Galli Synthesis chrome flat strings

[Boodang]

Synthetic core bass guitar strings! These were mentioned on another basschat thread, so have just put a set on my fretless jazz. 

I have a set of Obligato synthetic core strings on my double bass and love the feel of them. Always wanted to try some synthetic core strings on my fretless bg but up to now haven't found any. 

I'm obviously not keeping up to date with things as I haven't seen these string advertised anywhere. But they're on my bass now and I love the feel... very flexible to play, especially with a pick. The notes bloom well, then decay in volume quite quickly with a medium length sustain. By contrast, the strings I had before, D'addario nylons, had less bloom but a more even decay in volume. They don't have a huge amount of treble but about what you would expect from flats.

Putting them on the bass, you can feel how flexible and soft the inner core is when you start to wind the silk end of the string on, it's like butter! The packaging comes with a warning I've never seen before about the delicacy of the material used and great care when stringing. The E string machine head is closest to the nut and some of the chrome wrapping is wrapped around it and you can see in the picture how the winding is beginning to open up. It hasn't spread further though. Hopefully the strings are not delicate when played but only time will tell. 

[TheGreek]

Hmmm, can you let us know how you get on with these. They sound interesting but I'm dubious about the warning and the risk of damage.

[Boodang]

15 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Hmmm, can you let us know how you get on with these. They sound interesting but I'm dubious about the warning and the risk of damage.

I will give updates and yes, the warning is a little concerning. You couldn't replace a broken string at a gig as, like the Obligato's, they'll take a couple of days to settle down and not go out of tune. 

I play about 50/50 fingers and pick, so it'll be interesting to see how they stand up. Especially to the pick playing as you can really feel them flex. I like that feel let's just hope the strings don't mind!

[Reggaebass]

They look right up my street 👍

[Reggaebass]

Which flats would you say the tension is similar to 

[Boodang]

8 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Which flats would you say the tension is similar to 

I used to use D'addario XL chromes a lot, by complete contrast to the Galli's they are a lot stiffer. The D'addario nylons are closer but the nearest would be the La Bella gold white nylons in terms of flexibility.

Being a synthetic core I would say the feel of these strings is about the opposite of stiff as you can get.

[Reggaebass]

Just now, Boodang said:

I used to use D'addario XL chromes a lot, by complete contrast to the Galli's they are a lot stiffer. The D'addario nylons are closer but the nearest would be the La Bella gold white nylons in terms of flexibility.

Being a synthetic core I would say the feel of these strings is about the opposite of stiff as you can get.

Thanks Bd, my normal strings on most of my basses are labella LTF’s, so probably not too far away 

[Boodang]

Well, 2 days in but I've been playing the Galli strings practically all of both days; I've been on an online death by power point course so have been sitting and playing while listening. 

As far as the stability of the strings are concerned... Day 1, lots of half tone tune ups. Day 2, after tuning up from leaving it over night, it's got progressively better throughout the day but still needs regular small tweeks, more on the G & D tho. 

I've been playing a lot with the pick and so far no sign of injury to the strings but it's only day 2... although they have had about 12 hrs playing time.

Early days but love the strings, they feel so buttery and the tone is good, rolled off highs are how I like them, very little if any eq needed, sustain is not the greatest but not so that it's an issue.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Boodang

[Boodang]

Update on stability; went away for a few days on a course, came back and strings were a semi tone down (and no, my tuners are not slipping). Tuned up, another day of playing and at the end of it they seemed stable, plus after the initial tune up they didn't need any tweaking. So, 2/3 days to settle down but don't know how much of that is down to the amount of hours I've been playing them. 

Great strings tho, really enjoying them and will be putting them on a fretted bass. At the moment they are on a fretless jazz, I've been learning some Brecker Brother tracks and they sound perfect.

[Boodang]

Well, an update after a couple of weeks of playing... they've needed tuning up every day (how stretchy are these strings!), but they stay stable for a whole session. 

I've given them plenty of abuse, picking, slapping (yes, even on a fretless!) and they've shown no signs of the delicacy mentioned on the packet.

So, these are now my fav strings... great sound and feel, especially on the fretless. 

[basstone]

Is there any chance of a sound clip or two to demo these? They do seem to get positive reviews from all who try them. I'm looking for that elusive upright bass tone from my '78 fretless jazz. For about the last 15 years it's had a set of Rotosound trubass nylon tape wound strings, which work well  and feel fantastic now that they are very well polished by use, but the nylon coating is getting very thin in places and I'm getting worried it might break and unravel at some point!

[Boodang]

4 minutes ago, basstone said:

Is there any chance of a sound clip or two to demo these? They do seem to get positive reviews from all who try them. I'm looking for that elusive upright bass tone from my '78 fretless jazz. For about the last 15 years it's had a set of Rotosound trubass nylon tape wound strings, which work well  and feel fantastic now that they are very well polished by use, but the nylon coating is getting very thin in places and I'm getting worried it might break and unravel at some point!

I'll do a clip later in the week. Not sure these will give you that upright sound, they don't have a lot of treble but they are quite punchy. Where my double bass notes 'bloom' these are quite forceful. It's less so when I pluck over the fingerboard though. 

[basstone]

17 minutes ago, Boodang said:

I'll do a clip later in the week. Not sure these will give you that upright sound, they don't have a lot of treble but they are quite punchy. Where my double bass notes 'bloom' these are quite forceful. It's less so when I pluck over the fingerboard though. 

OK thanks. Any other string suggestions welcome. I have tried Thomastik flats, which play and feel very nice but not quite what I'm looking for.

[Lo-E]

1 hour ago, basstone said:

I'm looking for that elusive upright bass tone from my '78 fretless jazz.

At the risk of sounding defeatist, I gave that quest up years ago. IMO there are just too many differences in how upright basses and electric basses produce a note to get a URB sound from an electric. Making a new nut out of the same wood as the fingerboard helps a little bit on open notes. Piezo bridge transducers help a little bit, too but, at the end of the day, they’re two different animals. 
 

Playing with the right hand over the top of the fingerboard and sweeping the fingers toward the bridge like you would on an upright also helps. 
 

As far as strings go, I’ve gotten in the ballpark with flexible flats (in my case TI or  light gauge Ernie Ball Series) or nylon tapes but I’ve never gotten a really convincing URB sound. Not to my ears, anyway.  Eventually I just settled on a sound that was “upright-ish” and called it a day. When I really, really need to sound like an URB, I just play an URB. 
 

That’s probably not the answer you were hoping for, but it’s the best answer I can offer. 

[basstone]

4 hours ago, Lo-E said:

At the risk of sounding defeatist, I gave that quest up years ago. IMO there are just too many differences in how upright basses and electric basses produce a note to get a URB sound from an electric. Making a new nut out of the same wood as the fingerboard helps a little bit on open notes. Piezo bridge transducers help a little bit, too but, at the end of the day, they’re two different animals. 
 

Playing with the right hand over the top of the fingerboard and sweeping the fingers toward the bridge like you would on an upright also helps. 
 

As far as strings go, I’ve gotten in the ballpark with flexible flats (in my case TI or  light gauge Ernie Ball Series) or nylon tapes but I’ve never gotten a really convincing URB sound. Not to my ears, anyway.  Eventually I just settled on a sound that was “upright-ish” and called it a day. When I really, really need to sound like an URB, I just play an URB. 
 

That’s probably not the answer you were hoping for, but it’s the best answer I can offer. 

I agree with your conclusions, although the quest itself is fun and interesting. My next move might be to sell one of my jazz basses and invest in an NS design Omni bass. I would love to try one out sometime to see how they play and sound

[Boodang]

2 hours ago, basstone said:

I agree with your conclusions, although the quest itself is fun and interesting. My next move might be to sell one of my jazz basses and invest in an NS design Omni bass. I would love to try one out sometime to see how they play and sound

I can't comment on the NS Omni but... if you want that upright sound I believe a big part of that is the scale length which physically let's the string 'bloom'. I think you'll more likely to achieve this with a 41" NS CR (or NXT) rather than a 34" omni.

[Boodang]

This was recorded using Galli Synthesis flatwounds but thru a Seamoon Funk Machine (Squier VM Jazz fretless with Creamery pu's). I'll do another clip later that better show the strings in the 'raw' as it were.

 

60_Seamoon sub-dub.mp3

[Lo-E]

6 hours ago, basstone said:

My next move might be to sell one of my jazz basses and invest in an NS design Omni bass. I would love to try one out sometime to see how they play and sound

I ended up with one of the Czech NS CR basses and I really enjoy playing it….  but it sounds more like a fretless electric than it does a URB, I’m afraid. 
 

I’d still recommend it, though. It’s great fun to play!

[Boodang]

7 hours ago, Lo-E said:

I ended up with one of the Czech NS CR basses and I really enjoy playing it….  but it sounds more like a fretless electric than it does a URB, I’m afraid. 
 

I’d still recommend it, though. It’s great fun to play!

I have a CR4 and I agree, it sounds more like a giant fretless. And yes, great fun to play.

I found the TC Electronic Bodyrez pedal helps with the sound. Designed to put life back into piezo pickup guitars, works well on the CR.

[Boodang]

 

Galli Synthesis update.... so, on my Squier Jazz VM  the strings are great, no issues now they're settled in and love the flexible feel and the tone is nice and open.

The above pics are from a set I was going to put on a new fretless but decided to use TI flats instead. As I was coiling up the E string I slightly over did the radius and pop! The chrome windings split open in 5 places. And when I said I over did the radius I do mean only by a bit, I wasn't being brutal and tying knots with it as I know they're delicate. Well, when they say delicate they mean it!

Having said that, they're not delicate once strung up and I've had no issues on my Jazz. Once out the packet though, they're getting put back in, just in case!

Edited March 9, 2022 by Boodang

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Ouch! I have a set of the Galli-made Kala u-bass strings which I believe have the same construction as these. I'll be sure to take extra care if I ever have to temporarily take them off my u-bass .