Passione Strings (Regular & Stark)

[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.

[Eduardo Barbosa]

Hi Ken,
Would you mind comparing the Passione regular gauge with Evahs weich?
Both for arco and pizz.
I like the way you describe strings and I feel that I get a very good idea of what they sound like. When I try to read posts on TB about strings I end up more confused! lol
Anyway, I love the Evahs on my bass for orchestral playing, and surprisingly enough if I have to use the same bass for a Jazz gig they sound great too. Occasionally I feel like they take a bit more effort to control up in thumb position.
I wonder how the Passiones compare. Especially for pizz. Are they darker sounding then Evahs? do they have more sustain than Evahs?
Thank you.