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#1
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Obligatos
Well, I'm a little late to the Obligato party, but I bought a brand new set at a good price over on TB for my Upton Hybrid.
First off, Upton recommends Spiro Mittels for these basses and that's the way mine met me. The Spiros sound big and punchy, bow OK and sustain for days. I put and old Weich set to try a bit lower tension. Although a lot easier to play. the Weich didn't get the bass moving as well. I see why people love, and hate the Obligatos. Lovewise, they are very playable strings with a 'woody' character. The bass now delivers a better fundamental, sounds more 'old school' but with good sustain. The G is much better. Hate: Even after taking great care in filing the nut and bridge slots, using lots of pencil lube, the E is coming apart above the nut! Bringing it up to about a C pitch, the string winding began to separate on the nut. I loosened it, widened the slot and lubed again. There are three distinct separations. One at the bass of the nut and two just above. The strings are now holding a pitch pretty well. If/when the E goes I will probably go back to a Spiro Mittel on the E and maybe the A as well. All in all, as of right now I'm happy with them, but wonder if they are more trouble than they are worth. |
#2
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In my Obligato days, I had an E string do the same thing, though maybe not to the degree that you describe. It held together more or less, so I left it on for the life of the set, which turned out to be about six months. I had no other problems with Obligatos during the time that I used them (maybe three sets, total). Maybe you could get a replacement from Pirastro if you let them know.
I like the Obligatos overall. But after having driven everyone on two internet bass forums nuts with my incessant string queries for the last few months, I've really come to appreciate the beauty of Spirocores. I just wonder if there is something inherently wrong with the idea of trying to wrap metal around gut or perlon. It also seems to be a bit of a problem at Pirastro at the moment. I haven't seen too many people talking about their Dominants coming apart, or their Gamuts or Dlugoleckis unraveling. I don't mean to turn this into a rant. I think the Spiro/Obli combo might be a really nice thing. |
#3
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I never really warmed up to Obligatos. My Shen came with them. The E was flabby and the G was ultra goose-like with the bow. The A and D were fine I guess.
They do play easy enough. They may be too easy to overplay, in fact. Part of it may have been that my teacher doesn't care for them at all. But I don't see me buying another set of Obligatos. Last edited by Charles Arms; 02-07-2007 at 01:16 PM. |
#4
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Although they were new and in the package, since I didn't buy them from a dealer I wouldn't feel right asking for a replacement. Just gonna see how long it lasts. The Spiro E and A are probably going on the bass next. The more I played spirocores on this bass, particularly the G, I kept wanting a warmer sound and so far, the Obligatos are the ticket.
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#5
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I just put some Obligatos on the Q bass. It has been strung with Spirocores because I love them for growl, playing jazz. But it is Quinn's bass (my 14 y/O son whom I built the bass for), and he was trying to play Mozzart with those spiros and I realized how selfish I had been. So I changed them.
They bow much easier and I can notice how much easier it is to get the string started with these compared to Spiros. And they don't sound too bad pizz style. The wolf on the A string went away also and I don't need the brass wolf eliminator. So for so good. |
#6
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Ken, sometimes parenthood is a lesson in unselfishness. I've been at it for 19 years and hope to figure it out at some point.
I'm loving these strings on my bass. My bass finally sounds like I want it to. |
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