[Scott Pope]

Follow up to the above posts: had a wedding reception gig this weekend. Good room, appreciative family & guests, etc. Great gig. The room had a lot of inherent clarity which benefitted the band greatly, and helped me truly judge their character in an amplified gig setting (Full Circle mounted "upside down" into a fdeck HPF "Pro" II buffer/preamp/high pass, then into a Carvin MB-12 combo). The band, especially the band leader, who is also the drummer and a high school band director, really like the way the Bels sound on my CCB, with a Spiro 3885.5W 3/4 Weich E string to balance the Bels ADG.

On my bass, the G is solid, not twangy or thin (it is with a Spiro Weich as well, where a lot of folks complain about twang); the A & D have good harmonic character and carry; and the Spiro E string has just that much more presence to really coordinate well with balanced tension and "feel," as opposed to the Bel E which this bass just doesn't have the fundamental resonance to take advantage of. (Of course not - it's ply, which makes it better for the amplified jazz/dance gigs I do)

Compared to the Spiros S42W that were on the bass previously, these definitely have a more "round" tone. Not quite the "growl," but more fitting for the two bands I'm in playing standards. The Spiros had so much growl on this particular instrument, on the request of another friend who is a teacher and occasional bandleader, I actually used my CCB in place of an electric bass guitar for an electric country/classic rock crossover gig with him last year. The added tension of the Bels over the Spiros S42W's has changed the "mechanical impedance" (engineering term for resonance) of the bass, almost eliminating the hot open D string I discussed in a prior thread.

Yes, for lack of any better description, I think the phrase posted above, "gut-sy," meaning slightly less overtone development than other steel strings conventionally associated with playing jazz/dance music, along with a slightly damped sustain, is good. These characteristics make it easier to keep time and intonation cleaner on this bass. The only nit so far is that the G string could actually use a hair more sustain; but nothing is perfect, and of course it's only noticable on ballads (where I probably should be playing two halfs instead of a whole note at slower tempos, anyway to keep the band steady).

Finally, after playing them for three sets, if a player is more used to something like the Spiro S42 Weich set, Innovation Honeys, Velvet Blues, or other strings with true light tension, the Bels are more of a workout, but not the workout that playing a full set of Spiro Mittels is.