Belcanto SOLO Tuning Upright Bass Strings

Thomastik has been making these "rope core" (a style of winding, not what they're made of!) strings for a couple of years, and I must say that we're pretty high on them right now - they’re on Bob's Kay, and he's really loving them for both pizz and arco. They’ve been designed for bowed work, but they have a very musical, warm pizz sound with a very sweet sustain. Their bowed feel and quick response is wonderful. 

The strings sold on this page are the SOLO gauge strings, which are designed to be tuned up one whole step from standard bass tuning; they are gauged to be tuned F#-B-E-A. However, many players get the solo tuning set and tune to standard E-A-D-G tuning for a "lighter" feel, especially when a dedicated "light/weich" string is not offered by the manufacturer.

String details from the manufacturer, Thomastik Infeld:

• Core: specially twisted steel rope core; settles in quickly, intonates extremely well; exceptional tuning stability
• Tone: dark and warm with excellent resonance; wide range of tone colors; easy to blend; pizzicato is open and free
• Sound: outstanding projection with moderate effort; sustains better than most other arco (bowing) string brands
• Playbility: quick response to the bow; soft under your fingers; fantanstic hybrid capability
• Belcantos are for 3/4 size (and possibly some 7/8 or 4/4 depending on scale length) basses, with a scale length up to 110cm (43.3 inches). They have a steel rope core and are chromium wound.