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Double Bass yo string addicts, new Pirastro Passione string?

#61
I just put these on yesterday. So far, I'm very impressed. I want to wait a little while for the strings to play in, but here's my initial reaction.

These strings hold their pitch and play easily right out of the box. The tone color is very nice and cushioned; it seems like it could blend well in a section. Unlike what other posters have said, I'm not having a problem changing the timbre per se; however, there is a certain quality in the tone that stays no matter what you do.

The strings are a little easier to play than Bel Cantos, but not quite as articulate or clear. The tension feels very low, which makes things easy on the left hand. They do not respond to muscled playing, but will give quite a bit of volume if you lean forward and play with your arm weight. We'll see what happens when they play in, but for now they don't "feel" as loud as Bel Cantos. On the flip side, I can play WAY softer with the Passiones.

The bottom strings feel amazing on my bass. The extended E is super easy to bow and rings like crazy. The pitch is just a little bit fuzzy, at least compared to Thomastiks. The G string feels just a little weak on my bass, but I think it'll play in. I'm also suspecting a sound post adjustment is in my future.

As an added bonus, my f-sharp wolf tones have all but vanished. Amazing!

The pizz sound is disappointing. It's fine for orchestra playing, perhaps even ideal, but there's no way they would sound right in a jazz ensemble. Thuddy, kinda quiet, almost no growl, minimal sustain.

I'd be very curious to try the stark version. If these were just a little less fuzzy and could play just a little louder (without reinstating my wolfs), they would be my new favorite string. I'll give an update if I have one when the strings settle in.
 
#62
Would anyone care to venture an opinion on how the Passione set compares for pizz either to Pirastro Flat-chromesteel, or Dominants ?

I play about 60/40 pizz to arco doing jazz, pop, and some free improvisation music, but I prefer orchestral strings. Right now on my #1 bass I'm using Flat-chromesteel A D and G and Dominant E, I'm pretty happy with that set but the pizz sustain is so long it's almost a problem.

I'm wondering if I should try these as something still bowable and with a similar dark pizz sound with less sustain than my current set, but still "enough".
 
#63
I'm very satisfied with these strings on my bass, so far. They respond even faster to the bow than belcantos, make a wider variety of articulations, and have greater clarity. There is much less noise in articulations. They're pretty thin for an orchestral string, but it's not any real disadvantage. For basses that like higher tension strings, they may be a bit loose feeling, but for the rest of us, it's a fantastic orchestra string. As has been said, the pizz sound is pretty unremarkable and thuddy, but if you mainly use the bow, this is your next big string.
 
#64
teleharmonium said:
Would anyone care to venture an opinion on how the Passione set compares for pizz either to Pirastro Flat-chromesteel, or Dominants ?

I play about 60/40 pizz to arco doing jazz, pop, and some free improvisation music, but I prefer orchestral strings. Right now on my #1 bass I'm using Flat-chromesteel A D and G and Dominant E, I'm pretty happy with that set but the pizz sustain is so long it's almost a problem.

I'm wondering if I should try these as something still bowable and with a similar dark pizz sound with less sustain than my current set, but still "enough".
Click to expand...
I'm not really familiar with dominants or flatchromes, but I will say that I would be very unsatisfied with Passione strings if most of what I did was pizzicato. The A, D and G are very thuddy, very quiet, and have almost no sustain. The extended E has developed some growl in the last few days, which is nice, but I'd still rather have a spirocore for pizz.

Have you tried evah pirazzis? They have a much better pizz sound to my ear, but the sustain isn't extraordinary.
 
#65
PaulCannon said:
I'm not really familiar with dominants or flatchromes, but I will say that I would be very unsatisfied with Passione strings if most of what I did was pizzicato. The A, D and G are very thuddy, very quiet, and have almost no sustain. The extended E has developed some growl in the last few days, which is nice, but I'd still rather have a spirocore for pizz.

Have you tried evah pirazzis? They have a much better pizz sound to my ear, but the sustain isn't extraordinary.
Click to expand...

Years ago I used Spirocores, but now I think of them as the extreme opposite of what I am looking for. I've definitely had much better luck with darker strings that are optimized for arco, than strings that are intended for jazz. Acoustic volume is a non issue for me since I'm either practicing or recording acoustically where I don't need much volume, or I'm playing through an amp.

I haven't tried the Evah Pirazzi strings, I've only read about them here. Maybe I'll do some more reading and consider them.

There was a set I had on briefly between the Helicores I used starting in the 90s and the Flat-chromesteel / Dominant set, I think those were considered a hybrid set but I've forgotten what they were. I was very disappointed with those, and I wish I could remember what type because that would be helpful right now.

I'm pretty happy with the current set, and an excess of sustain seems like a strange, minor problem. Maybe I'll just get a new set of the same ones, because I'm now about 95% of the way toward the set that is perfect for me and I'm concerned I may try for a small improvement and end up much further away and wasting some money.
 
#66
teleharmonium said:
I'm pretty happy with the current set, and an excess of sustain seems like a strange, minor problem. Maybe I'll just get a new set of the same ones, because I'm now about 95% of the way toward the set that is perfect for me and I'm concerned I may try for a small improvement and end up much further away and wasting some money.
Click to expand...

New ones are likely to have even more sustain.
Maybe you could consider Original Flatchromes for the D&G.
They are darker, especially the D and have less sustain.
For the A, I would suggest a Flexocor. (the regular, or so-called Flexocor '92, not the Original Flexocor)
For the E, did you try the Flatchrome ?
 
#67
Francois Blais said:
New ones are likely to have even more sustain.
Maybe you could consider Original Flatchromes for the D&G.
They are darker, especially the D and have less sustain.
For the A, I would suggest a Flexocor. (the regular, or so-called Flexocor '92, not the Original Flexocor)
For the E, did you try the Flatchrome ?
Click to expand...

thanks for your thoughts.
Regarding the E, you're referring to the Flatchrome set (not Flat-chromesteel ), is that right ? That's a decent E for pizz and arco to blend with these other Pirastro types ?

I haven't tried either of those as an E and maybe I should. Reading about them here, I got the impression the E was not favored out of the Flat-chromesteel set compared to the others.

Playing that bass this morning, I'm thinking it's mainly the E and A where I would like somewhat less sustain. The D and G seem OK.

So the set is starting to look like Flat-chromesteel D and G, Flexocor A, Flatchrome E. This would be a reasonable amount of risk, since two of the four would be my proven favorites.
 
#68
teleharmonium said:
thanks for your thoughts.
Regarding the E, you're referring to the Flatchrome set (not Flat-chromesteel ), is that right ? That's a decent E for pizz and arco to blend with these other Pirastro types ?
Click to expand...
Not sure of the exact spelling, but they have the "Original Flatchrome" and the other set which doesn't have "Original" in the name.
I'm talking of the latter.
I haven't tried either of those as an E and maybe I should. Reading about them here, I got the impression the E was not favored out of the Flat-chromesteel set compared to the others.
Click to expand...
Well, it depends on your instrument.
It was not my favorite string in the set, but I gave it another try a few days ago and was pleasently surprised.
Paired with orchestral strings, it may be a good mix.
So the set is starting to look like Flat-chromesteel D and G, Flexocor A, Flatchrome E. This would be a reasonable amount of risk, since two of the four would be my proven favorites.
Click to expand...
Check the Classifieds.
You may find some in great shape for a good price!
 
#70
Eric Hochberg said:
I have a set of Passiones for sale in the classifieds if anyone is interested. :hyper:
Click to expand...

Eric Hochberg said:
For Sale:

One set of Pirastro Passione strings, G and D on the bass 2 days, A and E unused. $125.00 or Trade for Evah Weichs in as new condition.
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It's a shame you didn't try the A and E, those are my favorite strings in the set. The pizz sound is much better once they've broken in.
 
#72
Eric Hochberg said:
Ugh, you had to tell me that...:) There doesn't seem to by any interest in these strings so I may try them. The G and D didn't seem to be jazz friendly strings.
Click to expand...
They definitely weren't at first. I've had them on for a month now, and they've improved on the pizz end. I'd still prefer spirocores if I was all pizz, but they aren't nearly as bad as I thought they were at first. The A and E developed a really nice growl after about a week. Still a little quiet and thuddy, but not a horrible doubling string if that's what you need.
 
#73
PaulCannon said:
The A and E developed a really nice growl after about a week. Still a little quiet and thuddy, but not a horrible doubling string if that's what you need.
Click to expand...

The bass I tried them on responds very well to Evah Weichs and they suit my purposes for pizz and bowing as I like the darker sound compared to spiros on it. I think the Passiones go a little too far for me in the arco direction.
 
#74
Some of you may be interested to know Pirastro is working on a new set which is kind of a Passione hybrid series.
Don't know if it'll be under the Passione brand or a new one though.
Similar tension to the Passione regular, but thinner diameter and clearer tone for better pizz and more brilliancy for arco players...
Seems they showed the string at the latest ISB Convention and had good comments.
 
#75
Francois Blais said:
Some of you may be interested to know Pirastro is working on a new set which is kind of a Passione hybrid series.
Don't know if it'll be under the Passione brand or a new one though.
Similar tension to the Passione regular, but thinner diameter and clearer tone for better pizz and more brilliancy for arco players...
Seems they showed the string at the latest ISB Convention and had good comments.
Click to expand...

They'll probably call them "Passione '11" and rename the others "Original Passione"! :D
 
#76
Dan Conwell said:
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.
Click to expand...

Totally agree

I have the E and A on my bass with Belcanto D and G. I find with the realist pickup it's not a bad jazz setup. not the best obviously, but I love the feel of the E and A on my bass for orchestra.
 
#77
I put a set of Starks on the Roberto Giormenti bass I have. I think they're a very good orchestra set, dark and warm; focused tone and the tension is very manageable (feels much less than the permanents that were on previously). I little on the quiet side, but very warm and focused.

Louis
 
#80
Although this is an old thread, I’ll bump it. I traded a fairly new set for a used set of Spirocores and put them on my Rodier. The Rodier has had EP Orchestra gauge and that is a good hybrid set for that bass with a good punch for pizz, but I don’t think the EP is a great arco string. I left the EP E on and changed the others with a good result. The Passiones are significantly darker and very easy to bow. The EP E still has a little growl which I want.
 

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