Which 'B'?

[Pete George]

I used to use Jazzers on B and E on my Kolstein Fendt, and they were surprisingly good. I liked the Spirocores even better. I'm not sure which way I'm going to go on my new 5-string, but I'm dying to try the Evah Pirazzi B.

[Pete George]

Originally Posted by Pete George

I used to use Jazzers on B and E on my Kolstein Fendt, and they were surprisingly good. I liked the Spirocores even better. I'm not sure which way I'm going to go on my new 5-string, but I'm dying to try the Evah Pirazzi B.

The Spiro B appears to be the best choice on the Elias as well -- for me, anyway. Plenty of power, and it articulates as well as anything I've tried.

[Ken Smith]

Does anyone have an old usable 'B' they could send my way to cut down on testing costs? Spiro, Superflexable, Permanent? Something?

[Arnold Schnitzer]

I just strung up a new fiver. I had a new set of BelCantos already for the top four, so I needed a low B that would blend, but with gusto. My supplier had just a few in stock, so I chose a Thomastic Superflexible (rope core, blue silk ends). I remembered that Orin O'Brien and others in the NY Philharmonic section use this as their low string. It works beautifully. Clear, strong fundamental, and pretty good grab with the bow. Not quite as easy to grab as the BelCantos, but worth it for the slightly brighter tone, which I feel you want on the bottom. My pet peeve with many string sets (mainly Pirastro) is that as you progress from top to bottom, the strings seem to get increasingly dark. I believe the opposite is desireable. By the way, this string measures a whopping .147"!

[Anselm Hauke]

+1 on the superflexible
when i had my symphony-orchestra job i had a complete (very old) set of superflex on my fiver.
bowing was great, pizz very good, and the low strings were bright enough to hear yourself good in the section