Confused by strings

[walruswaspaul]

Hi ,

Not sure whether this should be in strings or setup and repair , so apologies in advance.
I have a Sunburst 98 (I think) MIJ Fender Jazz Bass , i change my strings once a month and I have been trying different strings as I have just started using roundwounds again. Im confused as the Stainless steel Rotosound strings I have on at the moment are the darkest sounding set of strings out of the 3 roundwound sets I have tried so far , I have also tried Daddario XL Nickels which were not bright enough sounding and Danelectro Nickel Strings which were very nice and bright but ive only been able to find in one gauge. Why is it that the Nickel Danelectro strings and the Daddario Nickels sound brighter to me than the Stainless steel rotos? The only thing I can think of is that certain strings may resonate better with certain types of woods but even this is a cr*pshoot

[Baker69]

As regards to the D'Addario strings you should have gone for the Pro Steels which are brighter than the Nickels.

I've just put a set on my Sandberg JM4 and they are incredibly bright! I'm not too sure about the feel of the strings though, a bit coarser to the fingers than Rotosounds.

I used to use Rotosounds quite a lot but find they lose their brightness very quickly.

[walruswaspaul]

Thanks, I may have to try the pro steels , I think a set of them and some Quarter Pounders may do the job, its strange the Rotos sounding so dark as they were sounding that way when I first put them on the bass , I remember them being much brighter when I used them previously

[jmattis]

I'd give some Dean Markley Blue Steels a try. I recently got a $20 gift card from GC in the mail and wanted to try something different. I was very pleasantly surprised with them. They lasted longer than average as well.

[Double Agent]

IMO, DR strings are the standard for stainless steel rounds. Go with Hi-Beams for the brightest sound with slightly lower tension or the Lo-Riders (my favorite) for brightness with extra low end growl and higher tension. They are extremely bright when you first put them on, but they settle down after a week or so. They last a really long time, longer than any other round I've used and they sound great. I think Lo-Riders are awesome on a Jazz bass.

[walruswaspaul]

thanks guys,
Double Agent , which do you find is brighter the Lo Riders or the Hi Beams ?

[Double Agent]

Hi Beams are the brightest string DR makes. Lo Riders are just a little less bright, but they have more low-mids.

They both sound great, it will all come down to preference which one is better. When I was first checking out DR string, I initally chose Lo Riders because I prefer higher tension. Now that I've played around with them more, I prefer Lo Riders because of the more aggressive sounding lows. YMMV