Clarky

One week to go bump! We are now supporting the Hkippers, a world-folk/fusion band who boast formerly perm-headed Nigel from Eastenders on vocals, the drummer from the Pogues, plus the composer of Shakespeare in Love!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkVLXmrnLb4

Dr Phibes' avatar says he is in Whitstable, Kent

Here's TalkBass on cleaning rosin off strings: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f2/cleaning-rosin-bow-hair-bass-strings-743536/

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1358011312' post='1931850'] What is the best way to keep them clean after playing? [/quote] Ermm, I've never cleaned a set of DB strings yet! As they are flatwound, they don't get gunk on them like electric bass roundwounds. A simple wipe down would suffice I guess if you sweat a lot but I bet you don't need to do anything with them. One piece of advice though - the silks damage really easily on Spiros so install the strings very carefully and slowly/methodically. That way, if you ever decide to change strings they will stay in excellent condition (and will be more vaulable in event of re-sale)

Have you got the Weichs on your bass yet, Pete? If so, waddya reckn?

Me again and another set of DB strings from Roberto. All good again

That looks like a £90 children's starter bass. Who would pay up for that?

Nice one Nige (again)! I reallly like the video - distracting is a good thing, not a bad thing, in my book

Al bought a set of DB strings off me. Good comms and prompt payment. Enjoy the Spiros, Al!

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For what its worth, I just did an hour's practice (going through my band's setlist, playing along to iPod) with my Kolstein bass and Spiro Weichs and (a) my hands/arms are not overly tired and ( b ) the bass sounded great to my ears. There are other great strings out there but I really like these (I have been through Innovation Silver Slaps, Honeys, Presto Ultralights, Spirocore Solos, Helicore Hybrids, Velvet Garbos, Elite Danny Thompson prototypes, and probably others I can't remember). We should probably set up a BassChat DB string exchange!

Sorry no idea on Preludes but Dr Phibes is selling a set of Spirocore Mittels for £60 in the DB for sale section. Personally, I would start with Weichs as these will be more forgiving of your hands. If you find they are too low tension then by all means move up to Mittels and the upside is at least it will be easy to find a buyer for s/h Weichs.

If you REALLY want to read a grilion pages on different strings and hear a wide spectrum of opinions, you could also try checking out the TalkBass Double Bass 'strings' forum http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f17/ There are loads of fanatics of all types of strings there but the most zealous support seems reserved for Spirocores in my opinion. Its why I felt obliged to try them out - and I'm very glad I did

Personal opinion only but I didn't like Honeys, higher tension than Silver Slaps and Spiro Weichs and seemed to me like a half-hearted attempt at steels (they are metal wrapped nylon strings). Horses for courses though, someone will probably come along and say they are brill! If I were starting afresh I would either go with Spiro Weich or - for gut-alikes - I would try out Super Silvers (as with more experience Silver Slaps were a tiny bit too flappy)

Hi Pete, the basics are there are guts/gut-alikes (usually nylon) and there are steels. The former are generally more thumpy and old school, the latter have more growl and sustain and are generally better if you also like to bow. I tend to think of them (mega simplistically) as like flats and rounds in their characteristics. Only steels will work with mag pickups, whereas all strings work with piezos or contact mics. Innovation make very good value gut-alike strings - Silver Slaps are mega low tension and incredibly easy on hands (good for slapping, and for pizz playing if your hands are not very strong), Super Silvers are still low tension but not floppy (so I am told). They also make higher tension strings (eg, Rockabillys etc). The choices for steels are vast. Weich (soft) and Mittel (medium) are nomenclatures used by Germanic manufacturers as are Stark (hard). I have Spirocore Weichs on my basses and they are low tension, easy on the hands and have loads of growl and sustain. Have a listen to Danny Thompson to hear Spirocore growl (albeit noone does it quite like Danny, its all in the hands just like with electric bass). Many view Spirocores as the industry standard for jazz playing but there are loads of other good choices. Others like Evahs, Obligatos etc etc. This link is good for hearing the difference between a bunch of strings: http://www.hervejeanne.de/saitenmatrix.php The only thing I will say is it becomes uber-expensive trying out strings so I would look for s/h ones on BassChat if I were you before shelling out for a new set. Good luck mate!

Happy new year all. We are kicking off 2013 with a set at the Hootananny in Brixton on Saturday 19th January. It's a 'Stranger than Paradise' promotion which means the other two bands (don't know names yet) are likely to be something along the lines of Balkan/folk/retro/alternative and definitely interesting! We will be onstage at 11 pm.

B+gger. Wonder if it was the Easter Weekend clash (which I pointed out to Bree) that did for the hotel's willingness to accommodate the event? I think they were after 20 or so attendees so I see no reason why thlack of interest explains this. Humbug!