Back in the day strings - What was good?

[Groover]

This questions is mainly for the old timers whom played in the 60's and 70's, even 80's... or anyone whom just plain knows

We have some strings today, such as Low Riders (for example) that I'm sure some die-hard fans/users would dearly miss if they were discontinued; Were there any string types or brands that were great in your opinion, but for one reason or another dropped off the face of the earth?

[Gord_oh]

flatwounds i think would have brought some funk back in the day.
and of course rounds...

couldnt really say which brand in particular.

[lmfreeman9]

I'm no expert either but I think, like amplifiers, this is the golden age for strings.
There weren't this many choices in the early days.

[ad9000]

I started playing seriously around 1970. There are really no strings I miss, in fact the choices were very limited compared to what's available today, and the technology was primitive. For roundwounds, Rotosounds were really the only game in town, and they weren't widely available until the mid-70's, when other brands started to appear (Ernie Ball, GHS). I used La Bella or Fender flats until I started getting into roundwounds around '76.

[Turock]

I could be seen using Rotosounds "back in the day".

[John Wentzien]

Almost everone used flats (Fender or LaBella).
You only bought a string if you broke one! Then you would bum-out because it was new, and take the new one outside and roll it in the dirt first.

About '73, I accidently purchased a Rotosound E string...Didn't even realise the difference 'till I put it on...Never went back to flats after that!

[knuckle_head]

About the only string company that doesn't exist solely as a string company any more is Squier. Squier was the original OEM string supplier for Fender almost from the beginning.

[JTE]

I started playing bass about the same time I started managing a guitar store (1976-'77). At the time, most people around here used Fender strings, generally the 850s that came with a new Fender bass. And almost nobody ever changed strings. Rotosounds were available, but due to limited distribution they cost the store about twice what any other string did. We started carrying D'Addario Half-Rounds when they came out and had some LaBellas on the shelf too. There were a couple of bassist who used Fender nylon tape-wound sets but they never changed them either.

It wasn't until rather late in the '70s, or even early '80s that there was a market locally for a selection of strings. By the time I left retail in 1988, we carried D'Addario (mostly the nickle rounds they still make in the XL series, the XLS stainless sets, and both the nickle and stainless half-round sets. GHS (mostly Boomers, but a few sets of Brite-Flats), Dean Markley (except the only fans of those were some guys who used the ones that were round wound above the 12th fret and ground or buffed smooth from the nut to the 12th fret area), and a few sets of different Fender strings, though the 850s were gone by then.

V.C. Squier was purchased by CBS shortly after they purchased Fender in 1965. Other string companies that used to be around were National Music String Company, Sterlingworth, US String, and Darco. I understand that Kaman Corporation (Ovation, Takamine, Hamer, and helicopters too) bought National sometime in the '80s. Sterlingworth either was bought by Dean Markley or they bought Markley after I left retail. And Darco wound up being owned by the C F Martin company at one time. No idea what happened to US.

John

[Groover]

^ Very interesting, and great story!

[becker4567]

Originally Posted by knuckle_head

About the only string company that doesn't exist solely as a string company any more is Squier. Squier was the original OEM string supplier for Fender almost from the beginning.

I started playing bass around 1966. Rotosound was a high end string then, and Squire (Fender) was pretty much your workhorse string. Although they tended to go somewhat out of tune fairly quickly, you kept them on until they started flopping around and became unbearable. If I remember correctly, there were a few more string manufacturers, but to be honest, string type and quality was a low priority back then (at least for me and the other bass players I knew). Getting the chance to play in public and keeping your gear from getting stolen was your main concern. Money was almost nonexistent then, so experimenting with new strings just didn't happen.

[b_carville]

I started playing around 1966 too.
I remember LaBella and Fender flats.The LaBellas used to come in individual wrappers with a checklist on it.The checklist read " for Fender,for Gibson,for Danelectro,for Hofner,for Supro" & some other brands that I forget. You could get LaBella's in different gauges.LaBella made a black tape wound & I think Fender may have too.Fender strings came long or short scale in a couple of gauges.Fender made a 6 string set as well.I think Gibson made bass strings too but I never tried them.
All the above were flats.You never changed them until they broke.
I never saw Rotosound Swing bass strings until 1969.I used to have to go into the city(Philadelphia,PA) to the one store that stocked them.They were about five bucks more than LaBella's.They did lose their tone quick. I used to use them with a hard rock band I played with in 1969.A lot of other local bass players were actually offended by the tone I got stringing those on my old Jazz bass.A lot of players asked me " Why do you wanna sound like that ?".Especially the R&B guys.A couple years later they were all using them.

I also had access to Danelectro strings. A local music store my way had a big stock of them.I owned a couple of Dano's.They came in long or short scale.They were cheap too($10).They were pretty light gauge wise.They were round wound and sounded a bit like Rotosounds only not as bright & gritty.They could break easy though.By 1970 I couldn't get them anymore.

Most stores back then carried La Bella & nothing else.I was lucky I lived near a city.

[One Drop]

I started playing in 1978, but had a long lay-off when I started traveling. The first bass I bought was a used EB-0, and it had tapes on it. It didn't even occur to me that I could change strings to get a different sound, but that bass was mud city.

When I had some more money from working summers I traded it in for an Autumnglo Rick 4001, which with Musicman was the hot new bass to get in Montreal at the time. I wanted to sound like JJ Burnel from the Stranglers, and the guy at the shop recommended Rotos, so he swapped the light Rick flats for them and set it up for me. I never changed them after that, and a few years later the bass ended up in my folk's basement until I picked the instrument up again. It still has the old Rotos on it and the flats are in the case. The strings still sound great, and they have an exposed core at the bridge like the current Roto piano style rounds.

IIRC you could also find GHS, Fender and Labella flats, Ernie Ball Slinkys, and Fender rounds and tapes, and maybe Dean Markley flats and rounds.

[beyondat]

I started playing around 1937 and we had one string to choose from, you either liked them or you didn't play bass! Just kidding. I LOVE hearing these great strings stories for some reason!

[BigOldHarry]

rotos were THE string for many years... I played GHS boomers in the last '70s but they didn't last...

[Iron Rose]

I started in 1968. First roundwounds I used were Picato.
Used them till I found Rotosounds.

[John Wentzien]

Too bad the 70's didn't last!

[John Wentzien]

I flash-back for a visit every now-and-then...

[EagleMoon]

I remember using Fender, Rotosounds, Dean Markley and GHS back when I first started. I agree that the GHS's died really fast, but then so did the Rotosounds. I used the GHS Brite Flats for years until I found DR's.

[mccartneyman]

LaBella and Black Diamond were the only bass strings I ever used until 1971, when Rotosound Swing Bass arrived. I started playing in 1965 and I think it was probably 1969 before I first changed strings.

[John Wentzien]

Black Diamond....You had to walk home up-hill in 5 foot of snow.....both ways!