Good old Weichs!

[Eddue Johnson]

I agree that Spirocore weichs are great hybrid string, as well as the entire Spirocore family of strings. I recently started using Spiro starks and feel like they are under rated as a hybrid string. My main bass has Dominants, which are also a good hybrid string but with a completely different sound and feel.

I think one reason weichs and most other Thomastik strings are overlooked as hybrids because to get the best out of them you need the proper setup, which will be different than the standard jazz or orchestra setup. In my area, most of the jazz bassists use Thomastiks and have their basses setup with the typical low bridge height and lower tension weichs, great for pizz but requiring a lot more effort to get a good arco tone. Somewhat the opposite for orchestra players but they rarely use Spirocores around here. And I have heard many guys say that it's too hard to play 3 or 4 jazz sets a night with a bridge set at the typical arco basist's height, even when using weichs or solos, not to mention mittles or starks!

But with the right setup, on the right bass, weichs can be great hybrids.