Beedster Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 (edited) Studio/loft clear-out has made me realise I had a lot more DB stuff that I thought, not the least of which is a s**t-load of strings, which I'll list here individually over the next few days as I identify them! Pictures of all the below on their way.... Gewa 3/4 double bass bag. Not in their current range but heavily padded and protected (and pretty heavy as the result) with leather attachments/protection etc, so I'd assume at the top end of their products (their current top of the range is https://www.thomann.de/gb/gewa_bass_bag_prestige_3_4_bl.htm, but this looks significantly more robust to be honest. I recently bought this 4/4 gigbag at over £500 from Thomann https://www.thomann.de/gb/soundwear_performer_3244_4.htm and hand on heart the Gewa is much higher quality): £125 posted No-name 4/4 double bass gig bag, this came with my 4/4. It has no label other than 4/4. I'd say that it's a placebo gigbag, if you think your bass is safe in it then you might be less anxious about your bass, you might arrive at gigs less stressed, and you might play better as the result, but ultimately it's probably about as much use in protecting your bass as a black bin liner. Looks better than a bin liner however. £35 posted Duke 4/4 carbon tailpiece https://www.thomann.de/gb/duke_carbon_tailpiece_double_bass.htm. A very expensive piece of carbon fibre from a respected manufacturer of basses. Carbon fibre is of course the material du jour, and it is claimed that it will revolutionise your sound, make you bass lighter and more resonant, improve your playing and therefore make you more attractive to whichever sex is your preference. My exhaustive tests against a £20 piece of wood from the 60's indicated f**k all difference on all criteria (although I may have failed to factor in the ageing of the wood in the latter, which as we all know is critical). However despite this, it looks absolutely amazing, is very light, and given that I was using it with heavy guts, may not have given it the most reliable of tests! £70 posted Lenzner Supersolo hybrid strings (pure gut D and G, winding over gut E and A). At over £300 per set, how the hell did I end up with two sets of these? I'll tell you how, I fell so in love with the sound of guts on my 4/4 that I was terrified that if I broke one during a gig I'd have to commit the ultimate copout and play a steel, that the audience would notice and leave, and my career would be over.... Anyway, back in the real world, as I'm not gigging at the moment and none of those currently on my bass look like breaking anytime soon, seems best to sell these rather than let them rot in the attic (I've also found a veritable treasure trove of gut strings that will be fine for spares should I ever need one, and Thomann tend to get these to you in around 24 hours). The E and A are unused/unopened in packaging, the D and G have light use because for some daft reason I decided to change out the top two thinking that new guts might sound a bit brighter than old guts. The set was bought as individual strings from Thomann who at the time weren't offering the combination in question. Unlike the two items above, these string will change everything, your bass will never sound better, and you will become instantly attractive to everyone, even the singer will occasionally glance appreciatively in your direction. No joke, these are mojo in a box. £175 More items/photos on their way Edited June 8, 2018 by Beedster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 How are the wound E/A strings for slapping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted April 16, 2018 Author Share Posted April 16, 2018 15 hours ago, keeponehandloose said: How are the wound E/A strings for slapping? Hi mate, for me to answer that question with any validity I'd arguably have to be sufficiently competent at the skill in question, which I'm certainly not. Having said that, they have a very similar weight and tension to my old Silver Slaps, which perhaps provides some clues (although these have a much warmer and fuller tone when played pizz)? I'll have a look around at some sites and see what folks say, and get back to you Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 3 hours ago, Beedster said: Hi mate, for me to answer that question with any validity I'd arguably have to be sufficiently competent at the skill in question, which I'm certainly not. Having said that, they have a very similar weight and tension to my old Silver Slaps, which perhaps provides some clues (although these have a much warmer and fuller tone when played pizz)? I'll have a look around at some sites and see what folks say, and get back to you Chris They probably are then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbie Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Hey guys. I used them A and Es wrapped when slapping was in about 30-40% of my set. I found them great; a bit more zing as you’d expect but you’d soon develop your own way of muting the string after the slap which excludes the note ringing out for too long. I do that now with Spiros and to be honest I couldn’t begin to explain it in words without boring myself into a coma. Anyway, a fellow player, way better than I ever will be at the art of slap, used them too and stated that the only problem was unwrapping, which will eventually happen (but it never happened to me in a bout a year I used them). The unwrapping risk made the other player eventually switch the wrapped gut to light steels, bit like the Evah slaps idea I guess, purely to save pennies, but the sound was of course better with gut. Anyway, a set of Lenzner with the wrap E and A is a great set of strings and I will exit this thread before the gut tarantula bites me again and financial pestilence shall ensue as a result...(I am a happy Spiro guy now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 19 hours ago, Rabbie said: Hey guys. I used them A and Es wrapped when slapping was in about 30-40% of my set. I found them great; a bit more zing as you’d expect but you’d soon develop your own way of muting the string after the slap which excludes the note ringing out for too long. I do that now with Spiros and to be honest I couldn’t begin to explain it in words without boring myself into a coma. Anyway, a fellow player, way better than I ever will be at the art of slap, used them too and stated that the only problem was unwrapping, which will eventually happen (but it never happened to me in a bout a year I used them). The unwrapping risk made the other player eventually switch the wrapped gut to light steels, bit like the Evah slaps idea I guess, purely to save pennies, but the sound was of course better with gut. Anyway, a set of Lenzner with the wrap E and A is a great set of strings and I will exit this thread before the gut tarantula bites me again and financial pestilence shall ensue as a result...(I am a happy Spiro guy now). Hello mate, thanks for the above, you're making me want to keep them. Having said that, I appear to have about four sets of used guts here also so am probably OK. Bit concerned about the degradation of these things though, they're a year or so old now so should be OK, but have a sneaking suspicion that they might not be in five or so years, hence selling them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alhbass Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 On 15/04/2018 at 16:51, Beedster said: More items/photos on their way Hello - should your "more items" happen to include a bow quiver I'd be very interested. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 Gewa bag and Lenzner strings sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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