Piezo's on an EUB?

[derrenleepoole]

Just thinking out loud and musing to myself, so stick with me

I'm getting a Stagg EUB for a fellow BC-er, and I was wondering about the piezo pickup on such instruments. Obviously, the EUB is an approximation of the DB experience. The Stagg in particular is just a stick with strings, so no body and no resonant chamber etc. So, my question is this: does string choice make a massive difference on such instruments? Obviously, playability is the first port of call - light against heavy, soft feel etc. But what about tone? Can piezo's on such instruments translate the tonal qualities of really good quality strings on an instrument with little comparative resonance in it's body (or lack thereof)?

What's your thoughts and experiences on this?

[franzbassist]

I tried stock strings, Helicore Hybrids and Innovation Silver Slaps on the Aria EUB I had, and the low tension, gut-like qualities of the Silver Slaps were the best choice by some way, both in terms of feel but also in the sound that was produced.

I've since upgraded to a BSX Allegro EUB, which is a much more hybrid instrument as it has a proper hollow body. I'm still using Silver Slaps on it and, for me, the sound is just divine.

Just my 2p's worth...

[endorka]

I tried various types of strings on my NS Design WAV and can confirm that the differences were notable, in the ways you would intuitively expect.

Jennifer

[derrenleepoole]

Thanks guys, that's encouraging indeed. The string comparison's on the Aria EUB are useful as the Stagg is a licensed copy of it. So all this is good to know. The gut like strings with a softer a touch are what I'm after anyway, so good info there too.

[TheRev]

Back when I had an Aria Lite One I tried a couple of sets of different strings.

The stock strings were really stiff and sounded a bit too much like a big fretless electric bass. There was good note definition on the E and A but the G was way too glassy.

Helicore hybrid mediums had much lower tension and a much better, mellower sound. I could get some reasonable DB sounds with good left hand and pizz technique. I like a bit of growl in my sound and this was easy with the A string but harder to find on the E. I missed some of the note definition I got on the E with the stock strings but the overall improvement in sound was worth the sacrifice.

Innovation Honeys had a lovely low tension with plenty of bounce and an even more woody BD-esque sound. I didn't notice any loss in note definition compared to the Helicores but by the time I switched to the Honeys, my techniuqe had improved a lot which probably compensated for the inherently less defined sound you'd expect with synthetic strings.

After that, I bought my Eminence and entered into a whole other world of string choices.....

Of the three sets I tried, I definitley preferred the Honeys. Synthetic or orchestral strings seem to suit stick type EUBs as they compensate for the naturally brighter tones of these basses.

Other strings you could look into are Corellis - much touted over on the Talkbass EUB forums or Velvet blues which are a budget set similar to the very lovely Velvet Animas.

Dave