Kairyu

Apparently this sold....

Somebody bid last second!

I initially thought it looked very cool until I saw the back... My God is the back ugly. At least the audience won't see it. Wasn't there a UK based luthier that made pickups for each string like 30 years ago?

Anyone here ever have an experience with gut-a-likes? There was a set on the first bass I ever borrowed and I remember that they were much easier to play than standard steel strings (the tension was lower). Dunno if they do a solo set but it might be worth a punt? Much cheaper than spiros.

As I said in my previous post; I don't notice a difference in gauge between my solo strings and my concert strings. If there is a difference in gauge, it's so minuscule that I can't tell. Also, I'm perplexed by you saying the guy's bass you played was (From high to low) CGDA tuned down a tone to GDAE; to tune that set down to GDAE would actually be going down two and a half tones, not one. I would imagine those strings would be flappy as hell and not loud at all. Are you definitely sure this is what he did and not something else that you may have misunderstood? Try tuning your current strings down a tone, that will give you a feel for what solo strings would feel like in orchestral tuning (If you want, try tuning them down an extra tone and a half from there and see the difference; I'm pretty sure for a start you will lose a lot of volume).

The solo strings that were on my EUB were Evah Pirazzis. The gauge felt the same as the Evahs I had on my main bass at the time.

That sounds a tad extreme to myself to be honest. That being said, I prefer strings with a slightly higher tension so I can dig in more. I'd suggest maybe getting solo strings (These are tuned F#,B,E,A) and tuning them down a tone to concert pitch. I had this setup on an EUB I got from another BCer and it was like butter to play. It would probably also be easier / cheaper than buying a full set of strings and an extra C. Also, I'm not sure what you intend to get out of playing upright bass, but you might not want to make your tension too low if you plan to ever play at any jams/situations where you're playing a different bass. It could make transitioning very difficult, and I know a lot of guys who have gotten 'owned' playing a bass at a jam session as the tension/action was too high (Myself included!)

The difference in sound could be due to the fact that the sound post on your bass may be too tight/not in the optimal place. I can't give any advice on DIY sound post adjustments, but I will say that it makes a noticeable difference (It certainly did on my bass). Maybe you could trawl the internet if you want to go down that route? Either that or find a luthier? Also you can lower your string tension by raising the saddle at the bottom of the bass; you could shim it or make a new block. I know one person that had their saddle raised to solve a problem he was having with his string tension, I don't know if it was a long term fix or if he did something else however. It'd be interesting to catch up with him and see what the outcome was.