Pirastro-Evah Pirazzi

[Marcus Johnson]

Okay, played the first gig last night, an unamplified duo. When compared to Obligatos, the Pirazzis feel much more substantial, slightly higher in tension. They feel quite a bit like Olivs to me. No roll at all. Nice strong fundamental when pizzed, and very even throughout their range. Just bigger overall sound than Oblis. The E may be slightly lacking at this point, but I need to give them a chance to get used to the bass and vice versa. Maybe play with the string height a bit.

I can't address the orchestral arco issue, but my early impressions of the jazz arco capabilities are very positive. Lovely, complex tone, and they respond very quickly on my bass. I actually found myself looking forward to bowing improvised solos, and going for ideas that I might have balked at on other strings. I'm looking forward to exploiting this aspect of these strings.

I think they're a winner. They aren't Olivs, but they're pretty close for a fraction of the price. We'll see how it pans out, I have lots of gigging and recording coming up.