String recommendations please

[thebigyin]

Hi Folks,
New to the world of Double Bass and a few months ago i enquired about Gut strings with mixed reaction.
I bought some second hand Gut-a-like strings and they are sh*te my Double Bass is poorly set up as it is and the stock strings it arrived with are bloody awful aswell.
Could anyone recommend some decent strings Not Gut that give a nice warm response to play pizzicato for mainly Blues and Jazz thanks in advance cheers Bob

[TheRev]

Thomastic Spirocore weichs are a good starting point - easy playing tension with good solid fundamental.
If you prefer something a bit more traditional sounding, then a synthetic string like Evah Pirazzi weich or D'addario Zyex are a good choice.

[thebigyin]

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1481066345' post='3189514']
Thomastic Spirocore weichs are a good starting point - easy playing tension with good solid fundamental.
If you prefer something a bit more traditional sounding, then a synthetic string like Evah Pirazzi weich or D'addario Zyex are a good choice.
[/quote]
Thankyou Rev for your advice i originally wanted Gut strings but got a lot of folks saying they are expensive and have problems tuning ect.
Bought the second hand Gut-a-like strings from a fellow Basschatter but the E and A strings are terrible to tie, just like the more traditional sound. Thanks again appreciate your advice cheers Bob

[NickA]

Here's a (US) website that tells you all about bass strings .. http://www.lemurmusic.com/STRINGS/departments/2/ .. lots of information and advice.

I have d'addario helicore HH hybrid (medium tension) strings that I use for Jazz and in a symphony orchestra (mostly arco). REcommended by Turner's violins and they suit me fine. Also have a set of Thomastic Spirocore "Red" - which are a jazz standard; hard work and difficult to bow ... but lovely long sustain; never get used these days. The spirocore "weich" (= soft) seem like a good compromise.

I insisted on genuine gut and silver strings on my 'cello for years ..lovely arco sound, but they were expensive, broke SO often and the tuning was always drifting about. Changed to tomastic dominant synthetics - they don't sound as good but last much longer. Not great for pizz. Go metal.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

[quote name='thebigyin' timestamp='1481035790' post='3189174']
Hi Folks,
New to the world of Double Bass and a few months ago i enquired about Gut strings with mixed reaction.
I bought some second hand Gut-a-like strings and they are sh*te [size=6]my Double Bass is poorly set up as it is [/size]and the stock strings it arrived with are bloody awful aswell.
Could anyone recommend some decent strings Not Gut that give a nice warm response to play pizzicato for mainly Blues and Jazz thanks in advance cheers Bob
[/quote]
If your bass has setup issues, strings are not going to magically cure them - things like getting the soundpost fitted and adjusted properly and having the nut/bridge fettled will improve both sound and playability with whatever strings you choose to use.

[thebigyin]

Thanks for the replies guyz

[PaulKing]

For something approaching gut sound and easy playability for blues and jazz, try Innovation (140B braided - solo guage if you want low tension like gut, or Silverslaps), Rotosound RS4000, Presto Light/Ultralight. All good strings, all over £100. You cant get decent strings cheaper. Velvet garbo good but pricey.

Thomastick Weich are great for sure (millions of jazzers cant be wrong ...) but its a very defined, modern sounding attack for blues IMHO, not gut like at all.

I've played them all. And get your bass set up!

Or just get gut. Lenzner aren't too pricey. well... its relative. And get wound E and A, not plain gut - that's a very specialist sound and technique required. And set up.
Gut are easy to look after, ignore everyone.