Gear Review
Thomastik-Infeld
SPIROCORE STRINGS (WEICH GAUGE) By Ed Friedland EVERY UPRIGHT BASSIST HAS A string drawer, a repository where the physical remains of experiments, seemingly good ideas, and broken dreams lie waiting for that fateful day they might get a second chance. Mine is filled with sets I hoped would be “gut-like” or “slap-friendly,” “good for bowing” or “pizz-specific” — whatever goal I was chasing at the time. These days, I have one specific goal: to provide a thick, traditional thump on my Azola/Ampeg Baby Bass. I need to support a nine-piece ensemble with a tone that works for Latin, traditional country, swing, or R&B. For one year, I’ve played a set of nylon-coated strings, with good results. They are gentle on the right hand, have a similar diameter as well as some of the warm and fuzzy attack of gut, and offer sustain if you work it. But, the Baby Bass is its own beast. No matter what string you put on it, that pickup turns the response into boom, boom, boom, and that’s a good thing in my opinion. But after a year, curiosity got the best of me, and I started looking for options. I asked my friend Carlitos Del Puerto — one of the baddest cats out there and a multiple Baby Bass owner — what string he recommended, and the answer was: “You gotta
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use Spiros, man!” Thomastik-Infeld Spirocores, a.k.a. Spiros, are a legendary string in the double bass world. One of the earliest successful examples of steel-core strings for double bass, they are perhaps the single most popular string for players of jazz, country, rockabilly, and in many cases, classical. Spiros are available in several gauges: Stark (heavy), Mittel (medium), Weich (light), and Solo (designed to be tuned up one whole-step, but when tuned to standard pitch become a super lightgauge string). They are a true industry standard in a very fickle market. I used Spiros for most of my formative years on the bass, and they have always been a favorite — and yet, I haven’t played them in at least 25 years! What is it that leads us away from the known, in search of something better? (If not for this urge, there would only be one electric bass in the world, a Fender Precision, strung with flatwounds. Wait, I’m talking myself out of this already!) My point is, while we enjoy the consistency and reliability of a proven standard, musicians and artists in general have a natural curiosity that sets them on chases for more of “this,” or less of “that.” Often, we find something that fills a partic-
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ular need for a while, always knowing in the back of our minds that the standard we are deviating from is still there if we need to go back to it. And so, 25 years later, I’ve fallen back in love with Spiros. Returning to the standard that I developed my chops on is an interesting physical experience. Playing them again, I remember the feel, the pull, and the biting attack that often led me to overplay other strings when trying to replicate it. Using a flexible multi-wire spiral core with a chrome-steel outer wrap, the Thomastik-Infeld Spirocore provides a solid pitch reference, stability in different environments, as much sustain as you need, and a great variety of attacks. The string responds quickly to your demands and transmits even the subtlest nuance very audibly; you can’t hide anything with Spirocores! I realized this right away, as I’ve spent many years cultivating the “controlled slop” of rootsy, traditional Americana, honky tonk, and rockabilly over my classically trained jazz background. After years of thumping away, I was suddenly facing a string that reproduced everything I do with great clarity — and frankly, it required an adjustment. The first thing I realized is any
