I got a set of the Evah Slaps the other day and I thought I'd post some impressions. I am a long time gut user - usually plain gut on the D&G and wound gut or a synthetic on the A&E. My last set which I've had on for over a year was Gamut Gut on top and Innovation Golden Slaps on the bottom, and I was happy with this setup. Recently I'd been noticing the E string pitch getting a little funny, which I attributed to age, so it was time to replace the bottoms and I heard about the Evah set. Then I got a theater gig for November that requires some bowing. The Innovations are minimally bowable, and I don't care much for the sound or feel of plain gut bowed. So I went for the full synthetic Evah set, which supposedly had a reasonable arco.
My reactions so far are pretty positive to the Evah Slaps. They have a nice smooth surface, even tension string to string, and the G is nice and thick, and not too whiney and sustainey. It has more of a gut-like tone and attack than any of the other synthetics I've tried. The strings sounded a little dull right out of the package, but after a day they became livelier. Probably needed a little stretch time. The pitch became stable after a day too. I'd say the arco is decent - definitely not as good as regular Evah or Obligato (probably fine for the theater gig though), but definitely better than the Innovations. The pizz is very good, and I'd venture to say that for a gut substitute, this is one of the best I've tried - and I've tried most of them
Obligato, Evah, Super Sensitive, Zyex, Velvet, Innovation... Again, I like the consistency of the sound and tension - it's a light tension but not floppy. The tone remains gut-like on top. One drawback of plain gut is that the notes often get thumpy and indistinct on the D string as you go up the neck. The Evah keeps it's clarity. For any of you who use steel on the bottom and like a gut G, but get frustrated with the gut D's, you might try one of these for your D. Now, I like a gut sound with not too much sustain - some people like the synthetics like Obligato that still will sustain and give you a little growl. The Slaps are probably not for you then. I haven't used them on a gig yet, but at home they sound very good through an amp - very gut like. As the name would imply, they slap great, and they feel durable and as if the windings won't break or come unwound, and the smooth surface won't tear up the fingerboard. I'd say an excellent string for jump blues, swing, rockabilly, bluegrass, and jazz if you like an old school tone. They were $227 from Gollihur, which is considerably less than Gamuts. The Evah Slap set with guts on top is about $100 more, but I'd still call that a good deal, and a good place to start for someone interested in a gut setup. Pirastro did a real good job with these!
My reactions so far are pretty positive to the Evah Slaps. They have a nice smooth surface, even tension string to string, and the G is nice and thick, and not too whiney and sustainey. It has more of a gut-like tone and attack than any of the other synthetics I've tried. The strings sounded a little dull right out of the package, but after a day they became livelier. Probably needed a little stretch time. The pitch became stable after a day too. I'd say the arco is decent - definitely not as good as regular Evah or Obligato (probably fine for the theater gig though), but definitely better than the Innovations. The pizz is very good, and I'd venture to say that for a gut substitute, this is one of the best I've tried - and I've tried most of them
Obligato, Evah, Super Sensitive, Zyex, Velvet, Innovation... Again, I like the consistency of the sound and tension - it's a light tension but not floppy. The tone remains gut-like on top. One drawback of plain gut is that the notes often get thumpy and indistinct on the D string as you go up the neck. The Evah keeps it's clarity. For any of you who use steel on the bottom and like a gut G, but get frustrated with the gut D's, you might try one of these for your D. Now, I like a gut sound with not too much sustain - some people like the synthetics like Obligato that still will sustain and give you a little growl. The Slaps are probably not for you then. I haven't used them on a gig yet, but at home they sound very good through an amp - very gut like. As the name would imply, they slap great, and they feel durable and as if the windings won't break or come unwound, and the smooth surface won't tear up the fingerboard. I'd say an excellent string for jump blues, swing, rockabilly, bluegrass, and jazz if you like an old school tone. They were $227 from Gollihur, which is considerably less than Gamuts. The Evah Slap set with guts on top is about $100 more, but I'd still call that a good deal, and a good place to start for someone interested in a gut setup. Pirastro did a real good job with these!
Last edited:
). Let`s see if I like it enough to not move back to guts. It seems that my skin ph has great weich plain gut G killing qualities, as this was 3rd string that I snapped ( this one snapped where the A is on the G string ), even with careful and reqular maintenance.
