any "smooth" roundwounds??

[mello_bedwetter]

I usually use flatwounds on my bass. Are there any roundwounds out there that are smooth, kind of like flats? I like the sound of rounds but I get a lot of finger noise, probably because of the way I play. I was wondering if any of the coated strings like the DR black beauties are any smoother than regular rounds. Maybe the Dean Markley Blue Steels? Thanks.

[Thunder Pulse]

Do a search for groundwounds, half-rounds, and pressure wounds.

Edit - Or look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strings_(music)

[Parabolic Box]

Of course, there's always improving on technique!

Anyway, there's Elixers, compression wound, ground wound, and half-wounds, as mentioned above. (All which lack the spice of true rounds.)

Coated strings won't dampen string noise.

[mello_bedwetter]

Originally Posted by Parabolic Box

Of course, there's always improving on technique!

Anyway, there's Elixers, compression wound, ground wound, and half-wounds, as mentioned above. (All which lack the spice of true rounds.)

Coated strings won't dampen string noise.

Oh believe me I keep trying to improve technique. Between the arthritis and pins and screws in my fingers I'm doing good just playing again. Thanks for the information...appreciated. I have to admit I haven't seen any groundwounds before though.

[Parabolic Box]

Originally Posted by mello_bedwetter

Oh believe me I keep trying to improve technique. Between the arthritis and pins and screws in my fingers I'm doing good just playing again. Thanks for the information...appreciated. I have to admit I haven't seen any groundwounds before though.

My goodness, what happened to your hands?

Ground wounds look like flats, and they don't sound anywhere near as bright as rounds. D'Addario Half-Rounds, and GHS Brite Flats come to mind. Never tried compression wound, mind you. The only ones I know of are RotoSound... but I think Dean Markley makes them, too.

[nad]

Thomastik Infeld Jazz Rounds are very smooth sounding and feeling roundwounds. Full nickel wrap, not nickel plated steel like most so-called "nickel" strings are. They sound great, if you are looking for something mellow, but not quite flats mellow. They come in odd gauges though, and are a bit pricey. I only use them on rare occasion (I go for more aggressive tones normally), but I wish every other string out there felt as good as they do.

The old style Elixirs, the Polywebs (now discontinued), they were great for that as well. The Nanowebs are too zingy still, they just last a long time but the thinner coating makes them sound like typical rounds.

[mello_bedwetter]

Originally Posted by Parabolic Box

My goodness, what happened to your hands?

Ground wounds look like flats, and they don't sound anywhere near as bright as rounds. D'Addario Half-Rounds, and GHS Brite Flats come to mind. Never tried compression wound, mind you. The only ones I know of are RotoSound... but I think Dean Markley makes them, too.

Well my left hand was screwed up playing football in college. I had two fingers that had screws and a couple pins put in them to "mend" them. My right hand had a 300 pounds transformer pin it to a metal door. That's a long story. Anyway that broke my ring finger in half so I have a pin and 3 screws in it.
I'll make sure I "mark" your post. There's some good info in it for me. Thanks again.

[GeneralElectric]

Maybe some nylon flats for that brighter tone. I recommend LaBellas.

[roberthelpus]

Damn that's not what I wanted to hear. Isn't there something in an aerosol can that can get rid of all that scraping noise Making the sounds that I want seems to be easy compared to eliminating all of the ones that I don't want.

I guess that i just need to learn how to lift my fingers off (and put them on) the strings directly. Much harder than guitard ever was.

[flyman]

As far as smooth roundwounds go, about the smoothest I've ever tried are D'Addario XLs. These are fairly bright, but not harsh. I don't think Blue Steels are going to work for you, though. Generally speaking, SS rounds are more coarse feeling than nickel plated with more string noise, but I've not used the Blues Steels, so I don't know for sure about them. I've tried the GHS Brite Flats, and while they are indeed smooth, they are very thud-y sounding to me. They may not be what you want if you like a roundwound sound. I've also tried GHS Pressurewounds before. They're pretty smooth & sound pretty good,but they weren't what I was looking for.

I currently use GHS Boomers on my fretted bass. Pretty middle of the road tension-wise, and while they're roundwounds, they're not overly bright, but they're not as smooth as the D'A XLs. You might also want to try D'Addario Chromes if you haven't already. They're pretty bright for flats. I have arthritis in my hands too, and I'm pretty sensitive to string tension. You might want to consider going a gauge lighter than what you've been using to see if that helps, especially if you try the D'Addarios strings which can be fairly tight. I use 45-100 in the GHS Boomers & currently have Chromes in 40-95 on the fretless, although I think I like the D'Addario half rounds better on this particular bass. But I'm trying to cop an upright vibe on that bass, so take that with a grain of salt.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
flyman

[mello_bedwetter]

flyman....thanks, lots of great info, appreciate it too.
Right now I use the Ernie Ball 2804's...flats.

[Kirk P Brosius]

Hello all,

I must agree with nad and suggest TIs. I have just installed a 5str set on my Smith but mine are PowerBass.

I have been very pleased with the DR Sunbeams I took off after three years and many boilings. They had a very flexy feel and required a soft touch in order to avoid fret buzz. The TIs are just about the same guage but the overall tension had me do a little adjust on the truss rod. The TIs are smoother than the DRs and have an equally flexy feel. The tone is a bit more aggressive and bright.

I have a full multi-gig report coming up soon so please stay tuned.

Hope this helps, Kirk

[Marley's Ghost]

My DR Lo-Riders are pretty smooth.

[mntallpaul]

Groundwounds would fit the bill for you.
DM Bluesteels are very sticky and coarse. the opposite of what you need.

[mello_bedwetter]

I need to find a place that carries groundwounds. Maybe I'll like them.

[HogieWan]

I have GHS Pressurewounds on my Fender Jazz. They are plenty bright and I don't notice any finger noise. I switched to them after realizing I never turned the tone knob over ~65% with rounds on there, and I might as well have a more comfortable string.

[CraigG]

I have used the Ken Smith Compression wound strings on my fretless because I had read they were more like flats but with a round sound. They don't feel the slightest bit "flat" to me. As a matter of fact, on my fingers, they feel more abrasive than my round wounds. Many years ago GHS brite flats were my favorites, just enough brightness but not biting.

[joelb79]

Originally Posted by mello_bedwetter

I usually use flatwounds on my bass. Are there any roundwounds out there that are smooth, kind of like flats? I like the sound of rounds but I get a lot of finger noise, probably because of the way I play. I was wondering if any of the coated strings like the DR black beauties are any smoother than regular rounds. Maybe the Dean Markley Blue Steels? Thanks.

Guarantee you'll love GHS Pressure wounds. Not exactly smooth as flats because the outer wrap is oval shaped instead of round. However they have the vintage mids and lows of the flats that everybody loves with the added zing and slinkyness of round wounds. I recommend the light set as the thicker ones are a little too taunt for me. The best part, little to NO finger noise.

[Mojo-Man]

Ken Smith Compressors.

Very smooth feeling. ( Nice fretless string too)

Also DR Sunbeams feel good to.

[heroincredible]

I recently switched to DR hi-beams and they feel a lot smoother than my D'addario XL's ever did.