Peter Infeld Upright Bass Strings

I expect the PI's to settle down as they break in, but because there is so little information out there at the moment, here are some early reactions to the PI on my Hachez: They feel like an admirable attempt at a Bel Canto to Spiro set, but unfortunately are remarkably unbalanced on my bass. (Perhaps fortunately, considering the price) The G is very muted. It feels like a tighter Bel Canto and similarly has very little sustain. It is very sweet sounding under the bow and is ready to go without break-in. The D is my favorite of the set. It's a little brighter than the G (with just a hint of growl) and has more sustain. It's tighter than a Bel Canto D, but feels looser under the hand than the PI G. For my taste, this is the perfect in-between of BC and Spiro. It is similarly ready to go without break-in, but this one actually feels like a new string, where the G sounds like I've already spent a year on it. The G and D pair decently under the bow, but when going from the D to the G, the G consistently feels muted and dark. The G also sustains noticeably less than the D. It's been a minute since I've played a Spirocore A string, but the PI A on my bass sounds like a straight Spirocore. It seems completely unmuted and is *very* wiry; tons of sustain, tons of harmonics. It has a nice reedy top-end and bows decently. It has the least tension of the set. Honestly, I think it will sound quite good once it settles in, it just doesn't really match any of the other strings in tone or tension. The E (extended C) is odd to me. I don't like it at all on my bass. It is very muted and dull, like an extra fat, extra tight, old Bel Canto. It's possible this could match well with the G, but it's tough to tell with the A and D in between. The A D G -- despite not really matching tonally -- they at least feel like there was a plan (Bels to Spiros). But the E is grunty and significantly muted for me. The pizz is similarly inconsistent: the G is thumpy and has an extremely short sustain; the D has just a touch of that new-steel-string quality and sustains as I am used to; the A has wild sustain and is really pretty gnarly initially; and the E has some sustain but is dark and doesn't seem to give back what I put in. I do like that they can take more of a beating than BC's. The reedy quality is nice, but can get gravelly if I'm not careful with the rosin situation. They don't bow quite as easily as BC's, but still bow pretty decently. They're definitely loud, which is great. Perhaps some of the tonal considerations were necessary to keep a balance in volume. I just wish the E was brighter so that it at least fit the trajectory of the strings: dull up high to bright down low. To be fair, this is early and I assume they'll begin to blend better as they break-in. Despite my criticisms, I would have still given these 4 stars because the strings are well made and aren't redundant, but at this price the strings would have to be far better for me.