You guys got me thinking. I was going to change the strings on
the Sirleto Bass last week to maybe use in the Fall but then decided it was not worth the hour to do the work and left the old Helicore's on the bass.
I just came in the office to do a little work and practice and pulled out the Sirleto and the other set of the Passione strings and started to change them. I only played them briefly but changing them one at a time I was able to test each new string with the remaining old Helicores which are not all that old. They were fairly new and came off another bass and on to this bass so just slightly used.
The differences/comparisons I noticed right away in seconds were regarding the tension, tone, bowing and overall feel.
Tension: They are lighter tension than Helicore Orchestras. All gauges but the D are slightly smaller. The E being the biggest difference but the D was slightly bigger by about .002".
Tone: The strings are sweeter and ring more freely than the Helicores.
Bowing: Right away I noticed they bowed easier. Also with less tension, the A string which had a noticeable 'wolf' with the Helicores is almost gone with the Passione's.
Overall feel: With the tension a bit less now the strings feel slightly higher as there is less tension now on the Bridge, letting the Top breathe a bit more freely. I noticed this as well with another bass recently taking off one set and putting on another with less tension. This is also good for the health of older basses as well. The Sirleto however is 'barely legal' and just turned 18 this year. The Top is well arched and has tight even grained spruce in virgin condition. No cracks but a few nicks on the edges. So it's just Legal and still Virgin..
This is a bass I am talking about guys so keep your comments clean..
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The Sirleto is now more fun to play with these string than just an hour ago or ever before. I think these strings will stay on the bass until they need replacing. The only other string I have ever had on it that I can remember were an older set of Flexocors and that was when I first got it about 2-3 years ago or so. Recently I had the Back restored and the Gears changed which afterwords I just put on whatever was lying around, the Helicore's.
I still think that the gauge of these strings feel a bit soft in comparison to other Orchestra strings. I would like to see Pirastro come out with a slightly heavier gauge/tension model string for heavy Orchestra playing. These might be too soft for some players, some basses or both.
This new string model is here to stay. Now we just need a few more gauges within the same formula.
Also, on a separate note, I want to thank Abe who first told me about these strings before they came out on the market.