Welcome!

[daflewis]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' post='1317034' date='Jul 26 2011, 01:42 PM']I wonder how much brighter sounding you could go with a synthetic core string while keeping their desirable properties? It strikes me that people looking for maximum growl, sustain and attack are already quite well served elsewhere and might not be the obvious market for Innovations.[/quote]

Hi Beer, I think you misunderstand me, We're not talking about creating a spiro clone here - the essential nature of the synthetic core is important, but I personally have found that, particularly on the lower two strings that I would like a bit more definition and I think that there is room, especially on the jazz/classical side for a couple more string types that may have a wider appeal.

Edited July 26, 2011 by daflewis

[Beer of the Bass]

Certainly, I'd be interested to check out anything that is developed in that direction. I keep switching back and forth between the Spiros and Honeys as both have certain things I like, so something in between could be perfect. I feel like the Honey G string gives me exactly what I need for pizz, but there is a softness to the attack on the lower strings which isn't always what I'm after.

[daflewis]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' post='1317436' date='Jul 26 2011, 06:31 PM']Certainly, I'd be interested to check out anything that is developed in that direction. I keep switching back and forth between the Spiros and Honeys as both have certain things I like, so something in between could be perfect. I feel like the Honey G string gives me exactly what I need for pizz, but there is a softness to the attack on the lower strings which isn't always what I'm after.[/quote]

I'm totally with you there.... Hopefully We can come up with something!

Edited July 26, 2011 by daflewis

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1316800' date='Jul 26 2011, 11:20 AM']Hi Kev, they are probably about 70% along the way of the difference between silvers and Spirocores, definitely looser than most steels I've played, they feel a bit unyielding at first compared to silvers but as I said after a bit of playing in I'm thinking I prefer them, I would be concerned about the extra tension for the E and A (which I don't have) but I'm sure I'd get used to that too in time... any more questions feel free to ask.[/quote]

Cheers Jake I might give them a try if I struggle to get used to the Slaps. I was going to get them instead but I wasn't sure what the tension was going to be like, I didn't want anything too taut.

[Thurbs]

[quote name='owen' post='1316094' date='Jul 25 2011, 06:59 PM']I love my rockabilly strings. I wish I could bow them. I use honeys as a 'nearly there' bodge, and they are also great.[/quote]
Me too.

[Mr Bassman]

I did try a set of Honeys a while ago, I can't remember much about them, apart from the stiffness.

I had a Kolstein Travel Bass for a while, which came with Kolstein Heritage strings.

It sounded amazing, but as always I thought I could improve sound / playability.

It's a 39" stop so I thought a 1/2 scale Honey D would be worth a shot.

Well it was too thick, stiff and toneless, so I contacted Tony who replied saying he was working on a new formula and would send me a sample.

After a few months I reminded Tony about this and he said he'd lost my details and would sort something out.

I've never heard from him since, which is a bit disappointing, I know others who have had great customer service from him.

I've since sold the Kolstein, which sounded even better with a new set of Kolstein Heritage.

I might still have an old set of Heritage if Tony would like to check them out.

I've got Flexocor on my Eminence r/n and plugged in it sounds like my Hungarian acoustic.

Anyway I'm all for supporting local and national business.

I'd like to find a string for jazz & orch. to replace the Flexocor and the Heritage, that can be bowed and pizzed, for under £100 without being too thick!

I'm also liking Bel Canto so anything close to the three I've mentioned would be welcome.

Best

Keith

[daflewis]

[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='1326345' date='Aug 4 2011, 12:25 AM']I did try a set of Honeys a while ago, I can't remember much about them, apart from the stiffness.

I had a Kolstein Travel Bass for a while, which came with Kolstein Heritage strings.

It sounded amazing, but as always I thought I could improve sound / playability.

It's a 39" stop so I thought a 1/2 scale Honey D would be worth a shot.

Well it was too thick, stiff and toneless, so I contacted Tony who replied saying he was working on a new formula and would send me a sample.

After a few months I reminded Tony about this and he said he'd lost my details and would sort something out.

I've never heard from him since, which is a bit disappointing, I know others who have had great customer service from him.

I've since sold the Kolstein, which sounded even better with a new set of Kolstein Heritage.

I might still have an old set of Heritage if Tony would like to check them out.

I've got Flexocor on my Eminence r/n and plugged in it sounds like my Hungarian acoustic.

Anyway I'm all for supporting local and national business.

I'd like to find a string for jazz & orch. to replace the Flexocor and the Heritage, that can be bowed and pizzed, for under £100 without being too thick!

I'm also liking Bel Canto so anything close to the three I've mentioned would be welcome.

Best

Keith[/quote]

Hi Keith,

Thanks for this, I don't know what happened with Tony, though he's a technician rather than a player - there used to be another guy (player) who was involved with the company, but after he left i think the development kind of stopped.

The thickness of the strings is something i've expressed concern about, particularly on the jazz/orch side and i feel this could be putting some people off trying them as it may involve widening the nut/bridge; (though it is a function of the cores they use), I'm currently testing out a couple of thinner cores, so hopefully something will come of that. I'm also interested in your comment about stiffness, do you mean the tension? or the fact that the strings don't bend easily/aren't very flexible?

You mention the flexocor, bel canto and heritage; have you played obligato and/or evah pirazzi? i only ask to get an idea of whether there is something in particular you prefer about the three you mention over other "hybrids".

I've also heard a lot of good things about the Kolstein Heritage, though I've never tried them; if you do have an old set lying around I'd be really interested in checking them out and getting tony to do an "autopsy" on them.

Cheers,
Daf

Edited August 4, 2011 by daflewis

[Mr Bassman]

[quote]I'm also interested in your comment about stiffness, do you mean the tension? or the fact that the strings don't bend easily/aren't very flexible?[/quote]

It's a while since I had the Honeys but I think it was the latter, not flexible.

[quote]You mention the flexocor, bel canto and heritage; have you played obligato and/or evah pirazzi? i only ask to get an idea of whether there is something in particular you prefer about the three you mention over other "hybrids".[/quote]

I've a couple of sets of Evah and find the Bel Canto similar, on my Hungarian I've got Evah E & A Bel Canto D & G and I can't tell any difference playing across the strings bowed or pizz.

I've a set of Obligato on my old flatback sand apart from the "roll" they sound nice.

Not sure if I can let the Heritage go for autopsy just yet, I haven't tried them on all basses yet.

The core is very fibrous, I wonder if I could forward some pics.

cheers

Keith

[fretless]

Daf

some help with innovation string identification please.

I believe they may be super silvers but want to be sure before I
re-order.

They are non-metal (ie not honeys) and have dark blue wraps at the gut end.

Appreciated

Patrick

[daflewis]

Hi Patrick,

Sorry! I didn't realise that my notifications are not switched on for the welcome thread... Oops...

Anyway, I think that what you have there are silver slaps - the factory call it "mauve" - a slightly purplish blue.... (The super silvers are black at the ball end)

Hope that helps, but if you're still unsure please come back to me.

Cheers,
Daf

[fretless]

Daf

Thanks for help

Think I'll try the super silvers - still searching for definition on the e string although I do like the tone
of the g and d strings in the silver slaps

Did you progress your "hybrid" set of innovations any further ?

Patrick

[daflewis]

Yeh, it's a tricky one isn't it... - the difference in tension of the same string on two different basses can be quite dramatic - I've found that my pit bass tends to give the G string a higher tension than normal, and as it's also my main testing bass I need to very aware of that when trying prototypes; so I'd be interested to know how the balance of the supers feels on your bass...
As for the new hybrids, we're getting very close now - in fact, I'm currently waiting for some beta test sets and I'll be making a set available on here for people to try... Watch this space...