Belcantos for Jazz?

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Ken, I noticed that you wrote this at 3 AM! Had you stayed up late, or gotten up early? Did Claudia kick you out of bed (again)? Your friends are worried about you, old guy...

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

Ken, I noticed that you wrote this at 3 AM! Had you stayed up late, or gotten up early? Did Claudia kick you out of bed (again)? Your friends are worried about you, old guy...

Arnold, this is off topic! Do you have something ON topic to say?

I was up late and worked late. I was playing at the office on these strings till 1:30am. I stopped playing to come home and sleep.

Everything at home is just fine and dandy..

Did Barb make you sleep in the Barn again with the Horses? Is that why you are talking like this, so grumpy and bitter?

Belcantos for a 'different' old Jazz sound.. Regardless of where the misses makes you sleep..

[Adrian Juras]

Its too bad they don't make a Stark Belcanto E. That would probably work out nicely for a darker pizz tone.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Adrian Juras

Its too bad they don't make a Stark Belcanto E. That would probably work out nicely for a darker pizz tone.

As a matter of opinion, the Extension E/C to 'me' is a Stark in comparison. Coming from using 92s and comparing the regular or even the E/C 92, the Stark 92 is about as different in comparison to MY feel as the E/C Belcanto to the regular Bel E.

The don't call it a Stark but it feels like it.

My Martini with 92s needs the Stark 92 E/C. The Hart with 92s is just fine with the regular E/C 92 at about .102, the regular E being about .098. The Stark 92 is about .106. I had the same Belcanto set on both Basses. The E felt TOO heavy on the Hart but felt great on the Martini. I had another set on my Gilkes as well and the E/C was only a tad heavy by comparison. So, it depends on the Bass. Some older basses need regular gauges and some more robust ones need the extra oomph to get the blood flowing..

All of the above Bass comparisons have C-Extensions.

[Richard Prowse]

I found the pizz feel of the Bel Canti slightly light on my plywood, but I'm loving it on my carved - they've been on for a year now and they will be staying. I'm looking forward to lots of jazz gigs - you know me, forever the optimist.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

Ken, I noticed that you wrote this at 3 AM! Had you stayed up late, or gotten up early? Did Claudia kick you out of bed (again)? Your friends are worried about you, old guy...

Yeah, who the hell wound him up. My ear is still sore from a recent phone conversation we had. Check that.....He had.

EDIT: I laid the phone down, went to the can, checked the mail, made lunch and called my Doc on my cell about my bleeding ear and he was still going a mile a minute.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Yeah, who the hell wound him up. My ear is still sore from a recent phone conversation we had. Check that.....He had.

EDIT: I laid the phone down, went to the can, checked the mail, made lunch and called my Doc on my cell about my bleeding ear and he was still going a mile a minute.

Oh Really? That's good to know..

[Joel Larsson]

A friend who manages to make a living as a jazz player just recently switched to the Bels, and he likes them. Myself, admittedly being a half-arsed jazz player but I do enjoy to thump away every once in a while, also like them. I think Ken is right that they sure don't have the buzz (or the 'mmMWAAAH', as it has also been called) that some want but they are still clearly steel strings—they could be said to be 'gutsy' compared to other steels, but they are hardly gut! So, they're nicely in between the extremes... I like that. Now, how did they work with amplification?

[Richard Prowse]

Originally Posted by Joel Larsson

Now, how did they work with amplification?

Mine amplify fine.

[Paul Warburton]

They didn't have enough "point" or sustain, at least on my bass.

[Richard Prowse]

I played mine quite a few times in a loud Irish band (I don't enjoy playing my DB at that volume) and they seemed to cope, almost as well as the Weichs. I like as little amplification as possible for jazz, so they're closer to the acoustic sound. They sound great acoustic - I played a few 'folk' jams like that and they seemed to power through all the bl00dy mandolins, fiddles, squeeze boxes and guitars.