Best mellow sounding strings that arnt flatwound?

[Mattbass97]

what do u guys recommend when it comes to mellow sounding strings that arnt flatwounds? i have a squier fender jazz bass and a set of erni ball power slinkys on it at the minute.

thanks guys

[TimB 619]

Fender 7150 pure nickels, DR Sunbeams.

[ugly_bassplayer]

Really dead XL's. I have a set of almost 8 year old rounds that sound awesome.

[daniva]

for me thomastik infeld superalloy, when this string loose the brightness , it sound awsome

[tk421]

ghs boomers.
just play em an hour a day for a week, and they are dead.

[tylerwylie]

Originally Posted by tk421

ghs boomers.
just play em an hour a day for a week, and they are dead.

Ernie Balls will die within 6 days, Boomers 7 days.

:P

[MisterFabulous]

You could try D'Addario Half-Rounds (groundwound strings= rounds that have been "flattened" a little bit)

I've tried them and found they are very mellow.

I'd send you mine but the D string seems a little off on 2 basses I strung 'em on.

[david fitch]

D'Addario XL Nickel Wound, Ernie Ball Slinky Bass, GHS Bass Boomers. Fender Nickel Round Wounds, ect. Really any quality very played in Nickel Round Wound set will give you what you are looking for. I find the 'Hybrid' strings Halfrounds, Pressure Wounds not to my liking. I say try a set of nickels and play the crap out of them.

[darkstorm]

Daddario. Theyre the smoothest mellowest strings Ive tried and why I dont like them. But for mellower sound in roundwounds they are excellent choice imo.

[SurferJoe46]

Elixir Nanos are smooth, last forever and mellow like you asked.

[Pilgrim]

10 year old rounds do the job.

Or install flats.

[JimmyM]

i don't see dead flats and rounds as interchangeable. the attack is different. i can still hear the roundwound ring in dead rounds. that said, it's as close as you can get without using flats.

[mastershake]

have you tried ground/pressure wound strings or a string with a thick coating? if not, anything nickel or strings that have been used extensively over a period of time.

[Grateful]

I have found DR Black Beauties to be very versatile with tone, including being mellow without that round wound zing or feeling dead.

[seanm]

Tape wounds?

[4Mal]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i don't see dead flats and rounds as interchangeable. the attack is different. i can still hear the roundwound ring in dead rounds. that said, it's as close as you can get without using flats.

yeah, but if you really like have your intoation spot on, dead rounds ain't the way to go ...

Originally Posted by Grateful

I have found DR Black Beauties to be very versatile with tone, including being mellow without that round wound zing or feeling dead.

A very good choice IMO

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

10 year old rounds do the job.

Or install flats.

Too many intonation issues with old dead strings for me..

Originally Posted by daniva

for me thomastik infeld superalloy, when this string loose the brightness , it sound awsome

Another good choice. THis is my fav round of all time becuse it has less zing and more body.

other good choices would be the GHS Brite Flat and the D'Adddario half round - both are ground style strings withthe GHS being near to flat.

In my case, I string with flats. LaBella Tape wounds and D'Addario Chromes. I'm also trying a set of D'Addario Tapewounds at the moment whuch seem promising.

[Double Agent]

DR Sunbeams are the best I've found.

[Dudist]

I used flatwounds for years on my 78 Jazz. Got a new Spector though about a year and finally settled on the DR Black Beauties with it. They give that nice shaped tone but with enough bright not to be muddy Never have liked round wounds in almost 40 yrs of playing, though that's what I started on.

[nocontrols]

Originally Posted by tk421

ghs boomers.
just play em an hour a day for a week, and they are dead.

Originally Posted by tylerwylie

Ernie Balls will die within 6 days, Boomers 7 days.

You sweat like the bastard offspring of Meatloaf and Patrick Ewing.

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

10 year old rounds do the job.

Or install flats.

I agree. Dead rounds would work. I'm not sure what the OP means by intonation issues with dead strings... might want to have a set-up to adjust that. Failing that, grounds seem the logical middle step.

[Arvin]

GHS Pressurewounds ride the line between rounds and flats very well. Depending on how you set your eq, and how you play them, they can sound really mellow and "flat-like," or somewhat bright and "round-like."

They're my favorite string for a bass with Jazz pickups.