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Innovation Honey strings


Steve A
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Hi,

Does anyone have experience of using Innovation Honeys? I'm using Spirocores on my bass right now, always have done, but am after something a bit more organic, perhaps softer and more traditional sounding. I've also seen them pretty cheap (£69!) at the following site:

[url="http://www.stringmail.co.uk/dbass6.htm"]http://www.stringmail.co.uk/dbass6.htm[/url]

Style-wise I play acoustic singer/songwriter, some jazz and bluegrass. I don't play with a bow but will be getting into that in the near future.

I'd value your opinions.

Steve

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Hi Steve, I've never tried the honeys but I have a set of Silver slap (also by Innovation) on my primary bass and think they are great. The only problem is they will choke if played very hard but up to that point they sound great, thats recorded sound too...
Jake
Ps they are also nice under the bow (not that I do a lot of it)

Edited by jakesbass
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Guest subaudio

Hi Steve

I use Honeys on my bass, they have a nylon core and steel wrap, have less tension and more flexibilty than Spiros and give a "thumpier" more woody tone but still have definition and you can make them growl a bit too.
they bow better than Spiros.

I do dig in quite a lot when I play and havent had a problem unless I get a bit too carried away, I had a fully acoustic gig last weekend and there where times when I hit them the E too hard and they didnt like it but I dont think any other string would have coped any better

The price on that site is fantastic, they usually go for around £85, I think the fact that theyre British made also helps the price.

I have just changed mine and put the old set on my NS, the new strings took a day or two to settle tuning wise, probably because of the non steel core but had a good four hour rehearsal last night and they stayed spot on

Hope this helps.

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I run Honey's as well playing modern music, bluegrass and 30's hot club jazz. Half of what I do is acoustic and they have been great for the last 2-3 years.
I thought about replacing them with Evah Priazzi but if it aint broke....

Definitely worth a punt.

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[quote name='subaudio' post='758382' date='Feb 26 2010, 04:58 PM']I have just changed mine and put the old set on my NS, the new strings took a day or two to settle tuning wise, probably because of the non steel core but had a good four hour rehearsal last night and they stayed spot on[/quote]

How long have you had the Honey's on? Did they last a long time?

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Guest subaudio

[quote name='TPJ' post='758392' date='Feb 26 2010, 05:05 PM']How long have you had the Honey's on? Did they last a long time?[/quote]

Not sure to be honest, they were on the bass when I bought it second hand, I'm guessing at about 3/4 years old but again can't be sure.

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[quote name='Steve Amadeo' post='758353' date='Feb 26 2010, 04:18 PM']Hi,

Does anyone have experience of using Innovation Honeys? I'm using Spirocores on my bass right now, always have done, but am after something a bit more organic, perhaps softer and more traditional sounding. I've also seen them pretty cheap (£69!) at the following site:

[url="http://www.stringmail.co.uk/dbass6.htm"]http://www.stringmail.co.uk/dbass6.htm[/url]

Style-wise I play acoustic singer/songwriter, some jazz and bluegrass. I don't play with a bow but will be getting into that in the near future.

I'd value your opinions.

Steve[/quote]

Hi Steve,
I ordered a set for my Yamaha SLB200 after reading that Geoff Gascoine used them on his.
I also spoke to Geoff about them, he only used the bass on a foreign tour and he thought they were ok.
They didn't do it for me, they were too stiff and dull sounding on that bass.

However I've found that they work better on my french bass that has a much longer mensur of 42 1/2"

A good tip for anyone wanting to experiment with different strings is to order just a G or D for around £20 or less.

If you like the single string then you can order the other three, if you don't like it then you haven't wasted loads of money.

I did this with a half size Innovation Honey only this week to try on my Kolstein which is 39" mensur, it was useless, again too stiff and dull sounding, so that experiment cost me £16 rather than the cost of a full set.

I've been in contact with Tony Roberts at Innovation and he mentioned a new formula set, I'm waiting to hear more soon.

Hope this helps

Keith

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[quote name='TPJ' post='758388' date='Feb 26 2010, 05:03 PM']I run Honey's as well playing modern music, bluegrass and 30's hot club jazz. Half of what I do is acoustic and they have been great for the last 2-3 years.
I thought about replacing them with Evah Priazzi but if it aint broke....

Definitely worth a punt.[/quote]


I'm pretty sure my friend Charles Humphrey of the American bluegrass band 'Steep Canyon Rangers' uses Evah Pirazzis and they feel and sound great.

Thanks for all the comment chaps. I think for the money they're bound to be worth a punt.

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[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='758421' date='Feb 26 2010, 05:20 PM']I ordered a set for my Yamaha SLB200...[/quote]


Thanks for the info Keith. Sound advice there.

I've been interested in the SLB200 for a while and have enjoyed listening to Chris Minh Doky play his. I haven't yet tried one in the flesh. How does it work for you? Have you been happy with it?


Steve

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[quote name='Steve Amadeo' post='758473' date='Feb 26 2010, 06:15 PM']I've been interested in the SLB200 for a while and have enjoyed listening to Chris Minh Doky play his. I haven't yet tried one in the flesh. How does it work for you? Have you been happy with it?

Steve[/quote]

It's a smaller instrument than the SLB100, (which in my opinion is the closest EUB to a 3/4 upright acoustic out there) The 200 is however more portable, it weighs less and packs up smaller.

If you are used to a real bass leaning against your leg the 200 lacks the bottom bout that the 100 sports, and can be difficult to balance with a tendency to rotate. After a while this became less of a problem for me.

The neck is a slimmer profile, and the mensur is 40 1/2" as apposed to the 41 1/2" of the SLB100

The sound is slightly improved over the 100 although I use my own pick ups and bypass the onboard electronics on both models as does Dave Swift who is often seen on Jools show with one of his Yamaha's.

They're both great EUB's if you are prepared to experiment with strings and pick ups.

There's loads of info over on [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352752"]Talkbass[/url]

If you can get to the Harrogate Bass Bash on 21st March you can try mine out.

cheers

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Thanks for that, great info! I emailed Dave Swift recently who was very helpful with information on his bass.

My parents live in Skipton so it might be possible to pop over to the Bass Bash and combine it with a visit to family. I'll let you know if I do!

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[quote name='Steve Amadeo' post='758641' date='Feb 26 2010, 09:19 PM']Thanks for that, great info! I emailed Dave Swift recently who was very helpful with information on his bass.

My parents live in Skipton so it might be possible to pop over to the Bass Bash and combine it with a visit to family. I'll let you know if I do![/quote]

Dave Swift is very freindly and helpful, a real bass enthusiast.

If you can't make the bass bash just let me know when you are next visiting your parents.
We're only about half an hour away from Skipton, you're more than welcome to call round for a cuppa and a plonk.

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I have recently replaced my old flexocors with honeys and am pleasantly surprised- no loss of tone- 'freindlier'strings to play on , take the bow pretty well to say they are primarily jazz strings,and at about one third the cost of the old strings its all good !. There is however a small downside , they don't as yet hold the tuning as well as the pirastros did,however
this may be due to the synthetic core,and their relative newness. Nice sound through an ordinary Underwood pickup , wouldn't reccomend them for orchestral work ,but then thats not what theyre made for.My verdict would be good strings for jazz and small ensemble work,and great value for money. :)

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Good stuff PedalB, looking forward to trying them.

I'm hoping to experiment with a Fishman Full Circle pickup too (currently using a Realist and want to compare the sounds.) A bass I played some gigs on before Christmas had a full circle pickup into an Acoustic Image combo and it sounded nice, warm and punchy.

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The Ultra Blacks look interesting too as they are high tension unlike the Honey's which are medium. They also have a braided core.

[url="http://www.innovationstrings.com/inn_products.htm"]http://www.innovationstrings.com/inn_products.htm[/url]

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally put my Honeys on my bass today. First impressions... they sound slightly warmer and have more thud than Spirocores, not as much sustain but sound more traditional.

Using the bass on a bluegrass gig tomorrow so should be a good test. Looking forward to hearing the bass amplified and in the mix too.

They feel nice under the fingers... can't wait to try them on the gig.

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  • 10 years later...

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