Thunderguts vs. Pyramids on a Tenayo U-bass

The pyramids defintely get you that fretless electric bass guitar sound.

For comparison (start at 0:53 in above video, 1:03 in following video):



Sorry if i hijacked the thread with a video of a very pretty (and very good) bass player! Uhh...not saying OP isn't...ugh
 
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Uhh, this girl has a fantastic timing! Here vids are excellent.

Your example tells me what to take as template for fretless playing, of course. Although my playing is definitly limited. But if you're writing that sound comes close, this is a big compliment for the UBass!
 
Thanx for the vid! I stumbled over it on YouTube a few weeks ago :)

I was actually looking for a comparison of all the strings available but didn't turn up much so I, errrr... went a bit mad on fleaBay one night (damn you, vodka!) and got one of everything :D

So far I have:
  • The original black ones (well broken in)
  • Aquila ThunderGuts (still in the post)
  • Aquila Silver Rumblers
  • Aquila Thunder Reds
  • Pyramid Silver/Copper wounds (£15? New?! Yes please!!!)

I think that's all of them but if I've missed a set, let me know :)

I was wondering if it might be worth the effort to test all of them in one mega vid and how to go about it. (BTW I've only had a fretless Spruce-Top for a couple of weeks so I am in no way a master musician!)

This is the game plan I've come up with so far:
  • Quick acoustic test: simple walking bass-line (need to shop for a better mic)
  • Quick amplified test, Take 1: Sunshine Of Your Love (nice easy one!) fed into Guitar Rig 5. I plan to get a nice rock tone from the synthetic amps with the black strings and just reload for each string set for consistency.
  • Quick amplified test, Take 2: optional tweaking of amps if necessary. I would imagine the Pyramids might need this.

After the sound test I plan to comment on the following subjects:
  • Tips on restringing, e.g. whether to pre-stretch or not (I'm sure one of this lot snaps if you try it, eeek!)
  • Relative weight/tension (compared to stock black)
  • Relative size
  • Sliding notes
  • Tendency to roll
  • Any intonation errors (bit harder to say on a fretless as one might unconsciously compensate but on my Stagg Uke steel string conversion the bridge needed to move given the drastic change in string density)
  • One Week Later: any observations on stretching, tone changes, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's little audio difference between all the rubbery strings. Obviously the Pyramids nod more towards that P-Bass sound so I might skip the vid making and just write-up the physical differences.

Phew! Looks like a lot of work; all I did on my Hofner was go from round-wounds to flat-wounds :) If there's anything anyone would like me to add to the analysis then please do comment.
 
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