Passione Strings (Regular & Stark)

[Thomas Erickson]

And my original comment re chops was a little silly too. so yeah, you're right, there's a need for all different strings. I was just commenting on a trend that I see and find a little annoying is all, no big deal.

[Abe Gumroyan]

Ken,

What are the differences you hear & feel between the Passione & Belcanto ? I am reluctant to change the belcanto set on my Martin as they give a great "boom" and spread sonically. I briefly tried a set of original flexs when I first purchased my bass and they choked it out so I am assuming my bass likes low to medium tension. My only gripe with the belcantos is that their dynamic range is quite limited but I put up with it because of the compromise of sound and response. Are the passione strings quick to speak like the bels ?... Also, I just checked Pirastro's website and found that they offer a Stark set now. Any suggestions would be useful.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Abe Gumroyan

Ken,

What are the differences you hear & feel between the Passione & Belcanto ? I am reluctant to change the belcanto set on my Martin as they give a great "boom" and spread sonically. I briefly tried a set of original flexs when I first purchased my bass and they choked it out so I am assuming my bass likes low to medium tension. My only gripe with the belcantos is that their dynamic range is quite limited but I put up with it because of the compromise of sound and response. Are the passione strings quick to speak like the bels ?... Also, I just checked Pirastro's website and found that they offer a Stark set now. Any suggestions would be useful.

I have them on two basses (no ext.) and they play easier to me than the Bel's. I don't have the Starks yet to comment but I did suggest to Pirastro to make them. They said NO at that time. It seems as if I was not the only one testing them that gave the same feedback. The tension is similar to Weich Evahs with the gauges of the Flex. 92s and the smoothness of the Bel's and a slight bow grab/bite almost like the Spiro Weichs. Basically, about the best I have tested in a long long time.

[Vincent Trautwein]

I've been playing the starks for a couple weeks now, really nice strings. Loads of cojones and bow really well.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Vincent Trautwein

I've been playing the starks for a couple weeks now, really nice strings. Loads of cojones and bow really well.

I have a set here now but have not decided on a bass to put them on yet. I have used the regular set on 4 of my basses now. One of the sets I moved from one bass to another and the others put on fresh. One of the sets is with the extension E/C, on my Mittenwald bass.

I have to say that so far, they are the smoothest/sweetest combined strings I have found for bowing. On the basses I have them on, Pizz is no problem either regardless of the style being jazz or classical. The most common type bass of the group is my German/Mittenwald. On that bass it works either way. On the other hand, I had Flex. Starks and it was just as good all around then, just tighter and required more bow pressure. I also have them on my Sirleto, a modern Italian bass. They bowed great on that bass but was a bit dry for jazz playing. I switched them with the Evah's that were on my Malvolti so now both basses seem happier..

As soon as I have a bass that needs a new set, I will try the Starks out. Right now, all the basses are strung just fine.

[Ken Smith]

Ok, a few days ago I put the Stark Passione's on my Panormo School bass and I used it last night for the first time with them other than a few minutes here and there testing in the office. I have to say that on this bass, they feel as soft and smooth as on the other basses with the regular set. The tension and thickness is only just slightly more but feels softer then the Original Flat Chromes (with stark 92 E/C) that came off the bass. I like them!

[Ken Smith]

First off, let me say my intention is not to battle between these two very fine strings of which I use both of them.

My Hart as of this morning had a set of Belcantos on it. They were put on over a year ago but they went on the Martini for awhile and then I started testing some other strings so they were on and off 4x between the 2 basses by the time they were back on the Hart.

My Mittenwald/Neuner bass also as of a few hours ago had a fairly new set of Passione's on it.

I was curious how the Passione's would sound and feel on the Hart but because I was happy with the Bel's as they were the best string tried on that bass yet, I left well enough alone.

Today after lunch I came in to the shop and first swapped out just the G-strings. Both basses sounded better under the bow and at least as good if not better for Pizz as well. The Hart was a little smoother and softer to play and the Neuner was more focused and powerful as well. The Neuner has a higher arch Top as compared to the flatter arched Hart so probably, tension on the belly has something to do with this as well.

After swapping the rest of the strings from both basses it feels like I now have a better string on them. That is, in my opinion for my playing.

So, you never really know until you try it, at least in this case. Both basses played and sounded good before but now, each bass I think is slightly better.

[Ken Smith]

I just took off a fairly well used set of Flex 92's Stark gauge with the E/C to match from my Neuner/Mittenwald bass. I had them on a couple of basses over the last year or so. Taking the strings on and off adds to their demise eventually.

So, I have my original set or Passione Starks (with E/C) that were also on 2 other basses as well that I had kept around as spares. So, with nearly as much playing but as much on and off business, I just put them on the Neuner and they sound good.

I think they hold up just as well as the 92s have for age and bass changing. They actually feel great on the Neuner. It might be the best string for that bass yet. I'll leave them on for the rest of the season and see how they hold up as I use this bass for some of my concerts and most of my rehearsals as well as any Jazz gigs I do.