Any body use Ken Smith Strings?
If so, for what style of music and on what kind of bass?

I see that Musician's Friend among many other places are selling them as low as $13/set for 4 string!

Thanks for the input.

I use Burner Nickel roundwounds on my fretless and some of my active basses for old school funk, light Jazz (oxymoron), R&B. I like 'em.

I just bought some Ken Smith Rockmasters for my 6 string. Now to see how they work out.

I've been using the Rockmaster Mediums (roundwounds) on my Rickenbacker for years and love them. I actually tried using Rotosounds just because that's what Chris Squire and Geddy Lee always used on their Ric's --but I ended up going right back to my Smiths.

I also use Smith tapercores on my Ken Smith bass. They have a different sound than the Rockmasters, but they are also more than twice the price.

I just got some rocker for my jazz. They sounded great as soon as I put them on. No twang or nothing.sweet

I noticed the cheap MF price-but will they fit a 35" scale bass?

I use Rock Master Medium's on my 6 string F bass (with a non-taper .125 low B and a .030 high C). They're great strings, very responsive and they last for a long time.

I use 5 string rockmasters, on two of my basses, my ibanez soundgear, and my warwick dolphin, I play metal, and Michael-Manring-ish Victor wooten-ish Wacko Jaco stuff. sounds great with both.

i'm using them on my jazz bass for funk-fusion, rock, jazz, latin - and they sound really great and last for ever.(the burners nickel type)
i also tried them on my pedulla fretless 5 and they we're ok (not as smooth as the labella).

I used them for years before swhitching to DR's(The Army buys strings for me now, ie your tax dollars, thanks)and I have no problem using them when I can not find the DR's. Good zippy string that lasts a long time. And CHEAP too.

I use the Taper Core sets on all of my basses.

I've always used Smiths.
I think I have Medium Rock Masters.

armybass, how many sets per year do they (we) buy for you?

these are some of the most inexpensive strings in san antonio - i use them on my warwick corv pro 6.

they last for such a long time and the tone on my warwick is to die for. i have never been so happy with strings in my life.

i'm curious to see how they will sound on my jazz.

I swear by 'em. I use about 4 different models of the KS strings depending on the bass I use, and the tone I want.

I use the taper core strings on my piezo equipped fretless bass. And they are pretty cheap in San Antonio.

yup.

according to the music store that i buy them from, they are wound by GHS, do you guys think this is true?

Originally posted by SMASH
Sounds reasonable, and (I know you didn't say it did) it doesn't mean they're the same as anything GHS offers.

Ask Ken ?

this is what freaks me out - i HATE GHS strings with a passion, but these Ken Smith strings are so good for what i do

Man, I just put Ken Smith Slicks on my Ibanez Musician (ash body, neck-through, fretted ebony fingerboard), and it has made me love that bass again! It's a beautiful and widely-acclaimed bass (among those who own them), yet I have felt that for the last few months that it is too sterile and harsh-sounding for my tastes, with far too much zing, crunch, growl, and string noise. I finally got some strings that I actually chose to buy for a reason other than convenience, and after trying medium-gauge Fender flatwounds and being disappointed by the enormous tension, stainless wrappings, and in my opinion not a lot of variation in sound (though they did get a good upright sound on that bass), and so I've had some unknown roundwounds on it for the last few months, but now with these Slicks it sounds how I want my bass to sound! Deep, with more snap as you travel up to the higher strings, and a miniscule amount of finger noise!

My only mild complaint is that the E string sounds much much deeper than the A string, but we'll see how that works out as the strings break in. At thirteen dollars a set, I bought a set of Compressors along with the Slicks, both M-L gauge, and I think I'm going to have a lot of fun deciding which to go with in the long run. The purple silk wrapping is awesome, too!

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm a Ken Smith string convert, as I still want to try out many other strings before settling on one particular type, but I do think that I'll be playing either compression-wound or half-round strings for a long time to come, and these Ken Smiths are quite inexpensive and seem to play very well.

-Stephen

I'd like to know how those slick rounds turn out for you.

I use Fender flats on my Pbass, and like them. However, people say those slicks are kinds like flats, but with a bit more growl to them.

My local store is a Ken Smith dealer, and they have the slick rounds in stock. I do like the flatwound sound, however, that sound with a bit more bite to it sounds very interesting.

Not only that, but my repair guy highly recommends Ken Smith strings for bass, so I'd like to try them sometime. :hyper:

I'm a true KS String convert over from Rotosounds. Don't get me wrong, I love the Rotosound, well... sound! But, IMHO, Smiths just blow them away as far as sound, feel and they're not as hard on your frets.

I used to swear by them in my Warwick period. SS light gauge(Rockmasters?). I have a set of KS nickel rounds on my fretless 7, though I swapped the tapered B for, ironically, a GHS. I think I'll try the Rockmasters out on my 6 next time I restring it. BTW, I happen to like the fruity purple end wraps.
:ninja:

I use Rockmasters on my G&L L-2500s, and SB-2. Slick rounds on the ASAT. They are my favorite brand for the past couple of years. Great tone and feel.

I've had Ken Smith steel roundwounds (105,85,65,45,28) on my Pedulla for about a month. While they're great strings (you can count on anything Ken puts his name on to be top quality), the tone is too bright for me. I love them for funk and some jazz, but I also need to use the same bass for latin music and reggae and I really can't get a big enough sound for those genres. I ordered some strings from Pedulla last week and we'll see how those stack up.

-Will

EDIT: I forgot to mention that those purple windings on my green bass with gold hardware makes for the most wild-looking mardi gras bass!

I use custom light bass burners (nickel) on my Warwick Thumb B.O 6-string. Great feeling and the high are very sweet. However, I prefer labella B-strings, which are tighter.

I've had Ken Smith steel roundwounds (105,85,65,45,28) on my Pedulla for about a month. While they're great strings (you can count on anything Ken puts his name on to be top quality), the tone is too bright for me. I love them for funk and some jazz, but I also need to use the same bass for latin music and reggae and I really can't get a big enough sound for those genres. I ordered some strings from Pedulla last week and we'll see how those stack up. -Will


I wonder why Ken does'nt offer a set of Flatwounds.
Certainly there is a market for them. :confused:

I love Smith Tapercore steels!


I tried a few sets of Smith Burner nickels and liked 'em a lot. But I prefer the sound of SS strings so I stick with the Tapercores.

I've been trying out all sorts of strings this year (nickel and steel rounds, flat wounds)but I keep coming back to the Burners:hyper: :hyper: