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Innovation trial sets Terms and Conditions - please read before borrowing a trial set!


daflewis
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Hi Everyone,

The idea is that you borrow them for a couple of weeks and then pass them on to the next person on the list .... Or back to me if there's no one else waiting.

There is a thread for each string type - just reply to the thread for the string you're interested in to get your name on the list and when you've finished with the strings just look for the name below yours and PM them for an address (You can find the list, which I'll keep updated, in the opening post of each thread). I don't see why this shouldn't work, but any problems, again, just PM me.

Finally, Once you've finished with the strings and passed them on it would be really useful if you could post saying what you thought of them (good or bad!)
Here we go! :)

A few things to note...

Please try and be careful when putting the strings on and taking them off as the windings can be damaged easily and please bear in mind that as everyone's bass has a slightly different stop length that there may be some loosening of the windings near the bridge (hopefully close enough to the bridge not to interfere with playing). I think that because of that I'm going to have to request that you don't put them on an NS designs stick as the length from the bridge to the ball end is much longer than a normal bass so it will damage the strings too far up the playing area (and the standard strings are too short anyway) - sorry about that! (anyone wanting to try them on an NS please PM me and if we can get enough people wanting to try them then I'll contact the company and arrange a longer set to pass around).

If you receive a set that is on the way out (or that breaks while you have it) please let me know - no fingers will be pointed I promise! But the sooner I know, the sooner I can arrange a replacement. That said, the longer we can make the strings last the more likely I am to be able to persuade the company to keep doing it; I'm sure you can imagine that if they're only getting half a dozen trials out of each set, then they're not going to see it as a justifiable expense.

Finally, i'm afraid that, at least for the moment, we're going to have to restrict it to the UK, otherwise some people could end up landed unfairly with a bill for postage (to the states for example)... apologies to those effected. (if there is enough interest from an individual country then I'll try and start a version there - PM me)

Enjoy...

Edited by daflewis
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Hi Keith,
Sure, the "braid" or 140B are the orchestral string (and the honeys or 140H are the jazz set) - they are the only metal wrapped strings (so the best for arco) - you can bow the others, but because they're wound with nylon the bow doesn't grip as well. It's worth trying both the braid and the honey, but the braid does respond under the bow a little better....

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[quote name='daflewis' timestamp='1338393327' post='1673860']
Unless you have two basses so you can set up one for arco and one for jazz... :)
[/quote]

i used to be able to do that. I am still not entirely sure why I sold one :(

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[quote name='owen' timestamp='1338402580' post='1674084']
i used to be able to do that. I am still not entirely sure why I sold one :(
[/quote]

Yeh, and I don't think I actually bought that one either... unlike most of your other instruments ;)

Edited by daflewis
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[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1338398407' post='1673981']
The braided might work on the Yamaha which has too much sustain with some strings
[/quote]

Yeh, I think the braid would be your best bet.... Actually Owen uses the for jazz and really likes them I think...

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would also like to try the honeys. I just picked up my first DB, which currently has flatwound steel strings on it, similar to the Thomastic flats I have on an electric bass, and I really like the feel of them, but the E string seems pretty dead to me, they've been on a looong time I think, so I'm thinking of changing them.

The pickup is not magnetic, so Silver Slaps are an option, but I fancy the Honeys.

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Hi Rayman,

Well the great thing about the trial sets is that there's nothing stopping you trying both! :)

just add your name the the appropriate thread(s) to register your interest, and someone should be in touch before too long - hope you like them!

Cheers,
Daf

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Hi Daf,

I'd like to say I'm interested, but I really wouldn't know where to start. I recently started playing db and my bass only has the stock strings. I guess it would be nice to try a real set.

On a whole, what kind of strings would you recommend? I play mainly pizz, but also play some slap and an equal amount arco.

James

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Hi James,
Ooh that's a toughie! you want it all! ;)

the problem is, all the strings pizz well, it just depends what kind of sound you want, but as far as slap and arco - the strings designed for slap are all nylon wound and so all have some silicon in the outer wrap which is naturally slippery, so the bow doesn't grip too well; whereas the strings designed for arco (honeys, braids) are all metal wound which makes them higher tension and therefore not so nice to slap on.

Having said that, the Rockabillies or Ultra blacks (slightly higher tension) don't bow too badly for slap strings; and i know some people use the the braids solo version tuned to concert pitch (they're designed to be played a tone higher) to slap even though they're designed to bow. The other advantage of the solos is that they'll be very low tension at concert pitch - easy on the hands for beginners. The down side is that they don't like being bowed really hard - they just "kind of crap out" as i remember somebody putting it.

At the moment the only string from that lot on trial is the Rockabilly (i hope to get the others up soon) so I would suggest you put your name down for them and see how you get on...

Sorry that's not a more definitive answer!
Cheers,
Daf

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I think that the strings you'd enjoy playing pizz on most are probably the silver slaps, but they really aren't easy to bow on, especially for a beginner; but if all you need to bow is the odd long note they'd been fine.
The reason I mentioned the rockabillys was that they bow a little better than the slaps while still being pretty low tension for pizz.
Hope that helps :)
Daf
P.S. just try all of them! :D

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Yeh, nice one! :)
Oh, by the way, and just for the sake of clarity, there are silver slaps and golden slaps which are the same string just with different colours; and then there are super silvers which are the same basic design as the slaps but higher tension. (I'll be putting a set of those up for test ASAP)
Cheers,
Daf

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*hangs head in shame and whispers in an embarrassed tone* gear4music one.

I was gonna go with thomann, but wanted to get started so badly I ordered one and it arrived the following day despite ordering at 3pm.

I struggled finding someone to set it up round my way but did the best I could on my own, but from everything I've heard, the strings'll make the biggest difference, and a low tension set will help with the action I suppose.

Either way, just want to state, the g4m basses are great in the sense of deciding "is upright for me" and since starting playing it, I love it. I played a gig with my normal bass after my upright arrived and spent the night complaining that it didn't feel right, was too small and wasn't a real bass in comparison.

Sorry, went of on a tangent there.

Moral of tangent. I love upright bass.

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