Pirastro Permanents

[stan haskins]

The Permanents are pretty good right out of the box. They sound alot more "brilliant" then what I'm used to (Heliocores - won't be going back to those), and I hope that translates into "penetrating" or "projecting" in a big room. They still have a good deep fundamental tone, though. . . .

They're lower tension than what I expected, which I guess might end up being a good thing in the long run (and my bass seems to like it). I think I'm going to miss a little tension under the bow, though.

[Brian Gencarelli]

Originally Posted by stan haskins

The Permanents are pretty good right out of the box. They sound alot more "brilliant" then what I'm used to (Heliocores - won't be going back to those), and I hope that translates into "penetrating" or "projecting" in a big room. They still have a good deep fundamental tone, though. . . .

They're lower tension than what I expected, which I guess might end up being a good thing in the long run (and my bass seems to like it). I think I'm going to miss a little tension under the bow, though.

Stan,

Now that you've had them on the bass for a while, how are you liking the perms?

[stan haskins]

I like them. For some reason, it's easiest for me to describe tone and timbre as color: the Permanents have more bright blue in them. They are pretty responsive to the bow, and are definitely louder than the Heliocores were (which had more reddish/lavender tone to them).

The sound is not as "rounded out" as I eventually want it to be, but they will easily do for a while . . . maybe I'll try something else next year.

I'm planning to put some new recordings up early this summer, I'll let you know when I do.

[Brenton Carter]

"The Permanents are pretty good right out of the box. They sound alot more "brilliant" then what I'm used to (Heliocores - won't be going back to those), and I hope that translates into "penetrating" or "projecting" in a big room. They still have a good deep fundamental tone, though. . . .

They're lower tension than what I expected, which I guess might end up being a good thing in the long run ..."

in my own experience and upon my teacher's advice, thomastik is a bit hit and miss: their quality assurance doesn't seem to be as good as pirastro, especially with helicores. i've played on some helicore that sounded 3 years old and others that sounded okay... something i'd recommend for a student to stay away from.

permanents were nice on my bass. they were really well balanced across and very even when extending in the upper registers. plenty of power all over too. they are one of the best sets of strings (if not the best i've experienced) for standing out a little bit in your section: if your sound doesn't have the bite to stand out. and a little less tension on your top is good for your bass. if it's too low, you can mix them with some Original Flat Chrome on the bass side... might be unbalanced though.

they do have initially alot of nice ring to them, but after a while mine sort of seemed dead and made my bass sound more "woody" than i'd like it to (a sound that has become pretty unpopular with some recent audition committees).

i've been using flexocores and will probably remind my ears how permanents sound sometime soon.

...my cents

[Eric Hochberg]

I think your confused here, Brenton. Helicores are made by D'Addario, not Thomastik. Also, what is this "woody" thing you and audition committees don't like? That is the term many bassists use to describe an ideal sound.

[Brenton Carter]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

I think your confused here, Brenton. Helicores are made by D'Addario, not Thomastik. Also, what is this "woody" thing you and audition committees don't like? That is the term many bassists use to describe an ideal sound.

right! whoops. thanks for the correction... all the same, though.

i prefer some ring to the strings as well as that deep, chocolate tone. when my permanents needed changing they seemed to have a "woody" tone which i'm not necessarily saying that's what happened in auditions... i wasn't there, but that's the rumor i was joking about from the talkbass forums.

regardless, i think that any string set needs the right person and the right bass. permanents were right for me and i would recommend them.

[Richard Prowse]

My Bel Canti are sounding pretty good right now - nice and dark down low. Well, defined up high, though they have a tendency to 'squeak' if I don't bow them just right, with plenty of right hand pressure - I guess that's probably my problem, or the height of my setup (a little high in thumb pos.), but the Weichs don't seem to do that on my other bass.
Added later: Yes, the squeaking is me, not the strings. Sorry.