Double Bass Gut D&G, wound E&A combinations — GO!

iankenselaar

iankenselaar

Jul 2, 2009
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#1
I have a early-mid 20th century carved German bass (unlabeled), play primarily country/bluegrass, modern/trad jazz, and Turkish folk music. Primarily pizz but some arco too. Very minimal slap stuff. I like medium-high action and tension on the medium-stiff side. I use this bass for recordings, completely acoustic gigs all the way up to large festivals. (Using a DG Realist going straight into a beat up Fender Rumble lol — but looking for a new amp/mic now…I know, I know, different thread!)

Been experimenting w raw gut D&G for about 5 years now. I like a natural, relatively short, punchy thump. I find most guts to have minimal differences but I’ve never found a wound E&A that I really like.

Right now I’m using this combo but I want to swap out the E&A:

G: Gamut Lyon, varnished (medium)
D: Gamut Lyon, varnished (medium)
A: Evah Mittel
E: Evah Mittel

This is my first time trying the Gamut varnished G&D, I found the raw lyon wore down my finger board quickly and only lasted about 9 months. The Red Devils were nice for the price, but the nylon wrapping gave me a plastic-y kinda sound and feel. Don’t think I’d opt for the nylon wrapping on another set. I’ve tried the Pistoy D&G (unvarnished) and honestly can’t recall much of a difference in feel to the Lyon (unvarnished). Never experimented with wide range of different gauges they offer.

As far as E&A:
I find the Evah’s have too much ‘mwah’ and not enough bassy thump.

I remember loving the wound E&A Chorda & Chorda CH (which are now discontinued I believe) but they are very pricey. Would love to find a steel-wound natural gut alternative. The D&G Chordas are also lovely but spenny!

Spiro’s seem to have even more undulating sustain for me. :(

Curious to hear everyone’s experience w these and other strings! Thanks in advance.
 
#3
As you say, I've not found much difference among wrapped-gut strings, other than Eudoxa and Oliv (which DO provide "bassy thump"). There isn't much that can be done, other than different wrapping wire, to set one apart from another.

If Evah mittels have the right tension but too much mwaa for you, maybe you want an orchestral string:
Bel Canto
Kaplan medium
Oliv
Flexocor Deluxe
Helicore
Corelli "Forte"
Jargar Forte or Medium
 
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#5
AGCurry said:
As you say, I've not found much difference among wrapped-gut strings, other than Eudoxa and Oliv (which DO provide "bassy thump"). There isn't much that can be done, other than different wrapping wire, to set one apart from another.

If Evah mittels have the right tension but too much mwaa for you, maybe you want an orchestral string:
Bel Canto
Kaplan medium
Oliv
Flexocor Deluxe
Helicore
Corelli "Forte"
Jargar Forte or Medium
Click to expand...


I
Francois Blais said:
Jargars?
Difficult to be more thumpy.
Click to expand...
Have you tried both the Forte and medium gauge?
 
#6
AGCurry said:
As you say, I've not found much difference among wrapped-gut strings, other than Eudoxa and Oliv (which DO provide "bassy thump"). There isn't much that can be done, other than different wrapping wire, to set one apart from another.

If Evah mittels have the right tension but too much mwaa for you, maybe you want an orchestral string:
Bel Canto
Kaplan medium
Oliv
Flexocor Deluxe
Helicore
Corelli "Forte"
Jargar Forte or Medium
Click to expand...

I may have tried the Olivs before and remember liking them, but the price….oooooouch. Same goes for the Eudoxas. I think I’d need to get a loan to afford that habit!

I might go for the Jargars, Flexocor Deluxe, or Corelli’s. Going to do a bit more searching — thanks!
 
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#7
DoubleMIDI said:
I once tried Innovation Silver Slaps A and E with Efrano plain gut D and G. Not bad for pizz but the bowing is too much different on the two pairs.
And I prefer a bit more sustain, so I use metal wrapped synthetic core strings.
Click to expand...
Cool — sounds like we crave a slightly different feel and tone. I still haven’t tried and “slaps” strings — I feel like the tension would be too low for me.

Heard good things about the Efrano’s. I’ve often heard them mentioned in the same breath as Lenzner, Gotz, and Clef. Haven’t tried any of those yet. I’ll do a bit more digging. Thanks!
 
#10
D_Bag said:
The Evah slaps with gut D & G sound like what you’re going for. I get no meows on the e and a and they arco well.
Click to expand...
Pirastro’s website lists the slap’s tension at 20.7kg (E) and 21.6kg (A), while the Evah mittles are 30.6kg (E) & 31.5kg (A), and the weichs are 28.5 kg (E) & 29.1 kg (A).

That’s a seriously technical breakdown but based on my experience w the Evah weichs and mittels, it sounds like the tension on the slaps is significantly too low for my taste. I like the tension of those strings, the tone and feel is the issue for me w Evahs. Very durable and consistent string though!
 
#13
I need to look my measured tension up for the Silver Slaps, but they are similar to the Efrano wound gut strings. I think something around 25 kp for the E and a bit less for the A.

Found it:
On a 105 cm scale it is
21.9 kp on A and
24.5 kp on E.
Pre-owned strings, the initial tension might be a bit higher.
Same tension as my Efrano A, the Efrano E has about the same tension as the A.
 
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#15
I’m currently using Spirocore weich E & A with a medium+ Gamut Lyon G and a light+ Lyon D. The gut is varnished and the bass is a 2005 laminated NS Cleveland.
The only thing I might change is swapping for a light Pistoy D. I really like the tension and I feel like the Spirocore has a very similar bowed response to plain gut.
In the past, I have used Lenzner or Efrano silver wound E & A with Gamut or Dlugolecki plain D & G on this bass.
 
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#19
I’ve tried a lot of combinations over many years - the issues seem to be matching the tension feel and tone… and then there is the diameter side of things as a lot of metal A are thinner than a gut D. My best combination has been Eudoxa A and E but very close and more inexpensive and practical is Perpetual - especially the E. More straightforward choosing the G and D. Chorda CH, Gamut etc lots of choice
 
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#20
iankenselaar said:
I remember loving the wound E&A Chorda & Chorda CH (which are now discontinued I believe) but they are very pricey.
Click to expand...
Quoted from pirastro’s website:
Chorda Double Bass Strings
Features

  • The sheep gut core of the Chorda strings is manufactured, wound and polished in the traditional way, by hand.
  • The Chorda G- and D-strings are plain sheep gut strings. The A- and E-strings are wound with silver-plated copper wire.
  • inspirational warm sound with an enormous dynamic range
  • especially suited for pizzicato
  • an authentic string for Early Music
  • very low tension, comfortable left hand feeling
Set
Variations
  • available in orchestra tuning
  • Carlos Henriquez Set:
    Due to the selection of special gauges - which were used in the 50s and 60s - these strings have a lower string tension.
  • If you are interested in these strings please contact us.
Click to expand...
 
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