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Old 03-15-2007, 04:33 PM
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Lightbulb "Flexocor strings info from Ken Smith" (from TB, 2005)

This is a retrieval of a Thread I authored on TB first posted on 10/28/05. It was a sticky and locked for over a year up until about a month ago. Now this information is burred way down the list. My intention here is to have the information available which took me many months of testing across mane basses of various Pedigrees and price points. We can now discuss this once again and continue the topic over here.
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Stark Es Last night (10/27/05) I did some work on my 7/8 Shen. I pulled out a reg set of Flexs and the E was for the Ext, 210mm.. Oops.. way way too long. So I took out a Stark E from another set I had and mixed it with 3 regular Flexs. It works great tension and tone wise. So I can tell you that no matter what Bass I try them on, the Stark E IS the fix for the reg Flex E.

The Stark E is about .105" The reg Flex E is about .096". The Reg Ext.E that I just got (my first one) measures about .100. I think this is closer to where the set needs to be. I wont know of course until I use it on a Bass with a C ext with regular Flexs. If this works good on the latched E, I will ask Pirastro to make this gauge in the regular length or maybe with a .102 thickness as all the other Starks are within .003 or less of the reg Gauges.

For now though, The Stark E handles all the problems of the Flex weak E syndrome. No more mixing Helicore, Permanent or Orig Flex Es to get the proper tension. When you do this to match tension, you also have the side effect or mis-matched tone. Keep it all Flexs and keep your tone where it belongs, Even!

BTW, a special thanks to francois at TB as he was the one to guide me thru all these String things when I started back playing after a 15yr retirement. Thanks francois, it was you that kept me on track and put me in touch with Pirastro to learn all these things about the new styles available now. Also, thanks to you, I have re-discovered the Jaegar Strings and taken a liking to the Forte reds (Stark in Jaegar series) on one of my Basses. I love the soft feel under my fingers and the smooth dark tone my Dodd produces with them. I have an invitation to play the Trout next week in a Chamber quintet. I brought the Gilkes last year for this. I think it's time to try the Dodd and Jaegars and see how the blend in a small setting. In the Orchestra, they are perfect for this Bass. They do require a bit of Bow pressure on the E and some on the A but after all, I am using a Bultitude Bow. It's like a Bazooka hitting a Tank. Or in more peaceful terms, it's like Meat 'n' potatoes or Peas 'n' Carrots.. Take your pick...
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Old 03-15-2007, 04:34 PM
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Lightbulb Post #2, "Flex Es".. (from 10/30/05)

I was up at Arnolds places yesterday (AES) with my Shen to get a new Sound Post fitted. He got to try it with 3 reg flexs and the Stark flex E. He agreed and mentioned that in the future, he would order his Flexs in like that.

I mainly went up to retrieve my 5er that needed the neck re-set and neck block repaired. It is strung with flex G&D and Perm A,E&B. The reason is that I had 2&2 on my Martini because the E was too thin so I put the Perm and it balanced better with A&E matched.

Again here, if I had known about the Stark flexs which by the way are not listed anywhere, I would have just gotten the bigger/better matching E string. The Perms would never have gotten a second look at all.

So, if the E is too flabby, get the Stark. If you need the tone darker and don't mind a slight drop in presence of volume, get the Jaegars. They are balanced in feel and tone to my ear. At a distance however, there is little if any loss in volume. It's just a different type of sound. More spread and less direct penetration from what I can tell but neither is better than the other.
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Old 03-15-2007, 04:35 PM
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Lightbulb Post #3, "Defining".. (from 11/17/05)

Regular Flexocor is the old formula now called just Flexocor or Flexocor 92s. The string they call Original Flexocor is NOT at all anything like the Flexocor of the 60s and 70s. The current regular Flexocor or 92s is the closest thing to the old formula. Pirastro seems to lazy I guess to re-name their brands. Maybe they are concerned it will confuse us even more. They should switch and call the 92s 'Old Formula' and the Originals should be called NEW Flexocor which are heavier gauge than the Medium regular 92. Because of the thickness they DO sound darker after they break in BUT the 92s Thick/Stark would be even darker sounding right out of the gate and after the break in as well.

The combination I referred to on my Shen was all Regular 92s Flexocor with Medium G,D and A with the E being the Stark/Thick gauge. I don't know why Lemur calls them 'thick' when Pirastro prints 'Stark' on the package. Maybe it means 'thick' in English.

I have the Original Flexocor (dark Blue threads) on my Martini and it is currently getting an Extension Fitted. I will use a Permanent 'E/C' on it to start since I already had it on the Morelli and took it off. When I get the chance and these get old or I get tired of them, I would like to try regular Medium Flexocors on that Bass as the 'E/C' Ext. string is .100 instead of .097 on the standard 'E' length string. I don't know why they do that. I think .100, .102 or even .105 would be a better match for the medium set.

I will update this thread after I get the Martini back.
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Old 03-15-2007, 04:37 PM
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Lightbulb Post #4, "The Martini is Back".. (from 12/26/05)

Ok, as promised I am posting some results and an addition.

On the Martini with the Orig flex and Perm E/C, the sound was nice unless you had been using reg Flex Starks. I could hear the edge on each the note when a great player from the NYC Ballet was trying the Martini up at Arnolds as well as when Arnold or myself played it. It did not at all sound bad. It just didn't sound as good as it would after changing strings. The Martini has good mids in the tone and needs the darker Stark reg Flexs for my ear. I soon put the reg Flex Starks on all 4 strings and the sound was darker, smoother and more even than I had ever heard the Bass. I think Arnolds Ext and some tweaking was partly to blame! I prefer this set to all other Pirastro strings now personally.

A few months ago I sent a very old set of Flexocors to Pirastro to test. They looked like the reg Flex but the gauges on all but the G were much heavier than even the Starks. Last week, Pirastro sent me a letter saying 'These are pre-1991 strings and are similar to our new Orig Flex" and sent me a set as a thank you for me efforts. I now went and measured the Orig Flexs and noticed the gauges were similar but the sound is not. I still think the reg Flex is the closest sound to the Old Flexs pre 1991. I just hope the keep offering the Stark gauges as they seem to be the best I have found.
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Old 03-15-2007, 04:49 PM
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Lightbulb Today... Current thoughts on Flexocor..

It has been over a year since I did these tests and had had the chance to play a few more Basses with these Stark Flexs on them. The current list includes the Martini, Dodd, Gilkes, Bisiach, Loveri and Prescott. I have also used regular Flex gauge with only the Stark 'E' on a few Basses including my Shen and Storioni attributed cornerless Bass. On a few basses I have tried Reg Flex G and D with Permanent A and E on my Martini, Gilkes and Shen.

So, what do I think works best? I have no clue! My ears are shot and my fingers and hands hurt from changing strings..lol

BUT, I am now liking the Stark E-only mix on the Storioni and the complete Stark set on the Martini. Why? Because each Bass feels best at a certain tension and at certain times of the year. This due sometimes to the Sound Post being tighter or looser as the Bass moves thru the seasons.

So, what's your thoughts on this?
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Old 03-18-2007, 02:26 AM
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After going through all those string changes, you finally come to the conclusion that the best strings are, well, you don't know. It all depends on the conditions you stated, right?

My thoughts on this matter are that you really do have to find a good string setup if your current string setup is not making the grade for you. But at the same time, the quest to find the perfect string down to a T will not exactly help you that much.



For example, on my school's plywood Christopher, I ordered a set of Kolstein Varicores just to see how the strings were. I was interested in 70% arco/ 30% pizzicato, and I heard these strings were okay, but not great for pizzicato, and decent for arco. Actually, there wasn't much info at all on the strings, except that the G-string was nasally, but has been improved since.

The result? The strings were pretty good for arco and pizz, just as I expected. Not great, but just good. The G-string was very nasally sounding. I expected it to mellow out over the months. It never did.

I eventually jumped the gun and bought a used Flexocor set, minus the E-string. I replaced the Varicore G with the Flexocor G and voila, problem solved. The best G string I have ever heard and played.

The only other problems? I don't have a car, and haven't gotten this bass setup in years. So when playing the G-string from the A-flat to E-flat with the bow, the string buzzes. A lot. A proper setup will probably solve this problem. Also, this is a plywood bass, so its arco sound is not very good.

My school's other bass is a 1960's-ish carved Juzek. Its major problem before was that it had the oldest set of D'Addario Helicore Orchestrals on them. The sound with the bow was excrucating and screechy.

I replaced the strings last year with a new set of Helicore Orchestrals. The set, given only a bit used from another bassist, seemed to be a lighter guage set. When I first played it, I still found the sound somewhat scratchy compared to the Varicores (minus the G-string).

About a year later, guess which bass I'm playing? The Juzek. And the reasons?

Well, for one thing, I just couldn't stand the buzzes on the Christopher anymore.

But now I found the Helicores to be not just a tolerable string, but a pretty good all-around string. One reason is that they are on the carved Juzek, a major step up from the Christopher. But the other reasons are that I started using a better bow, and my arco technique has improved since a year ago.




So what's my point for this winding post? Basically, with enough practice and better equipment (bass and bow), the string choice becomes less relevant.

You definitely have to find a decent string setup to go along with a good bass and bow. But once you do, you should put less time towards finding that perfect string setup and more time towards practicing to improve your technique. At the end of the day, the time that you spend practicing will help you a lot more than the time that you spend looking for better strings.

Ken, you yourself said after looking and looking, you had no clue what were the best strings out there, just that you found a very good string setup for your basses



So does looking for the perfect string setup do any good? Definitely.

Because, if it were not for bassists' (not just us, all musicians) neurotic and obsessive tendency towards finding the best strings possible, the string manufacturers would settle for making 'good enough' strings. Instead, they give us a pretty large variety of choices for strings, and they also work on introducing new strings as well as improve old strings based on the feedback we give from our preferences and observations on what works and what doesn't.
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Old 08-02-2010, 02:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith View Post
Ok, as promised I am posting some results and an addition.

On the Martini with the Orig flex and Perm E/C, the sound was nice unless you had been using reg Flex Starks. I could hear the edge on each the note when a great player from the NYC Ballet was trying the Martini up at Arnolds as well as when Arnold or myself played it. It did not at all sound bad. It just didn't sound as good as it would after changing strings. The Martini has good mids in the tone and needs the darker Stark reg Flexs for my ear. I soon put the reg Flex Starks on all 4 strings and the sound was darker, smoother and more even than I had ever heard the Bass. I think Arnolds Ext and some tweaking was partly to blame! I prefer this set to all other Pirastro strings now personally.

A few months ago I sent a very old set of Flexocors to Pirastro to test. They looked like the reg Flex but the gauges on all but the G were much heavier than even the Starks. Last week, Pirastro sent me a letter saying 'These are pre-1991 strings and are similar to our new Orig Flex" and sent me a set as a thank you for me efforts. I now went and measured the Orig Flexs and noticed the gauges were similar but the sound is not. I still think the reg Flex is the closest sound to the Old Flexs pre 1991. I just hope the keep offering the Stark gauges as they seem to be the best I have found.
Ken - do you know if there's a way to tell the pre-1991 flexos from the current "original flexo"? I have a very old D and G that I love, but I'm not sure if they're just really well used (former teacher took them off his orchestra bass, gave 'em to a broke student (me) who played 'em for years) or a different string altogether because they seem better than the current "originals". They measure about <.06 for the G and >.07 for the D. Digital caliper isn't very accurate.
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Old 08-02-2010, 03:52 AM
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Default .06?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Erickson View Post
Ken - do you know if there's a way to tell the pre-1991 flexos from the current "original flexo"? I have a very old D and G that I love, but I'm not sure if they're just really well used (former teacher took them off his orchestra bass, gave 'em to a broke student (me) who played 'em for years) or a different string altogether because they seem better than the current "originals". They measure about <.06 for the G and >.07 for the D. Digital caliper isn't very accurate.
Measure in inches please. .049" is what it would be close to.

For older strings, look for a fine wire wrapped around the colored threads in the peg pox area. Those are the old ones. The Flexocor that I remember are the ruby color threads, not the dark blue. However, I have found both types with the wire threads up a the top.
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Old 08-02-2010, 04:16 AM
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Ok I remeasured a few more times; averaged out the G is .053 and the D .063. Final answer. These have the dark blue-purple silk on bottom, while up top they are the same but with the twist of silver wire. The last half of the D is red silk with the silver.

Pirastro really should post online a comprehensive chart showing all the different incarnations of their strings over the years - seems like nobody can keep this stuff straight. I'm probably the worst.
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Old 08-02-2010, 06:57 AM
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Cool them post?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Erickson View Post
Ok I remeasured a few more times; averaged out the G is .053 and the D .063. Final answer. These have the dark blue-purple silk on bottom, while up top they are the same but with the twist of silver wire. The last half of the D is red silk with the silver.

Pirastro really should post online a comprehensive chart showing all the different incarnations of their strings over the years - seems like nobody can keep this stuff straight. I'm probably the worst.
I have spoken with them and with someone here. Two conflicting stories. The NY guy tells me they were made here in USA and excess shipped back to Germany. The USA supplied strings made in USA. Pirastro denies that but my source knew the guy and company.

I have sent strings back to Pirastro in the past and they flat out deny what I have been told. They are very secretive about how things are made. For awhile, some believed that the current orig flex blue and the Original flatchrome white/blue were the exact same string. Pirastro sent me one of each and they are totally different in every way.

If they always made them in Germany, then why did they have to make the flex 92s and the orig flex all over again? They loose the recipe? Or, when the USA guy retired and closed up shop, he kept his info and just walked away?

So, regardless of what was, we have to deal in present time what is..
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Old 01-24-2013, 03:45 PM
Emanuele Carbone Emanuele Carbone is offline
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Default Midrangy "brassy" sound on new basses?

Hello,

I have a new "Stanzani" Italian double bass (105 cm, 3/4ish, flat-back) which is still "fresh" and quite on the bright side, tone-wise.

I bought it some months ago with a set of Flexocor (92's, the ruby wire ones) which I truly believe are "regular", quite a tested standard for bowing.

Well, compared to other basses around (which I have to say are old, or at least older and broken in - none of them has Flex mounted) my bass tends to have a fairly pronounced midrangy and ringing sound, full of those harmonics which remind me of a brass instrument, if you know what I mean. They project very well on upper solo registers, but the bass's sound is fairly thinner than those I have compared it with and tends to get scratchy, hollow and nasal during fast orchestra passages, at least from my point of listening, the player's one. Therefore, I find these strings a bit unforgiving: every minor bowing flaw seems to get through.

Now I'm starting to fancy a fairly punchier and bassier sound, with some more fundamental presence on this bass. Just to make a comparison with electric basses, which I hope won't sound stupid, it's as if I had a Fender Jazz and were looking for a timbre which is a bit more "MusicMan-ish"... and I love Fender Jazz basses, by the way!
The comparison could also be appropriate when talking about orchestra/small ensembe situations: there are times when it cuts through well, mostly during melodic passages, but overally I feel like the tone's a bit hollow within the "group".

What I'd like to know is:

- is that feeling quite common with these strings on new bright basses? Otherwise, are they a good way to judge whether a bass is a good-sounding one or not? I obviously hope that the earlier case is truer... I have to say that I tried to put a low E from a set of solo Flat-Chromesteel (white/blue wire) and it seems to sound creamier and fuller than the Flex E... even if it was meant to be tuned one tone higher! Unfortunately, the 3rd Flat-Cr. string tuned to A doesn't really work well instead.

- What would you suggest me as next replacement? I was thinking of Evah, or Obligato... would you throw in another option? I would avoid Belcanto because I'm afraid I'd still end up having a fairly nasal tone.

- According to my experience on this bass, I'd say that the Flexocor are a bit more suited for solo melodic playing rather than earthy orchestra passages. Is it true even if they are the choice for many orchestral players? Are they a good orchestral choice just for old or very dark basses?

Thank you in advance, thanks to Ken as well for this useful forum and to all its contributors!
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Old 01-24-2013, 04:19 PM
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Cool ok..

On your question for a more compatible string than the Flexocor lets look at a few points mentioned.

>>> Your bass is a fairly new modern bass and is life times away from being mellowed like an old Italian, that is a fact.

>>> The Flexocors sound rough and/or bright with some fast orchestra passages, correct?

I have experienced all of this so I know exactly how you feel, I think.

This thread above was done many years ago and since then, new strings have come out. On the Ogligato's and Evah's, you will encounter other problems in Orchestra bowing, different than the Flexocor so don't go that route.

I suggest the NEW Passione strings, new formula for your modern bass that will tame your roughness away. Get the regular gauge if you want them to be similar thickness to the the Flex.92s or, for a little more meat to dig into, I suggest the Stark gauge which I consider to be Medium gauge feel and the regular ones to be a light/weich gauge. Regular Flex.92s are lighter than most other orchestra strings as well.

New model Passione Starks. They play as good a Flexocors and smoother then Belcantos.

Every bass has its 'sweet spot' string wise. You just have to find yours and save from buying everything out there in the process.
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Old 06-19-2013, 08:53 PM
Emanuele Carbone Emanuele Carbone is offline
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Hi, I'm back to this topic since that set of orchestral Flexocor I was talking about in my previous post which sounds a bit dead to me (especially the A string) on my bass, recently surprised me when I tried to tune it one tone up for solo tuning: it comes to life! the 3rd string, from having no body and punch, comes alive and gets plenty of power as a B, the tension is tauter but fine for me... tuning it back to EADG makes it floppy and as I said before the 3rd string and particularly its open A doesn't seem to speak well, from what I hear when playing. Playing that A on the 4th string (eg: 4th finger in 1st and half position) doesn't help that much. Raising the bridge action doesn't help much as well.
If I tune them up to F#BEA (solo) and play that A on the 4th string (eg: 4th finger in half position, what you read as G but plays as A), the bass and the same note sounds way more convincing.

I know that you'd rather have the instrument in front of you, but basing on this feedback, would you say it's more likely to be the instrument itself having an issue with certain notes/frequencies or more simply (and hopefully) a quite unfortunate mismatch of string model and bass, which doesn't work as a combination for orchestra tuning and changing them in favour of a tauter, heavier set might do the trick?

The color code of the strings suggest they definitely are an orchestra setting, but they feel and sound better as solo
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Old 06-19-2013, 10:32 PM
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Lightbulb tension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emanuele Carbone View Post
Hi, I'm back to this topic since that set of orchestral Flexocor I was talking about in my previous post which sounds a bit dead to me (especially the A string) on my bass, recently surprised me when I tried to tune it one tone up for solo tuning: it comes to life! the 3rd string, from having no body and punch, comes alive and gets plenty of power as a B, the tension is tauter but fine for me... tuning it back to EADG makes it floppy and as I said before the 3rd string and particularly its open A doesn't seem to speak well, from what I hear when playing. Playing that A on the 4th string (eg: 4th finger in 1st and half position) doesn't help that much. Raising the bridge action doesn't help much as well.
If I tune them up to F#BEA (solo) and play that A on the 4th string (eg: 4th finger in half position, what you read as G but plays as A), the bass and the same note sounds way more convincing.

I know that you'd rather have the instrument in front of you, but basing on this feedback, would you say it's more likely to be the instrument itself having an issue with certain notes/frequencies or more simply (and hopefully) a quite unfortunate mismatch of string model and bass, which doesn't work as a combination for orchestra tuning and changing them in favour of a tauter, heavier set might do the trick?

The color code of the strings suggest they definitely are an orchestra setting, but they feel and sound better as solo
It's funny that you just posted on this because it was just today that I was talking strings with Arnold Schnitzer and at the ISB earlier this month while changing strings on some of his basses there he found the Flex 92s to work best on some basses. I asked him today because I was looking for a new string for one of my basses and wanted some suggestions. I took a set of 92s off a bass that had been there for 14 years and put it on the the bass I was trying to improve and they worked fine. In those 14 years however that other bass had barely been played, a 4/4 JB Allen that was restored in 1999. Being too big for most, it rarely gets tried out in the shop and has only been out on trial a few times in that period. So, under tension for 14 years but played maybe a month or two worth of regular hours in that time

On your bass, it might have a loose tension from many things, TP length/angle, Neck Set, thickness of neck and FB, bridge height, bassbar, top thickness, etc.. All these things can affect a bass's tension and some basses just work better with different string types and gauges.

I would suggest (if you like the 92s) to try the Stark gauge. They are only slightly thicker but have greater tension and a thicker and darker tone. Basses with lighter strength bellies (tops) would benefit from lighter strings.

So, try the Stark 92s if you liked your result tuning up with the regular gauge.
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Old 06-20-2013, 05:04 AM
Emanuele Carbone Emanuele Carbone is offline
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Thanks for your reply.

I wouldn't say my bass suffers from a bit more tension (in fact it proved the contrary), the top has a good curvature, it's not sunk at all, and though not overly thick it's not at all like one of those instruments which look like they would crack just by looking at them. It's like one of those new "9mm/1cm instruments" in their thickest top spot, if you know what I mean.

What leaves me a bit dubious is that they chose to add some sort of "side braces" on the inner parts of the ribs (parallel to the soundpost, I mean), I'd say two for each side on the bottom part and one over the C bout, if I'm not wrong.. they'd surely prevent the sides from warping, is that extra wood really necessary, though?

BTW, I'd personally go for a mellower, deeper and more robust kind of string than the Flex 92s the next time (they weren't my choice on that bass), a model you'd associate with "the orchestra sound", also because that bass is very young and rather bright for now.

That set of Flex sounds quite evenly when tuned up as solo, when tuned normally my feedback would be, from top to bottom and referring to my standpoint while playing:

G - A bit harsh at times, especially the open note. Acceptable, anyway

D - Quite warm and resonating, light-gauge feeling. The best sounding string

A - The worst. Thin, little body which "starts" later than the attack and anyway still sounds nasal to me, gets very scratchy especially in fast passages

E - Quite full sounding and resonating, way better than the A string... still a bit floppy and light-gauge in terms of feeling... we're talking of Flexs anyway!


So it seems that strings tend to sound better alternately (D and E), with the worst one being by far the A and the G being a bit harsh at times.

Recently, during an orchestral rehearsal, I asked another bassist to listen to my open strings some 6-7ish meters away. She said she heard them way more evenly sounding and less problematic than what I feel and fear. Still, they were long, open notes and I don't really like the response I get when I play at all when it comes to the A string.
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Old 06-20-2013, 11:33 AM
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Cool

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emanuele Carbone View Post
Thanks for your reply.

I wouldn't say my bass suffers from a bit more tension (in fact it proved the contrary), the top has a good curvature, it's not sunk at all, and though not overly thick it's not at all like one of those instruments which look like they would crack just by looking at them. It's like one of those new "9mm/1cm instruments" in their thickest top spot, if you know what I mean.

What leaves me a bit dubious is that they chose to add some sort of "side braces" on the inner parts of the ribs (parallel to the soundpost, I mean), I'd say two for each side on the bottom part and one over the C bout, if I'm not wrong.. they'd surely prevent the sides from warping, is that extra wood really necessary, though?

BTW, I'd personally go for a mellower, deeper and more robust kind of string than the Flex 92s the next time (they weren't my choice on that bass), a model you'd associate with "the orchestra sound", also because that bass is very young and rather bright for now.

That set of Flex sounds quite evenly when tuned up as solo, when tuned normally my feedback would be, from top to bottom and referring to my standpoint while playing:

G - A bit harsh at times, especially the open note. Acceptable, anyway

D - Quite warm and resonating, light-gauge feeling. The best sounding string

A - The worst. Thin, little body which "starts" later than the attack and anyway still sounds nasal to me, gets very scratchy especially in fast passages

E - Quite full sounding and resonating, way better than the A string... still a bit floppy and light-gauge in terms of feeling... we're talking of Flexs anyway!


So it seems that strings tend to sound better alternately (D and E), with the worst one being by far the A and the G being a bit harsh at times.

Recently, during an orchestral rehearsal, I asked another bassist to listen to my open strings some 6-7ish meters away. She said she heard them way more evenly sounding and less problematic than what I feel and fear. Still, they were long, open notes and I don't really like the response I get when I play at all when it comes to the A string.
I wasn't implying your top was thin. I was just showing the opposite of what your bass can be. Now that you say it is a newer bass, I think you have to look at the bass for your problem and not just the strings. You just can't take just any bass and make it sound how you like with a different string. I have the 92s on some of my basses now and they sound better than many other types of strings and with much more color. One of the darkest bowing strings are the Jargars. But these are completely different types of strings. I have them on my Panormo school bass now and I like the bigger more plush sound they give. I had Original Flatchromes on it before and while it was louder and sweeter on top, it wasn't as smooth feeling. The bass is self is a bit of an organ so I think even Spiros would work on that bass. The Flex 92s in the Stark gauge are darker then the regular set. The Belcantos are slightly louder but have a slight metallic sound in comparison and have a looser feel with a thicker string under the fingers. There are not many, if any choices for strings I know of to make a new bass sound old other than having an old bass with a big plush sound. I have had basses that sounded dark and smooth with Spiros on them so that's the opposite of what you have.

Try the Stark 92s and, have someone move your soundpost if it is straight under the bridge a cm down. Try moving it a half cm more down and a bit towards the f-hole away from the center but no more than 5-10mm. That will darken up your bass as well.
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