Quote:
Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer
I received a set the other day and put them on a mint 1960s Juzek. My impressions so far are mixed. The feel is a bit stiff to me and the pizz tone is on the dry side. Arco response is so-so. I like the arco tone. I'm kind of scratching my head so far, not sure if I like them or not. They seem to me like darker-sounding Dominants, but not quite that stiff.
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Arnold, trying a new set on a factory made Bass may not be the best way to test them. I think if you pick a high quality handmade Bass that you know, judging the results will tell you more about about the string that you can tell from a German Shop Bass. True, there are 1000's of these Basses in the world but I think only a smaller percentage of them used for bowing.
AT least we know it may not be the best string for that type of Bass. I put them on my Gilkes which is a Bass you did a long and fine restoration on. I must say the Bass has never sounded or played better and I have used several types of strings in the search both before and after the restoration.
The Pizz on the Gilkes for either Jazz or Bowing is about the best it has ever been. The Gilkes sounds noticeably louder than I have ever heard it. It has always bowed smooth so there was little room for improvement there. They do however remind me a bit of Oliv's which I have used on the Martini and some combo with G & D Oliv's on 2 other Basses. I think for me they Bow at least as good as any other great string. As a matter of fact, when bowing the G on the Gilkes if I move the Bow a bit sloppy, the string doesn't catch as well. With these new EPs, they catch even on bad strokes.
Each type of set out there has their own feel and design. The Basses themselves seem to decide which string it wants. When the 'sweet spot' is found string-wise, you will know it.