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Weedwacker rockabilly strings on a DB


Clarky
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Hi all - recently played on the same bill as a rockabilly band (very good - The Jumpstarters) and fancied having a crack at slap bass. Have had an Andreas Zeller 3/4 DB sat around for 10 years gathering dust (after an ill-fated foray into learning jazz) so ordered some Weedwacker rockabilly strings from eBay and put them on last night.

Apart from tuning issues (the strings just keep stretching and going horribly flat), which I guess will settle down, I had difficulty getting a decent sound out of the E and A strings (D and especially G string actually sound very good). Both the lower strongs have no resonance or volume and give little more than a dull, very quiet thud. The action on my DB is quite high so that is not the reason as far as I can tell.

Are they always like this or is there something I can do to get more sound out of them? Can you only get a decent sound if amplified?

Cheers Clarky

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I had a similair situation with my double bass - it had these stretchy weedwacker strings on it looking all multicoloured. Acoustically they were pretty weak, the E string was almost inaudible. I think there are people who make decent ones like "Barefoot larry's hillbilly slap strings" and other types.

They tend to be pretty cheap so worth messing around with another set maybe? Personally I figured I would just get used to the metal ones.

J

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[quote name='Legion' post='195246' date='May 9 2008, 09:51 AM']I had a similair situation with my double bass - it had these stretchy weedwacker strings on it looking all multicoloured. Acoustically they were pretty weak, the E string was almost inaudible. I think there are people who make decent ones like "Barefoot larry's hillbilly slap strings" and other types.

They tend to be pretty cheap so worth messing around with another set maybe? Personally I figured I would just get used to the metal ones.

J[/quote]
Thanks for yuor thoughts Legion - the thing that is puzzling me is that loads of rockabilly-ites seem to swear by these strings (a least according to some US sites I went on) so they must have something! Maybe if I let them stretch and settle down and play around with the bridge height a bit more ...???

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Have a look on Talkbass.com or Rockabillybass.com for their weedwhacker strings thread - I think the weak A and E strings are a common problem.

Maybe a mixed set of weedwhacker and nylon cores will sound better?

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[quote name='TheRev' post='195293' date='May 9 2008, 10:57 AM']Have a look on Talkbass.com or Rockabillybass.com for their weedwhacker strings thread - I think the weak A and E strings are a common problem.

Maybe a mixed set of weedwhacker and nylon cores will sound better?[/quote]
Thanks - had a good read of Rockabillybass.com threads. Seems the problem is common but improves as the strings stretch and settle in, especially the A string.

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