough to make changing it a priority, but wow - now I remember why I, also, think these are the best G made! More volume, clarity & tone than anything else I've tried (and, string-junkie that I am, that's quite a lot).

Of course now I need to do something with the D to balance the set better, and the Oliv D (and the other Olivs) are only OK, nowhere near as good as the G.

Pity these new Pirastros don't seem like the solution.

Andy
 
#47
Thanks for the kind words, Allen! :smug:

The Passione G and D are very nice for pizz too, if you didn't try them yet!

Stiffness is quite a subjective matter.
Since I'm playing on low tension strings since a while, I find ordinary strings stiff, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
(these days I'm mostly playing on solo gauge trings)

Regards,
François
 
#48
My test of the Pirastro Passione Orchestra strings for my Orchestra String Test series found elsewhere on this site continues, now on my 5 string Pöllmann. After two months on the 4 string Pöllmann, and a pretty good workout with the holiday concerts, my impression of the Passione strings is quite positive.

In fact, allowing for my instruments, playing ability and conditions, I think the Passione string may be the best Double Bass string that Pirastro produces, and indeed perhaps one of best double bass string sets available.

The upsides are numerous: The most amazing thing is that you've never bowed a string like this - it always starts, never scratchy or metallic. 4 or 5 strings are a well balanced set, stays in tune, no break-in. Strangely easy to find and stay on pitch, maybe because they are soft and feel good??? Great pizz. A dark focused fundamental, somewhat more controlled than others with less stray harmonics, a bit like a darker, tighter Permanent. Super nice soft feel and superior look. Thinner than most.

The downsides seem minor so far: The bowing is SO consistent that the overall timbre, the color of the sound, not the loudness or pitch, does NOT vary much at all with changes in bow technique. Could be good or maybe monotonous.
I have not finished analyzing the data on loudness, but the Passiones are capable of being louder than many strings with very minimal effort, yet when you dig in, you are NOT rewarded with very much more volume. You keep pressing in, or going faster, but VERY loud is not there. But then again maybe you don't need very loud as much as the other favorable characteristics? And now they have the Stark version they say is louder and a bit brighter. Ahh more stings to test!

So as I said, this could be one of the best strings ever. No wonder it's called Passione! More later, with the comparisons to the other strings in the orchestra Strings Test in categories.
 
#50
Hi,

I have Passione G and D strings for more than 10 days now while A and E are left on from my old Permanent set.
I am sure that on my bass I have never had shorter sustain on pizz. It just fades right away like when you sightly press the upper bridge with left hand finger on open string. Thats not a big problem for me since I am arco player but wanted to share my experience with you.
To my opinion Passione doesn't follow the newer Pirastro strings trend like Permanent, Obligato, Evah pirazzi. To me it seems like some variation on theme of old designs like Flexocor or Chromsteel...
 
#52
I'm interested in this set for hybrid work. I play slap pizz and arco. For me, I like a string with shorter sustain. I find it helps clean up the bottom end in loud situations. I'm actually using gut-a-like strings right now (sort of like weedwhackers but made from scratch) so what I want from a string is different that most jazzers. Is the sustain as short as gut? How about the tension? Is it average or on the low side? I wonder if they will make a solo set.
 
#53
kurt said:
I'm interested in this set for hybrid work. I play slap pizz and arco. For me, I like a string with shorter sustain. I find it helps clean up the bottom end in loud situations. I'm actually using gut-a-like strings right now (sort of like weedwhackers but made from scratch) so what I want from a string is different that most jazzers. Is the sustain as short as gut? How about the tension? Is it average or on the low side? I wonder if they will make a solo set.
Click to expand...

They are on the lower tension side.
That's why they launched a stark set too.
Did you ever try Jargar strings?
I think the Jargar's sustain is even shorter than the Passione, particularly if you go with the Dolce set. (they are available in three gauges)
 
#54
Yeah, I have the Dolces. I don't mind the way they sound but they seem really stiff even if the tension is low. They're not very comfortable to play and the pitch seems to fluctuate a lot. If you look at a tuner when you play a note they go really sharp for a second then drift flat. They seem to do this a lot more than other strings. They just seem cheap to me.

On the other hand, I've used Evah's quite a bit and the quality seems a lot higher, smoothest windings ever.

How do the Passiones compare with Evahs? Darker? Less sustain? Bow better? Less tension?
 
#55
kurt said:
Yeah, I have the Dolces. I don't mind the way they sound but they seem really stiff even if the tension is low. They're not very comfortable to play and the pitch seems to fluctuate a lot. If you look at a tuner when you play a note they go really sharp for a second then drift flat. They seem to do this a lot more than other strings. They just seem cheap to me.

On the other hand, I've used Evah's quite a bit and the quality seems a lot higher, smoothest windings ever.

How do the Passiones compare with Evahs? Darker? Less sustain? Bow better? Less tension?
Click to expand...
The Jargars are loaded with damping material, so I'm not surprised by your comments on pitch behaviour.

The Passiones are really orchestral strings, so the pizz tone is dark, with little sustain, but it seems they are extremely forgiving and bow like a charm. The tension is on the low side.

Evahs are more hybrid in design.
Maybe you could compare them to medium Evahs tone-wise (albeit with less volume), but that's all, IMHO.
 
#56
Just put a set of Passiones on my 4 string with C extension replacing 4 year old Belcantos on G, D and A, the E was something else but I don't recall off hand. Also, I'm basically an orchestral player. The Passione G seems about the same. The D and A have a fuller sound and bodyand play easily. The extension E is awesome. I like them a lot for what one person's opinion is worth.
 
#58
I tried these on a bass on display at the shop that I work. My initial impression is that these are very similiar to the belcantos. The bow response I think is a little bit better, particularly the E string. It speaks instantaneously. The tone is similiar to the bel canto as well, but a little different. People's comments about not being able to dig seem to be the same to me as well. You have to play these strings horizontally as they do not respond well to excessive weight. I find belcantos to be similar in this regard which makes me think Pirastro was really trying to replicate the characteristics of the belcanto. For being less than a set of belcantos, this is a really great string for the orchestral player.
 
#59
I found the Passiones to be very sensitive to bridge height; a quarter turn lower on the adjusters made them really sing out. I know they aren't a jazz string, but they have a nice "old school" thump with a Realist pickup. I do think they are stiffer than Obligattos and Evahs.
 

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