Bass Strings

[Gavin]

What are the bass equivalent of nines? I assume that my CV Jazz Bass would have come with the equivalent of nines? I need new strings and I like the ones that came with it.

[Gavin]

Ok, this was pointless. I just looked at the Squier website and it said this.

Fender Super Bass 7250ML, NPS,
Gauges: (.045, .065, .080, .100),
p/n 073-7250-005

[honeyiscool]

Just one thing. Fender strings have changed in the past few years, they're just D'Addario strings now, I hear. If your old strings have a fabric wrap at the tuning peg end, your new Fender strings probably won't have that, and the tone will be different. Really, it's worth it to do some research to move away from the stock strings. Sure, a set of La Bellas will cost twice as much as Fender strings, but if you don't like Fender and end up buying something else, you didn't save a cent.

Plus, if you've had your strings for a while, you'll probably have a nice mellow tone and your new strings will sound terrible by default.

[Gavin]

Yeah, I like D'Addarios for guitar so I was planning on buying the D'Addario equivalent of those Fenders for bass anyway.

[Billy3000]

D'addarios and DR's are my favorite bass strings. Whenever I change bass strings I always have to dial the gain back on my amp because new strings are noticeably grindier before they're worn in a little bit, but I definitely won't say they sound terrible like honeyiscool is saying. Actually I'll say the exact opisite. Old bass strings sound and feel like crap, especially if you do lots of sliding and bass fills. Old strings will feel terrible and also just sound flat and dead, not mellow.

[Lucamo]

That is why you by flat wounds.

[baloneysandwich]

That is why you by flat wounds.

[Billy3000]

That is why you by flat wounds.

flats are a completely different sound though. They feel awesome, and they never have the problem of sounding overly grindy when they're new, but they also always sound mellow. If you like a really growly, punchy bass tone for rock, flats just won't do. Round wounds are really the only thing for that kind of sound. I just usually like to play my bass unplugged for a little bit to break them in so they don't sound so grindy right after I change them.

[Ankhanu]

D'addarios and DR's are my favorite bass strings. Whenever I change bass strings I always have to dial the gain back on my amp because new strings are noticeably grindier before they're worn in a little bit, but I definitely won't say they sound terrible like honeyiscool is saying. Actually I'll say the exact opisite. Old bass strings sound and feel like crap, especially if you do lots of sliding and bass fills. Old strings will feel terrible and also just sound flat and dead, not mellow.

I get what honeyiscool is saying; in my first couple years of playing bass, I HATED new bass strings. I was playing a P-bass copy, using strings for about a year at a time with the tone rolled all the way back. New strings were too bright. And I'm sure bass greats like James Jamerson would heartily disagree about old strings being dead
My feeling has changed drastically since then, and I love the snap of new bass strings, and I change them much more often. But, back then, I hated them.

I use DR Black Beauties on my Jazz Bass, they're phenomenal. I bought the bass used and it came equipped with DR BBs, I never would have tried them... I was really skeptical of the coated strings, thought they were put on the black bass for aesthetics over tone. I was pleasantly surprised when I actually played them, though, and have stuck with them since.

I use Fender branded strings on my Yamaha BBN5, however.

That is why you by flat wounds.

flats are a completely different sound though. They feel awesome, and they never have the problem of sounding overly grindy when they're new, but they also always sound mellow. If you like a really growly, punchy bass tone for rock, flats just won't do. Round wounds are really the only thing for that kind of sound. I just usually like to play my bass unplugged for a little bit to break them in so they don't sound so grindy right after I change them.

Yep, completely different beasts. I only use flats on my fretless. I've played them on fretted basses and they feel and sound wrong Not enough life.

[baloneysandwich]

its true that flatwounds on bass have a different sound--its kind of a thump... they have a different feel too. yeah, they're a lil more pricey but they last forever and sound really really cool. if you're into it, try adding a bit of drive to a bass with flats... sounds pretty awesome and will add that "growl" thing in a pinch. i recommend them to everyone. serious tonemeister types tend not to like 'em, but the rest of the world is at least mesmerized by their flatness...

i always think of this song when i think flatwound bass strings:

i feel the same way 'bout flats on six strings... threw a set on my esquire build bout a month ago and i love them. tele bridge pup still sucks a good amount of treble outta them too. i'm still not use to the wound g thing, tho... but the majority of dudes hate on these, complaining about them not having any life or whatever. i don't know... the beatles used these kinda strings--just sayin'

[Ankhanu]

its true that flatwounds on bass have a different sound--its kind of a thump... they have a different feel too. yeah, they're a lil more pricey but they last forever and sound really really cool. if you're into it, try adding a bit of drive to a bass with flats... sounds pretty awesome and will add that "growl" thing in a pinch. i recommend them to everyone.

It'll give them growl, but not punch. It does sound pretty good, but it's not the same as the nice attack you get from roundwounds. They do last forever though.

serious tonemeister types tend not to like 'em, but the rest of the world is at least mesmerized by their flatness...

Depends on the tonmeisters you talk to I lot of bit tone junkies swear by flats.

i don't know... the beatles used these kinda strings--just sayin'

I use the same flatwounds on my fretless that McCartney used. I've only ever bought the one set and I don't expect to be buying another for several years... or whenever I buy a real fretless bass and stop using the one I cobbled together.

[honeyiscool]

Yeah, I like D'Addarios for guitar so I was planning on buying the D'Addario equivalent of those Fenders for bass anyway.

I love D'Addarios for guitar but I haven't met a bass string I like from them. The Fender sucked, the nickel rounds sucked, the groundwounds especially sucked.

flats are a completely different sound though. They feel awesome, and they never have the problem of sounding overly grindy when they're new, but they also always sound mellow. If you like a really growly, punchy bass tone for rock, flats just won't do. Round wounds are really the only thing for that kind of sound. I just usually like to play my bass unplugged for a little bit to break them in so they don't sound so grindy right after I change them.

I think a good trade-off is the GHS Pressurewounds. You get awesome mellow tone, but some brightness, not so much the hollow empty sound that flats get. Plus sliding is so easy on them. And I think picked flats are some of the punchiest, most beautiful rock tones you can get. My Musicmaster with flats has no problem cutting through and gets an amazing Kim Deal-esque sound.

But the GHS Pressurewounds are by far the most versatile strings. They're flattened by pressure, not ground, so they have the best of both world, whereas I think groundwounds are the worst of both worlds. Plus they cost no more than other strings. I have them on my Mustang Bass as well as Bronco Bass. I'm thinking about going full flats on Mustang Bass, I will probably try D'Addario Chromes. If they suck, too, then I'm really done with D'Addario for bass.

I use the same flatwounds on my fretless that McCartney used. I've only ever bought the one set and I don't expect to be buying another for several years... or whenever I buy a real fretless bass and stop using the one I cobbled together.

Monel? Yeah, they're pretty sweet sounding. I have a shortscale set sitting around somewhere.

[Berto]

i used DRs for a really long time but i switched to rotosounds. they cost cheaper and sound better imho

[Ankhanu]

... I will probably try D'Addario Chromes. If they suck, too, then I'm really done with D'Addario for bass.

D'Addario Chromes were the first flats I tried. They're alright, but certainly nothing spectacular.

[Billy3000]

There's flats on my musicmaster bass. They've been on it since I bought it like 3 years ago, and they've never needed to be changed. I play that the least of all my basses though. It sounds cool, and with the gain on my ampeg SVT cranked a bit more I can get a nice tone out of them, but it still doesn't have that nice punchy, growly attack that my p bass with rounds has.

New rounds really do sound too bright and grindy, but once they're worn in just the right amount they have the perfect rock tone. But if you're like me and you sweat buckets at shows, and your sweat is apparently made of acid, it builds up on strings really bad, and it means that you can't leave a set of strings on for more than 3 months at absolute most without your strings feeling dead and uncomfortable to play. If anyone here wants to argue with me on this point I still have the last set of strings I took off of my p bass that I left on for too long, I believe they were on for about 4 months because I was broke as fuck when they needed to be changed, so I left them on and played a few more shows on them than I should have. I will send them to you and you try and tell me that they still have life left in them.

[honeyiscool]

How's your Musicmaster wired, though? I rewired it without the tone sucking circuit and it cuts very well. I can't imagine using flats with the stock Musicmaster Bass wiring. That just sounds like mud on top of mud.

Well if you do have to change strings so often, do take my advice and try the GHS Pressurewounds some time. They feel excellent, sound great, and have very comfortable string tension.

[Billy3000]

How's your Musicmaster wired, though? I rewired it without the tone sucking circuit and it cuts very well. I can't imagine using flats with the stock Musicmaster Bass wiring. That just sounds like mud on top of mud.

Well if you do have to change strings so often, do take my advice and try the GHS Pressurewounds some time. They feel excellent, sound great, and have very comfortable string tension.

Are those the kind of strings that are supposed to be like halfway between rounds and flats? I have been curious about those.

[Lucamo]

I flatwounds on my shortie bass and with a pick they sound phenomenal.

finger playing makes them mellow and dub-y which is what I always wanted. I also play on my dirty channel which gives it a bit of punch. I will never play round wounds again. The bass sound I hate most is the bright sound.

[honeyiscool]

Are those the kind of strings that are supposed to be like halfway between rounds and flats? I have been curious about those.

Yeah. Really, they're more like rounds than flats in my opinion. The one thing they have is that they glide very well and reduce a lot of fret noise, but tonally they're a lot closer to rounds and the strings are not as stiff as a flat string. But they have just a bit of that flatwound flavor that gives it body when picked, whereas I feel like rounds sound like a downtuned guitar when picked. I mean, well aged rounds sound wonderful, but I can't wait that long.

I have in my possession brand new Rotosound Monel Flats (77s), somewhat played La Bella Flats, new D'Addario Nickel Rounds, old Fender Nickel Rounds (sound beautiful, many purchases were made to get this aged tone with new strings), newish D'Addario Groundwounds (terrible!), somewhat played GHS Pressurewounds, all in short scale. If you would like a comparison between any of them on the same pickup, let me know and I'll put one up.

Yeah, I went through a few strings before I decided on my current combination of La Bella on the Musicmaster, Pressurewound on the Bronco. I still don't really care for the Pressurewound on the Mustang, though, I don't know why. I wish I could put the La Bella on the Mustang but they don't recommend string thru loading for their flats and they're no longer making the Mustang Bass flats like they used to. Grr. I got the Rotosound Monel Flats for the Mustang, though, here's to hoping I like that.

The odd thing about all this is I only ever needed one crack at finding guitar strings I liked, D'Addario nickel rounds were it for me from day one.

[Billy3000]

Are those the kind of strings that are supposed to be like halfway between rounds and flats? I have been curious about those.

Yeah. Really, they're more like rounds than flats in my opinion. The one thing they have is that they glide very well and reduce a lot of fret noise, but tonally they're a lot closer to rounds and the strings are not as stiff as a flat string. But they have just a bit of that flatwound flavor that gives it body when picked, whereas I feel like rounds sound like a downtuned guitar when picked. I mean, well aged rounds sound wonderful, but I can't wait that long.

I have in my possession brand new Rotosound Monel Flats (77s), somewhat played La Bella Flats, new D'Addario Nickel Rounds, old Fender Nickel Rounds (still sound beautiful), newish D'Addario Groundwounds, somewhat played GHS Pressurewounds, all in short scale. If you would like a comparison between any of them on the same pickup, let me know and I'll put one up.

Yeah, I went through a few strings before I decided on my current combination of La Bella on the Musicmaster, Pressurewound on the Bronco. I still don't really care for the Pressurewound on the Mustang, though, I don't know why. I wish I could put the La Bella on the Mustang but they don't recommend string thru loading for their flats and they're no longer making the Mustang Bass flats like they used to. Grr. I got the Rotosound Monel Flats for the Mustang, though, here's to hoping I like that.

The odd thing about all this is I only ever needed one crack at finding guitar strings I liked, D'Addario nickel rounds were it for me from day one.

That would be awesome if you could do a comparison between the D'adario nickle rounds and the pressurewounds. I currently have D'addario rounds on my p bass, and they're my go to strings for bass these days. I used to use the DR fat beams religiously but they always sounded too snappy, grindy and bright when they were brand new, obnoxiously so. The D'addario's are a lot more tame even when new. Before that I used Ernie Ball super slinky's all the time, as that was what EB/Musicman sent me when I registered my old stingray. But once I started gigging I realized how terrible those strings were, I would break them all the time, they lost their tone too quickly, and sounded dead after only a few days, and would build up grime and become rough to the touch so quickly. I've found that D'addario's hold up for the longest time for my playing as far as tone and feel go. There's a different brand on my Rickenbacker, whatever the shop put on when they set it up before I picked it up. They told me, I just don't remember what brand it was. They sound nice and have held up really well too. Granted I haven't been gigging much since I got that bass, but they still sound damn good and feel good after quite a few lessons, one show with my old band, and a couple of practices with my new band.