String Suggestions?

[philw]

I have a set of Innovation Super Silvers on my cheap and cheerful Czech laminate DB at the moment. They're a bit too dull though and they don't do arco particularly well - they're hard to get moving with the bow and even when they are, they sound a bit scratchy.

So, any suggestions for something with a similarly lowish tension and brighter fundamental tone that does arco well? Mustn't break the bank either.

Recording a new album with the band in October and I suspect there's going be quite a bit of DB arco called for, so it would be good to get some strings I'm happy with.

Thanks
P

[TPJ]

What about the braided Honeys? They are meant for bowing but reportedly sound great pizz too.

I've come to terms with Spiro weichs on my ply and bowing and pizz are ok. It's a dark boomy bass though so they don't sound boingy at all

[TheRev]

I'd suggest Spiro weich as well. I use Spiro E and A with Super Silvers D&G on my carved bass - similar tension but with more definition.
Another option would be Helicore lights, but I've not tried them. I have a set on Helicore mediums on my EUB and they feel a bit stiffer than the Spiro weichs, but that could just be the bass.

[Beer of the Bass]

I'm also going to say Spiro Weich would be worth trying. On my bass they bow quite nicely (more easily than Mittels), though it's a brighter voice than a dedicated orchestral string. With the steel core they're fairly robust too, so there's not much risk in picking up a lightly used set to save some pennies.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Might be deals to be had on D'addario strings - the offer applies to orchestral strings as well from what I could gather looking at the D'addario website.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264169-50-discount-on-daddario-strings/

A few people including Geof Chalmers have reviewed the Zyex strings and posted decent quality vids - I don't have any experience with these strings personally, but worthy of at least a little research considering the discounts.


I'm using spiro weich 3885,OW(good price at thomann on these) on a strunal ply, and have found them to work really well as a mag pickup compatible do (almost)everything string, but there are a couple of noteworthy characteristics IMHO;

-for pizz they sustain a looong time (on my ply an open A will ring for ~15 seconds) this makes the envelope a lot different to more traditional sounding strings(matter of taste but reasonably in your face).

-The bright character of the strings means the pitch center is really easy to hear which makes it easy to hear if you are in tune and really obvious to everyone else when your intonation is off.

-Slapping the strings against the fingerboard produces a very hard sounding clack - I only palm slap occasionally to provide some percussive punctuation when I'm pizzing, but I wouldn't want to use these strings for rockabilly slapping.

-For arco the strings speak very quickly, but they are also somewhat unforgiving of sloppy technique - in my experience there isn't much of a middle ground between getting it right and sounding good and getting it wrong and sounding awful, but worth noting that I haven't been playing double bass that long, so more experience players might have a more informed view.

-The sound of the spiros has improved over the last 8 months as they've lost some of their newness and zing, when they were brand new, they were a bit boingy sounding.

-Tuning stability is rock solid once the strings have settled in, and acoustic volume is good.

[fatback]

<<< This. Description fits my Weichs perfectly. The point about unforgiving arco is spot on too.

[philparker]

If you want to do arco as well, I would suggest Evah Pirazzi Weichs!

[Mr Bassman]

Kolstein Heritage or Zyex light

[sarah thomas]

Another plug for Spirocore Lights - I play arco and pizz. Plus, I've just had amazing service from The String Zone - yesterday, my bass fell forward and landed on the rim of my drummer's floor tom, denting the fingerboard lightly and smashing the G string. I ordered a replacement yesterday and it was here by 11 o'clock this morning. I paid the extra £2 for fast delivery as the price was good anyway - string, postage, VAT = £37.52. It came in a padded bag with a piece of cardboard to keep it tidy. (That's a Welsh tidy - means good, sorted, everything as it should be.)

For any drummers wondering, the tom rim has a tiny mark which you have to look for.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1435748974' post='2812017']...
For any drummers wondering, the tom rim has a tiny mark which you have to look for.
[/quote]

[philw]

Just to tidy this loose end, I went with a slightly used set of [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Spirocore Lights. They're great, just what I wanted. Only snag is that I now want a set for my NS Design EUB.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]P[/font][/color]