what are good bass strings?

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:37 pm

i think for my new OG jazz bass that is coming today i want to try a really really light bass string.

something that i can still tune EADG but have it kinda guitary sounding

must be flats. fuck giant ridges. fuck them.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:39 pm

also what is the typical range for bass strings?

like for guitars you have

pussyland 9's---------10's------------11's------------12's---------13's manland

i want something more along the lines of pussyland for bass

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:42 pm

are these skinny?

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:42 pm

the strings im sending with it are some older fender strings that have about 3 hours of use on them but are about 8 months old.
i believe the lowest string is 105

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:43 pm

im going to have hilary paypal you when she gets home if this fucking thing shows up. haha

we were gone home all weekend and couldn't access shit on my dad's computer.

bobroe rocks windows ME. supid fuck

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:46 pm

Labella strings are flatwound.

I don't know about the string gauge cause I don't play bass.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:49 pm

i think im going to try and find a set of these

ENR70 - Super Light
D'Addario Half Round bass strings are wound with pure nickel, then precision ground, leaving the outer surface smooth and "semi-flat." They retain the flexibility and many of the tonal characteristics of round wound strings. Our Half Round heat-treating process increases the brightness of the strings.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:49 pm

i have used thier guitar strings before, they have a set of 10's with a wound "g" which is sort of hard to come accross.
they have these strings at the local music shop called swingersters that are flatwound, and i want to say that they are made by curt manegen, but don't quote me on that.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:51 pm

if i cant find those i will try and rock these

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:55 pm

these half wounds look kinda cool actually. i'll have to try and find some for guitar too.

the 13's have a wound G. but whats the point if that shit is all ground down smooth anyways?

i grew up playing ghs boomers which had wound g's. basicly because my teacher was pushing them at the shop i took lessons at. after i got out of there and developed my own sondz / toones i found flat 13's and developed fingers of pure rock hard muscles

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:57 pm

if i end up getting these super light XL's my bass G will be smaller than the A on my guitar. haha

puts me right where i want to be.

thanks for the help

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:52 pm

Be a man - use Rotosound Swing Bass roundwound!

"John Entwistle, Chris Squire and Geddy Lee's tone .... the one constant in all of it is Rotosound Swing Bass strings."

"Chris Squire uses Rotosound Swing Bass standard-gauge strings (.045, .065, .080, .105), with custom Rotosounds for his extended-range Tobias."

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:14 pm

50-100 is typical for beginners, just easier on the fingers =/

filtercap · Post by **filtercap** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:24 pm

NickS wrote:Be a man - use Rotosound Swing Bass roundwound!

Truth in all its roundwound trueness.

On my fretless I use "ground-wounds" where the ridges have been ground smooth. They're more flexible than flatwounds and thus have more bright detail, but they're smoother than rounds and not as bright.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:33 pm

never heard of 50-100, that's kind of a reverse hybrid.

40-95 is the lightest I've seen.

55-110 is the heaviest I've seen, 4 string.

Med-Light or Hybrid strings are probably most popular on bass. guages 45-65-85-105.

For flatwounds I definately like LaBellas. I have the black tape wound labellas on my fretless, I believe the 760's Jcyphe posted are steel.

My favorite strings for roundwound are Rotosound RN66LD's. Which are the Nickel version of the Rotosound Swing bass.

I'm scared of stainless steel wound strings on bass. They tear the fuck out of frets most of the time.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:19 am

I love the feel of flatwound bass strings but hate the sound of them. They always sound muddy and shitty... but they are so nice to play on! I might have to try some of those half wounds.. let me know how they sound rob!

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:28 am

Nick wrote:My favorite strings for roundwound are Rotosound RN66LD's. Which are the Nickel version of the Rotosound Swing bass.

I'm scared of stainless steel wound strings on bass. They tear the fuck out of frets most of the time.

Good point. I'll look at getting a set of those nickels when I need new strings. Mind you, I'm not playing every night.

[edit]
Rotosound have sound samples for their different strings >>here<<.
I notice they do an ultra-wimpy 30-85 set.

EddieN · Post by **EddieN** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:00 pm

robroe wrote:if i cant find those i will try and rock these

Go for those. Those are probably the brightest flats out there.

I hear so many people hate on the halfrounds that I don't understand why they still make 'em (never tried 'em personally).

Fender flats have a rep of being really high tension even if they's lighter. The lowest tension flats is without a doubt Thomastik Infelds Jazz flats but they're spendy & all mids.

Round Rotos'll tear hell outta frets. Their tapewounds sound nice (listen to Graham Maby on Joe Jackson's Look Sharp album) but they're .115 on the E.

euan · Post by **euan** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:41 pm

I keep meaning to try flatwounds out. But no guitar shops in Glasgow actually happen to sell them and I always forget when I buy my strings online.

filtercap · Post by **filtercap** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:54 pm

EddieN wrote:Round Rotos'll tear hell outta frets.

I don't know about that. I've been playing Rotosounds for ages, and the frets are still fine. The Rotos have worn my fingers a whole knuckle shorter than they used to be though.

There are also "pressurewounds" which are like squashed roundwounds. The winding wire has been squeezed so it has an oval cross-section instead of a circular one. I used those on fretless for a while, but then switched to the groundwounds. I don't recall anything super-special about them.