Double Bass Tempera Hybrid Strings

#21
This is what Jan Ole wrote in January 2023:
"I would like to reassure you, the latest formula of the Tempera Strings doesn’t break any more. The first generation of the Temperas was indeed a bit delicate in the handling but since then we changed the core and the newer version is extremely stable, they even hold more than an ordinary steel strings. We had 0% breakage so far."
I have the new generation G and its in great condition - just like the rest of the 1,5 years old set. So after heavy use I´ve had only one old G breakage. I wouldn´t worry about the durability :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: AGCurry and lurk
#24
jmpiwonka said:
Man!! Every time someone posts about these strings it makes me want to try a set. (As my four year old would say) DARN!!!
Click to expand...
I highly recommend to do it. Changed my whole playing experience so m

lurk said:
I looked for these just now on the Gennsler site and found only Tempera Basso and Tempera Solo, no hybrids. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
I had the same problem. The hybrid is not on their website yet, but when you click on the order button, you can later select the hybrid in the order form. I don't understand why they still hide the hybrid model from us :)

@flatback
super cool, i can totally relate to what you write and how you describe it. I am also really totally surprised how big the difference is and how important strings are! It really gave me a real moment of realisation. I have more sound, more articulate, but also just LOUDER and can play at the same time with less effort and power. And what I love most: they sound a bit like gut strings, but not in an old-fashioned way, just with a certain touch. Blah blah, I already sound like a wine freak.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Keith Rawlings, flatback and garrett2
#27
…but are they slappable? That’s the big drawback for any hybrid string for me is that it has to do three things to work for me:
1. Be a good pizz string
2. Be imminently slappable (and durable with slap for that matter)
3. Be decent sounding for arco
So far I have not been able to find a string that does all of this, so I’ve resigned myself to have a slap setup on my Kay (Sugar Slaps) and an arco setup on my carved bass (Flexocore Deluxe). Both are pizz-friendly but one is bowable and the Flexocore are not slappable. It’s definitely a conundrum for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Don Hergert
#29
Keith Rawlings said:
…but are they slappable? That’s the big drawback for any hybrid string for me is that it has to do three things to work for me:
1. Be a good pizz string
2. Be imminently slappable (and durable with slap for that matter)
3. Be decent sounding for arco
Click to expand...
IMO Temperas check all these boxes. They are not as loose feeling slapped as eg. plain gut but still very good. I don´t slap all the tima so maybe YMMV. I think you should try because the arco and pizz are so good on these.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keith Rawlings
#30
flatback said:
A couple months ago I received my new Temperas in the mail ( way before I thought I was going to get them) I ordered them for my Contrabassetto a small bodied fully carved travel bass. Previously I have had all kinds of different strings on there from : Pirastro Perps (starks sound great) spiros (both Weich and Reds) with Oliv G, a flirtation with Solo perps, and Velvet Animas (Garbo G).
Just to say I have strung the bass with a bunch of strings.
This spring before I put on the Weichs and Perps I had the fingerboard redressed and the soundpost altered for the first time since the bass left Brazil. My Luthier the undersung but totally badass Bass Doctor Matt Bohn put in a new sound post so loose it fell over when I took off the strings for the first time (he since glued it in place with the thinest layer of hide glue, but the bass just opened up and became resonant in a way that belayed it's small size.
I have wanted to try Gensslers for a long time but the cost and choices seemed wrong for that bass. Enter the Temperas.
These strings are phenomenal. Low tension but super quick to respond, big open harmonic overtones, even across the board, singing, gut like AND steel like. They sound stellar both pizz and arco and they amplify like no other string (on my bass).
I heard a video clip of Rabbath playing them and thought "I'll never get that big fat open sound he gets, he has such a perfect bass and touch" but damn these strings deliver. My bass DOES have that sound.
Standard strings (spiros etc) sound muted and dampened by comparison (on my bass).
The G string is not thin sounding does not wimp out up high has no buzz and just sings. (I am a jazz pizz player mostly)
When I first put the strings on I was bowled over by their sound and a few months later I am still deep in honeymoon love. Genssler is just such an incredible string maker. These strings are both unlike any other string I have tried and yet the benchmark for play-ability/sound. Getting ready to buy another set for my other bass.
I cannot believe how good they are. Big Fan here.
Click to expand...


I only have experience with the first generation of Tempera strings. On my little old dark sounding Italian bass, they didn’t deliver. The sound simply didn’t project at all. Spiro s42 mediums cured this. Still not a loud bass, but quite lovely sounding.
 
#31
elmer said:
IMO Temperas check all these boxes. They are not as loose feeling slapped as eg. plain gut but still very good. I don´t slap all the tima so maybe YMMV. I think you should try because the arco and pizz are so good on these.
Click to expand...
Well now I’m intrigued. I’m going to have to try out a set of these.
 
#32
Well I think it is nuts that we all expect these vastly different strings to work the same on vastly different basses and for vastly different techniques. I can imagine that my old Tyrolean bass (I sold a few years ago) might not sound great with Tempera's (a dark thin very resonant instrument that loved being bound in spiros)But I woulda tried the Temps for sure.
Yesterday I did a big outdoor festival, the first with these strings. I used a mic (Remic green) and the sound was absolutely magnificent and HUGE and clear and articulate. These strings and my bass are perfectly suited to each other and my way of playing.
The thing about them: the ease of play, the loudness and immediate response, the vocal, delicate gut like way they sing when you hang on a note, the eveness across the strings, the way they amplify, are all totally great for playing jazz the way I do. But I don't slap the bass or perform any number of other techniques that might not work as well. I have a smaller bodied instrument that is fully carved and totally open and resonant but emphasizes the mids a bit more then the heavy bass of a larger instrument. That said, I am going to (at the first opportunity) buy a set for my American Standard even though they may not work as well. It would be so worth the string price to try them on that bass given all the advantages they provide when they hit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keith Rawlings
#33
Keith Rawlings said:
…but are they slappable? ...
Click to expand...

Thank you for re-asking this. By the lack of definitive answers to my and your questions I'm guessing people just don't know and/or haven't tried them for slap

These are pretty exclusive boutique strings and given the supply limitations I wonder if their makers might especially cater to more cllassical/baroque/chamber folks. Honestly, even speaking as someone who slaps roots music and is always curious about nice strings, I wouldn't blame the makers of these strings for wanting to serve a more limited community. They only make so many sets of these strings.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keith Rawlings
#37
I think helix are metal wound based on pics of sets in the classifieds. Hard to tell if its real smooth or kinda roundwound-ish .
The g is listed at 2mm which is .079” so similar to an Oliv g string if I’m not mistaken. D is .091”, same as Oliv d.

i think i would like a set of Helix but not in the position to try that yet. Will keep oliv g, with spiro mitt a, e for now. gotta get my fb scooped some more and get the string height down some before any string changes..
 
Last edited:
#38
flatback said:
What are the Helix? Are they metal bound? Gut ?
Are they they massively thick ones? I tried those once on a bass (I think they were gut)...
Click to expand...

They are the hybrid option in Genssler's line of strings. They are thicker but not as thick as the j-roques. They sound very gut like but feel closer to a Spiro in my opinion. They are 100% my favorite string to bow. I sometimes miss plain gut but these really sound very close. I love the sound of arco on raw gut strings but it's not always appropriate especially when I am teaching classical stuff. I'm not taking the helix off my bass for a long time but am always curious... I would love to a/b them with the Tempera Hybrids; especially since they are cheaper.
 
#39
dhergert said:
Thank you for re-asking this. By the lack of definitive answers to my and your questions I'm guessing people just don't know and/or haven't tried them for slap

These are pretty exclusive boutique strings and given the supply limitations I wonder if their makers might especially cater to more cllassical/baroque/chamber folks. Honestly, even speaking as someone who slaps roots music and is always curious about nice strings, I wouldn't blame the makers of these strings for wanting to serve a more limited community. They only make so many sets of these strings.
Click to expand...
I guess we are a niche group of bassists that would like a do-everything string that includes slapability. There are so many double bass players who play slap in the roots, rockabilly, psychobilly, country, folk, and bluegrass communities, one would think that one of these string makers could make an adequate hybrid string that includes slap applications. I’d love to try the Tempera hybrids out, but not without a bonafide testimonial from someone who actually plays slap on them as well as arco and pizz.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Don Hergert
#40
Keith Rawlings said:
I guess we are a niche group of bassists that would like a do-everything string that includes slapability. There are so many double bass players who play slap in the roots, rockabilly, psychobilly, country, folk, and bluegrass communities, one would think that one of these string makers could make an adequate hybrid string that includes slap applications. I’d love to try the Tempera hybrids out, but not without a bonafide testimonial from someone who actually plays slap on them as well as arco and pizz.
Click to expand...
I dont know much about slapping but a friend of mine is an excited Hybrid player and does a lot of slapping. I can imagine there are better strings for that but there is definitely no better option that also works as fantastic with the bow as the Temperas do
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keith Rawlings and Don Hergert
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back