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Strings (sorry!)


stingrayPete1977
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OK I have been playing bass and guitar for over 25 years, I know my 9's from my flat wounds and my nylons from my G string :lol: but what the hell is going on here then?!

So far I am thinking weichs are low tension and mittels are medium after that I am getting a bit lost, gut I imagine is like nylon guitar string and can only be used with acoustic or piezo pickups.

Is there an idiots guide to everything anywhere, just the basics like the sizes and what they mean 3385 42W etc :o
common types and common uses for common basses?

In the near future I will be putting a set on my EUB and super silvers have been suggested along with spiro mediums or weichs (I presume medium and lights)

What am I doing :lol:

Thanks folks, Loving the upright though :)

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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!

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Pete, I'm as lost as you, but I put a set of spiro weich's (bought second hand on here) on my Stagg EUB and I have to say they transformed it, both feel wise and sound wise. No idea about lengths.


Not sure if this helps :rolleyes:

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Clarky gave you a pretty comprehensive round up on strings . It can be a long process getting the string that really suits you and your bass. Different basses react uniquely to different strings. Spiro Weich's are a great String and tend to suit most basses and playing styles. Good for arco too IMO. They are the type of string you can put on nearly every bass and just concentrate on the music.

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[quote name='marvin spangles' timestamp='1357483259' post='1923178']
Clarky gave you a pretty comprehensive round up on strings . It can be a long process getting the string that really suits you and your bass. Different basses react uniquely to different strings. Spiro Weich's are a great String and tend to suit most basses and playing styles. Good for arco too IMO. They are the type of string you can put on nearly every bass and just concentrate on the music.
[/quote] They do look like a sort of one shoe fits all string for me, way past my own capability and I fancy a go at everything so strings that are great for pizz but cant be played with a bow are out and visa versa :)
[quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1357485917' post='1923250']
And of course, there is Daf's Innovation string trial on this very forum where you can try out different Innovation strings for the price of the postage.
[/quote]
I like the look of Honeys, what do you think? :)

Edited by stingrayPete1977
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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)

Edited by Clarky
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I liked the Honeys and still favour them on my ply bass. I was veering between Spiro and innovation ultra blacks for my flatback and opted for the ultra blacks, partly because I tried them (thanks Daf) and partly because a set came in at £75 from springexpress as opposed to £125 for Spiros (including shipping) from Thomann.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1357489683' post='1923354']
I am swaying to the Spiros then you know, anyone got a set going nice and cheap :)
Where is the cheapest place if I decide to bite the bullet and buy a fresh set? 2 months off the council tax coming up, thats a carbon bow, pot of rosin and a set of spiros if you ask me! :D
[/quote]

Im bouncing between Spiro mettel or Super silvers.
only problem about the internet is the amount of options and information you can access so very readily.
Makes choosing a difficult one.

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The Spiros will most likely last way longer than Innovations. Also, some use 4/4 sets on their 3/4 bass to decrease tension. I'm leaning towards Spiro weichs for my next setup after trying Honeys (which sounded great on my bass, thumpy but a little thin sounding on the G string), Evah weichs (nice clarity but not quite the volume) and the current set of Velvet Animas (complex, dark, loud and thumpy, yet lower tension). My elbow injury wont let me run the high action anymore.

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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

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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.

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D'adarrio Helicoresare quite popular and a good all round string, dunno about Preludes.

Spiros & Helicores are good strings and a good place to start your string quest. I'd also consider Innovation Honeys or super silvers.

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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!

Edited by Clarky
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I am with strings like my lovely wife is with shoes and handbags, and most of the double bass players I know are the same (see Clarky above)...The problem is that there is no consensus of opinion, and that every bass sounds different with any given set of strings. It is an absolute minefield (for the wallet too!). Clarky gave you an excellent summary there. My opinion is the following. If you love the growly modern jazz tone of lounge jazz trios (from 1960s onwards) get Spirocore (unless you are primarily an orchestral player). If you love the old school sound of the double bass, dark, dirty, percussive, then you need guts. Problem is, guts are expensive, don't stay in tune, are difficult to amplify faithfully and they are a general maintenance headache. So, there are lots of guts substitutes around. I have tried maybe not all of them, but lots of them. The good news is that some of them sound half decent, especially for live gigs. The bad news is that you will quickly realise that nothing comes close to guts.

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