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Old 07-19-2010, 11:27 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Thumbs up OFC's?

I had a Piano/Bass Jazz duo gig yesterday and wanted to bring a fairly big bass to play without an amp. I brought my 4/4 Panormo school bass but it's strung with Original Flat Chromes (g,d,a) and a Flexocor 92 stark E/C. I didn't need the extension but I wanted a big Organ-like bass. As it turned out the strings performed way past my expectations for a Jazz-like sound. I had as much sustain as I needed and didn't have to play hard at all.

I had tried these strings, a full set including the E/C on my Hart which is my main bass but they didn't work as well tonally with the Bow as did the Belcantos so I put them aside for the future. The Panormo school bass had a better jazz pizz response as compared to the Hart which besides being a smaller bass ('only' a 7/8 Maggini, lol) was also a darker sounding bass. Go figure..

I would now like to add the OFC's to the list of Orchestra Strings that work well for Jazz. They play smooth and sweet with sustain. As a matter of fact, I played a few upper register harmonics in the 3rd position on the G string and they rang quite nice and that's with a 4/4 deep ribbed 200 year old bass. These strings surprised me so I thought I would share my experience.
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Old 07-20-2010, 08:12 AM
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Eric Swanson Eric Swanson is offline
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Ken, thanks for sharing that. I haven't yet tried the OFC's, so it was good to hear your experience. How is the left hand tension, compared to the Belcantos?
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Old 07-20-2010, 08:42 AM
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Cool well..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Swanson View Post
Ken, thanks for sharing that. I haven't yet tried the OFC's, so it was good to hear your experience. How is the left hand tension, compared to the Belcantos?
I can't compare it on that Bass because I never tried it with Bel's on it. Before I got the Panormo school bass Arnold did string it with Bel's but took them off right away because it was too muddy or something like that he said. Then he put the OFC's on the bass. This was all within a week or so of the restoration being completed.

On the Hart, I had OFC's on for a day or two at most. They seemed too bright on that bass and maybe tighter so I went back to the Bel's shortly after. I never played any jazz with the Hart/OFC's combo.

On the 4/4 Panormo, the tension feels about average with the OFC's and it also has a raised saddle. The bass only has a 3/4 sized 3-string ebony TP on it (with 2 holes drilled) so the Tailwire is extended up quite a bit for tuning the after-lengths. It's a long wide deep bass. Almost like hugging a Bear when you play it.. lol .. It's nick named 'Papa Bear' in the shop and rightfully so.

Maybe if I had tried them on a more normal sized or average kind of bass I would have more information to share as far as comparing the two sets but for now, what sounds good on one bass may not be as good for another. That's often the case here as basses themselves are so different from one another.
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Old 07-31-2010, 08:59 AM
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I think between the two that the tension is about the same, but maybe that the OFC is a little thinner and more flexible, while the BelCanto is thicker and stiffer. So the perceived tension is similar. The OFC seems a little more "metallic" to me, but then I find the BelCanto to be kind of "big and dead".
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