Double Bass Gamut Pistoy Plain gut A string questions

J

Joldi-Syri

Feb 9, 2024
16
5
391
#1
Hello all,


Right now I am using a global gut plain gut A string. I love the sound of it but it gives out in thumb position, which is a bummer because I want clarity on the whole fingerboard.


Would the pistoy A sound good up in the thumb position? What gauge should I look into getting. Thanks.

-Ranger
 
#3
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#5
Thanks for the replies guys. Honestly, these guys weren’t so bad for entry level. The global G is actually in my opinion a phenomenal string. Super zingy sounding. Right now, I have a global G, gamut D, global A, and Artone wound E. All gut, the GDA being plain. For me, the gamut G doesn’t have that zing that I’m looking for, but I do recognize that it’s a high quality string and it bows objectively easier.

My sound post is set for the brightest tone possible and I just planed my fingerboard too to make sure the notes in thumb position ring clear. Yes indeed, I’m most likely going to get a wound A, but I was just wondering if the pistoy A might sound clear up there.


The global plain A does speak indeed up in the thumb position, yes too thunky in the higher reaches when compared to the wound E.

Thanks again.
 
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#7
Joldi-Syri said:
Very good, thank you for the direct answer. Any experience with a leszner wound A?
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It's been a few years since I bought a full Lenzner set - my first guts since Golden Spirals. It was probably my fault for not paying more attention to bridge and nut grooves, but the E and A strings broke. I have used other wound guts, like Artone and LaBella. They were okay, but not as good as Gamuts. However, if you're playing the A string in thumb position, you're probably a more advanced player than I am, and you may do fine with Lenzner.
 
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#9
AGCurry said:
It's been a few years since I bought a full Lenzner set - my first guts since Golden Spirals. It was probably my fault for not paying more attention to bridge and nut grooves, but the E and A strings broke. I have used other wound guts, like Artone and LaBella. They were okay, but not as good as Gamuts. However, if you're playing the A string in thumb position, you're probably a more advanced player than I am, and you may do fine with Lenzner.
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Thank you,
The wound A from gamut isn’t much more expensive. I may spring for it.

Not sure if I’m a more advanced player than you, I doubt it. I’ve been playing double bass for less than a year. I do practice my scales from lowest to highest note though. I get irritated when I don’t get a clear note, so it’s important to me. Arco everything is great, but I’m in university studying jazz, so if I want to go up there during pizz, I’d like to.


Thanks again, it seems like the wrapping helps tighten the note up.
 
#10
LouisF said:
Ihave a Lenzer plain gut A on now (for bowing). It can be a bit temperamental, but overall a warm, strong string.
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Indeed indeed. Yes my global plain gut A sounds great all over the FB arco. Pizzicato is the only issue, the notes being thunky and almost purely purcussive sounds.
The same thing happened on my D string, but tightened up after installing a gamut pistoy D.


I still get notes up there from the plain A, they just aren’t entirely defined, if that makes sense. I feel like a wrapped one would achieve that, I do have goals of being a great soloist, so would like to have the whole fingerboard available with arco and pizzicato.
 
#11
Hi, Pistoy plain A is propably the best plain A out there, but if you`re about to do lots of string crossing in thumb postion pizz, you`ll be propably better served with wound strings. Someone explained on some of TB`s gut-related threads that there is a historical reason for going up and down the board on the G string. IME this is especially true in pizz playing, and it takes a lot from the strings, bass, setup and player for the plain strings to really deliver in all positions.
 
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#13
I prefer a plain A when using guts. If I'm honest with myself it probably started off as an affectation that I've just Stockholm Syndrome-d myself into accepting, but hey, that's life.

Part of what you're experiencing is just sort of the nature of the beast (as others have noted, there's a historical reason bassists didn't linger in those positions on the lower strings until the mid-20th century), but it can be at least somewhat mitigated by playing closer to the bridge with the right hand. Works for pizzicato just same as arco; the attack will be sharper and the pitch clearer at the cost of some suppleness and warmth.
 
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#14
Thanks for the great responses @Reiska and @evanrunyon !!! I love the plain A. I think I might go reluctantly try the wound A and see what happens. I set my bass up as best as I could, taking off some extra wood up near the end of the fingerboard to give the plain A some more room to vibrate.
It actually worked quite well to give it some more space and some notes come out pizz. I’ll work on my intonation. I’m still torn, I just wonder if the pistoy A has enough tension to ring out in thumb position.

Thanks again
 
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#15
I’ve also wondered about that too, if that’s just how it works on the instrument. I definitely have noticed that the higher up I go, the less definite the notes become.
The nature of the beast, huh?
 
#16
For sure. Assuming the same frequency (Hz), shorter string length and thicker string diameter will always mean fewer audible high partials; "darker" and "muddy" are two sides of this same coin, depending on the context. I say make use of it! Sometimes you want a different tone; two-voiced passages on a single instrument, bisbigliando, etc.

I realize you're working on jazz and not historical performance, but using all the weird little idiosyncrasies of the instrument to your advantage rather than trying to iron them all out is one of the great joys (to me) of string playing.
 
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#17
evanrunyon said:
For sure. Assuming the same frequency (Hz), shorter string length and thicker string diameter will always mean fewer audible high partials; "darker" and "muddy" are two sides of this same coin, depending on the context. I say make use of it! Sometimes you want a different tone; two-voiced passages on a single instrument, bisbigliando, etc.

I realize you're working on jazz and not historical performance, but using all the weird little idiosyncrasies of the instrument to your advantage rather than trying to iron them all out is one of the great joys (to me) of string playing.
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Thank you so much Evan,
I love your take on being a string player. That has really opened my mind and I think that I appreciate that sound more now.


I’m glad you mentioned the larger gauge making it muddier up there. Yes indeed, I experienced this when I tried to use a plain E, haha. Sounded phenomenal arco, yet crappy pizz because there wasn’t enough tension to even get a clear fundamental.
Period instruments and performance have interested me. That’s one of the reasons I wanted all gut strings. I like the bramburg bevel as well, my fingerboard has this. It really does give my wrapped E a lot more room to vibrate.. I am going to tell my classical professor that I want to learn baroque music.. he and my jazz professor both dislike gut strings, they hate the arco sound.. I love it, it’s the sound I’ve always dreamed of.


When I was using the global gut D, it was muddy in thumb position, but switching to the pistoy D really cleared that up. I am wondering if switching to the pistoy A will do the same thing, even if the gauge is thicker. The pistoy D is .2mm thicker than the global D, yet it sounds much clearer…. Thoughts?
 
#19
I've never used Global strings, but Gamut's Pistoy strings are (to me) are the best gut bass strings that you can easily get your hands on so I would be surprised if they weren't superior across the board. They are, of course, not inexpensive.

Bummer your professors are down on gut strings, but I do sort of get it. If you've only ever heard them played by people that don't really know how, they can sound pretty rough; that buzzsaw sound you get from honking on a gut G with the same weight you would a steel string isn't, um, pleasant.
 
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#20
evanrunyon said:
I've never used Global strings, but Gamut's Pistoy strings are (to me) are the best gut bass strings that you can easily get your hands on so I would be surprised if they weren't superior across the board. They are, of course, not inexpensive.

Bummer your professors are down on gut strings, but I do sort of get it. If you've only ever heard them played by people that don't really know how, they can sound pretty rough; that buzzsaw sound you get from honking on a gut G with the same weight you would a steel string isn't, um, pleasant.
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You’re right indeed…
Which gauge for the pistoy A do you think would be good for tightening up the sound?
 
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