35 replies to this topic

[stewartmusic]

Hi Daf,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get round to posting this!! Had to catch up on sleep after that Bus journey from London to Edinburgh!!!!

After some thought, my comments on the strings are pretty much exactly the same as what I said when I was down with you. They had a nice ping in the lower register but, this may be due to the lower string hight, I think a little bit of the projection was lost - It also might be just because I'm used to a lathering of pops before I play!! I'm sure you wouldn't really notice that in the pit, especially as you are mic'd before any resonance is really taken into account (Contact mic rather than a DPA job wan't it?)

Good job so far!

I'll PM you regarding the other details we were talking about

Hope its all going well, I'm going to be down again for new year so I might give you a shout if your about for a quick coffee? I owe you one!

Thanks,

Dara

[daflewis]

hubrad, on 29 November 2011 - 04:32 PM, said:

I'd just like to get my name on the beta testing list!!
If you do get round to taking your proto set off....

Noted!

[daflewis]

Dara,

The lack of volume may be down to the bass - it's not that loud an instrument, and the protos are significantly louder than the 140Bs on it... (i've had to turn the preamp input gain down by about 20% to prevent clipping).

Quote

I'm sure you wouldn't really notice that in the pit, especially as you are mic'd before any resonance is really taken into account (Contact mic rather than a DPA job wan't it?)

The bass has both a contact pickup and a normal mic on it, but of course, these aren't just for me, so projection is still important.

Daf

[sbasstraveller]

I've just bought a second hand Eminence DB, had INOVATION black RockaBilly strings fitted - previously unknown to me: was knocked out by them and pleased to find INNOVATION represented at the Bass Show: 3 different sets I have now tried. All deliver and extremely comfortable to play. Crispy sizzling bowing response as well. Steel strings were starting to p** me off: so happy now! Way to go....!

[daflewis]

Hi Sbasstraveller,

Welcome to the site! and sorry I haven't replied, I've been on holiday for the last 2 weeks...

I'm glad you're enjoying the Innovations - which other sets have you tried? - the bowed response is certainly better on the black wound sets than the silver/golden slaps, but i think the breathy sound can put some people off - not a problem with the H/B140s of course. I guess it depends on priorities...

Did we speak at the bass show? - I was there on the Saturday (just before leaving on hols )

Cheers,
Daf

[endorka]

Great to see this thread still going :-)

And despite the passing of many moons, I've still not sorted out the string question.

I'm trying to sort out various sounds in my head... so which set of Innovation strings would you say comes closest to this sound - Danny Thompson on David Sylvian's "The Ink In The Well?"



Cheers!

Jennifer

[daflewis]

Hi Jennifer,

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you.....

My first thought would be either the silver slaps or super silvers - though from the lovely woodiness in the sound i would guess that spending £20K or £30K on a bass is probably going to help too! ;-)

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Daf

Edited by daflewis, 29 March 2012 - 09:04 AM.

[endorka]

Cheers Daf, I like it - £20K on the bass and a bunch of priceless talent from Mr. Thompson, but apart from that... :-)

From what I recall from my student's bass tone the Silver Slaps would be good for this style, as you recommend. I don't think they were great for bowing, but what I do recall is that I thought "wow!" when playing them pizzicato, and that's a rare and great feeling to get from spending £80 or so on a set of strings.

How do the Silver Slaps compare with the Super Silvers?

Jennifer

[daflewis]

Ah yes... Talent - yeh, I guess that would help too...

Bowing on the silver slaps - no, I must be said that's not exactly their strongest point! - a bit squeaky and reedy.... It can be done, especially if it's just the odd final note, but I certainly wouldn't want to try a concerto on them. (not that I'm likely to be doing that anytime soon! )

As for the difference between silver slaps and super silvers; well the supers are higher tension (with the proportional increase in volume and body that would go with that)

I should also mention the psycho slaps, which are a similar tension to the supers but are thicker, though I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the sound of the psychos so I'm not sure how that differs from the supers....

Edited by daflewis, 30 March 2012 - 09:29 AM.

[endorka]

Thanks Daf,

I reckon I'm going to follow the pizz. sound here, since it's more of a priority and I'm playing more pizz. notes at the moment :-)

Silver Slaps it is then. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Jennifer

[daflewis]

Hi Jennifer,
Yes, please do let me know how you get on....

It might also be worth mentioning that Sam Burgess, the resident bassist at Ronnie Scott's uses silver slaps and he loves them.

[endorka]

Bought with confidence! Can't wait 'til they arrive :-)

Thanks again,

Jennifer

[daflewis]

Ooh 'eck! No pressure then!

[endorka]

Just a quick update:

I now have the Innovation Silver Slaps on my acoustic double bass and NS Design WAV electric double bass, and they are sounding excellent, just as promised. Great fun to play as well :-)

As some dimensions of the EUB are slightly different to an acoustic double bass, strings with a different length of silk wrapping at the nut end were required. Daf sorted this out with the suppliers, and the resulting strings fitted perfectly.

Over the last few weeks I've used the EUB on several important concerts, and am really pleased with these strings. While they are not quite as easy to bow as orchestral strings, I'm getting used to them, and after playing them for a while don't really notice anymore.

Because they have more sustain than orchestral strings, the open strings tended to ring out a bit when playing amplified with the bow, but wrapping a hairband around the strings between the first "fret" and the nut really helped with this. I can push the hairband back over the nut to bring the instrument back to its normal state for pizzicato playing.

Thanks again to Daf for helping me with this, much appreciated!

Jennifer

[steve]

endorka, on 26 March 2012 - 07:18 PM, said:

Great to see this thread still going :-)

And despite the passing of many moons, I've still not sorted out the string question.

I'm trying to sort out various sounds in my head... so which set of Innovation strings would you say comes closest to this sound - Danny Thompson on David Sylvian's "The Ink In The Well?"



Cheers!

Jennifer

really like this. did the silver slaps approximate the tone Jen?

[endorka]

steve, on 29 April 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

really like this. did the silver slaps approximate the tone Jen?

Not completely, but they are in the ballpark. The Silver Slaps are not as growly / rattly as this, but with a lower action on my bass and some careful EQ they would be closer to it.

By the way, I'm still loving the Silver Slaps. I've just done another Horse tour with them and I like them even more. I had the opportunity to hear someone else play my EUB fitted with them at a soundcheck, and they sounded marvellous. Several other bass players in the audience commented on the quality of the sound.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer