Jazz/Pizz String taste and choices...

[Brian Glassman]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

That "zing" up on the Spiro G is literally the only thing I don't like about them. It bugs me the most when I'm playing through the pickup. I'm now using the AMT mic for just about everything, so a lot of that is not a problem anymore. I'm really loving that mic right now! It's actually helping to delay my next string purchase, because my current Spiro set sounds so great.

Greg, I think you'll like the Obligatos. They are really hard to beat, given the price. On my bass, they are warmer and darker than Spiros, a little more diffused sounding. The growl is still there, but a little less ubergrowly than Spiros. Arco is lovely. I guess I got about a year out of my last set. The G string zing is less pronounced than Spiros. I never really got rid of the zing factor until I used Animas.

Lately I've been using Spiro Mittels on E, A and D, w/ a Superflexible G. I'm really enjoying this combo right now on my Prescott.
Less zing on the G, bows a bit better and still matches up really well w/ the Spiros and bright enough for this dark bass. Also the SF has a really pure tone on the open G. I liked it so much I tried switching to a SF D string as well. It was good for arco, but I felt it had too fat a diameter and was not such a great match next to the Spiro A. I went back to the Spiro D. I like strings on the fresh side and I play this bass alot, so I never have strings on longer than 7-8 months. I'm in that zone where they are just broken in nicely and are at optimum playability and sound .

On a related topic, I can't help thinking how w/ Weichs, a Mittel E is really more balanced to the set. So maybe it is also true that a Spiro Stark E would be a better match for a Mittel set.

Any comments?

BG